In January the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners, wearing their hats as the BCC Zoning Commission, unanimously voted to limit the public’s right to question developers and their paid lobbyists to “written” statements during quasi judicial public hearings. Look for the notice of this new rule to appear on zoning agendas of the BCC Zoning Commission starting February 26. The staff gave this recommendation to the commissioners, who readily passed it 7 to 0.

SShhhh!

“Before a nearly empty chamber, and with a minimum of prior legal notice, the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) eliminated the public’s right of direct cross-examination of developers and their paid agents at future Zoning Commission hearings,” reports alerts from citizen observer, Palm Beach County Issues and Views. Read more at  http://e-governmentresearch.blogspot.com/2015/02/county-limits-right-to-question.html. 

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The alert explains: “Members of the public must submit their cross-examination questions and follow-up queries in writing, and the mayor of the Commission will review the written questions and rule if they are “relevant” to the pending case and thus allowed.”