Residents have been giving the Delaware County Council an earful since it voted to raise county real estate taxes by 23 percent.

At the Jan. 8 meeting, Council Chair Monica Taylor, Ph.D., announced there would be only one public  comment period starting with that meeting.

Traditionally, council meetings had two public comment periods, one at the beginning for agenda items and one at the end for general questions and comments. People could speak for three minutes each time for a total of six minutes. Now, their speaking time is half that.

Montgomery, Bucks and Chester counties have two sessions at their boards of commissioner meetings, with three minutes of public speaking per person at each session.

“This is a meeting of council, not a public forum or town hall,” Taylor said. She told people they “will be given the chance to comment, but please do not raise your hand or shout out comments during the meeting. The county website lists all of our emails and office numbers. We each will be happy to respond directly to your questions or concerns outside of the meeting.

“Beginning with this meeting, we are combining the agenda comment and public comment period (s). This will allow residents to speak on any topic of interest at the beginning of the meeting,” said Taylor. “This will eliminate the confusion of whether a topic is germane to county business or on the agenda. Residents will no longer have to identify the topic that they’re speaking on and do not need to wait until the end of the meeting to address concerns that are not on the agenda. We hope this modification will make it simple and more convenient for our residents.”

Resident Charles Alexander, who said he’s running for one of the two council seats on the ballot this year, called the council members “out-of-touch Marxists” and “commie tyrants.” He complained about the tax increase and said county officials have been wasting money, including leaving windows open while the heat is on in county buildings.

“They took away the second three minutes [of speaking time]. That’s what communists do. They want to shut you up and stop you from speaking…A 23 percent tax increase hurts everybody in this county. And that’s their fault. They spent the money, and they’re just wasting it more and more,” said Alexander.

Another man told the council, “It served a good purpose to have comments in two different areas, to address the issues on the agenda and comments at the end for general purposes. It’s very unfair to change that, unless you want to make it six minutes. It’s not fair to take our right to speak away. You changed a six-minute opportunity to speak to a three-minute opportunity to speak…I don’t think it’s fair.”

“Although I disagree with the term ‘commie tyrants,’ I understand what they’re trying to say,” he added. The previous situation was sometimes “a little raucous,” but “it gives everybody an opportunity,” he said.

Jim Nicholson, who said he was a retired physician and a Quaker, called the rules on public comment “reasonable and fair.” He suggested further rules for speakers to be “reasonable and fair” and “civil in both content and tone.” That increases the probability that “their message is heard and considered by others.” Also, they should be factual, and their questions should be “inquiries, not accusatory.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) Senior Program Officer Stephanie Jablonsky said, “While the council’s actions may be legally permissible, FIRE always encourages public officials to promote more speech, not less. Reducing public comment periods undermines the trust of constituents and may have consequences at the ballot box.

“The Delaware County Council should note what is transpiring in Edison, N.J. Public outrage over its shortened public comment period and unconstitutional public comment policy created a highly publicized controversy. FIRE’s involvement and public pressure ultimately led to revocation of the policy and talks about reversing the original decision to cut public comment time.”

Media Republican Committee Chair Michael Straw told DVJournal, “Delaware County Council clearly wants to make sure it hears the bare minimum from its constituents. They don’t want to hear from people after they voted to raise our taxes by 23 percent last month. It’s shameful.”

Joy Schwartz, a Republican who ran for council in 2023, said, “It is disappointing, but not surprising, that the Delco Council has decided to muzzle its constituents. Have they have figured out that the people are not buying into their counter-narratives?”