The new rule allows for 3 minutes, with the discretion to go longer given to the council president, currently Chris Jerram.

Former Council President Ben Gray said the council is not trying to keep the public from speaking or limit speech. The council has been working for two months on rules that better reflect how it does business, he said.

“We’re not making any strong or immediate changes or trying to eliminate certain people from speaking, but to follow the rules,” Gray said.

The aim, he said: to avoid confusion and wasted time and to keep comments civil.

The rules change has to be approved unanimously, so members of the council will have to agree on the length of time the public should be allowed to speak. Some, including Brinker Harding, said they might be inclined to give people more time to talk.

Harding mentioned that some land-use decisions require lengthy explanations of projects to cut down on confusion and questions. But he defended the review of the council’s rules.