At the end of Monday’s Marshalltown city council meeting, it was discussed to move the public comment section of the city council meetings to the beginning instead of the end.  This was followed by the idea to remove public comment during specific agenda items and require all remarks to be made during the specified public comment period.  City Administrator Jessica Kinser mentioned that a city council meeting is “not a public meeting,” but rather “a business meeting held for public inspection.” Councilor Jeff Schneider was the first to weigh in and said that while he was fine moving the public comment period to the beginning of the meeting, he did not believe public comments on individual business items should be restricted. Fellow Councilor Gary Thompson expressed similar sentiments.

Zach Tomesch, News Reporter KFJB