Posted Tuesday, January 23, 2018 9:24 pm

NORTH ADAMS — Council President Keith Bona had hoped to prevent belligerent members of the public from attending future City Council meetings.

The problem, according to the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, is that such a rule would violate the state's Open Meeting Law.

This month, Bona proposed a draft of the City Council's Rules of Order that would give the president the power to ban any person from attending an unspecified number of future meetings if that person needs to be removed from a council meeting by police.

"I don't buy into the free speech argument [that] anyone can say anything at our meetings. They can't do it at the state or federal level, nor should they here. Stick to our rules, keep it to city business without attacking people, and all will be fine," Bona told The Eagle on Tuesday.

Though state law provides the president of a public body broad discretion over who is allowed to speak at meetings, it doesn't provide the president the right to keep people from entering the door.

"A public body cannot prohibit a member of the public from attending future meetings unless there is a stay-away order issued by a court for the location where a public body meets," Assistant Attorney General Hanne Rush wrote to the council this week.

In response to the attorney general's advisement, Bona amended the proposed council rule to allow the president to ban such a member of the public from speaking at, but not attending, a certain number of future meetings.

Bona's amendment passed by a vote of 6-2 at a regular City Council meeting Tuesday, with councilors Wayne Wilkinson and Jason LaForest in opposition.

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Wilkinson said it was an "infringement a little bit on the First Amendment, so I can't go along with this."

LaForest recognized the president's authority to eject a disruptive community member, but stopped short of endorsing the new rule.

"I won't support silencing people at future meetings," LaForest said.

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But Councilor Marie T. Harpin noted that residents have the ability to comment on every agenda item and during the hearing of visitors at the end of the meeting.

"I think we have to have faith in [the president's] ability to make the decision when this room is out of control," Harpin argued.

This authority, under state law, already has been given to the president, Bona noted.

"It doesn't have to pass, and I can still do it," Bona said, adding that "I prefer to have the approval of the council behind this."

The current/previous iteration of the rule gave the president authority to shut down any member of the public who uses "slurs, connotations, libelous remarks or innuendo."

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Bona's amendment adds that "if the member continues to disrupt the meeting, they will be asked to leave," codifying a practice that was in place.

"The president often gets questions about where these rules are listed in our rules. They didn't have to be [listed in the rules], but by having it listed, it will clarify it for future councilors if this is legal or not," Bona said.

Bona said he is unsure how heavy he will be with the gavel.

"Questioning and criticizing government is accepted, but slander, libel and rumors is not," he said.

The new version of the council's rules also moves the hearing of visitors from the front of the meeting to its end.

The full council rules were presented after a series of amendments, including Bona's amendment, and were passed unanimously by the council.

Adam Shanks can be reached at ashanks@berkshireeagle.com, at @EagleAdamShanks on Twitter, or 413-496-6376.