Editorial: When should the public be allowed to address boards?

There have been a few people unhappy lately with boards that represent them. In order to keep the public from saying too much at meetings that might disrupt things, public comments have been moved to the beginning of the agenda – and that’s it. That’s what happened at the Belleville DDA and Sumpter Township Board of Trustees recently.
If the board has a well-kept web site with the agenda on it so you can study it before the meeting and consider what needed comment before action farther on down the agenda, that might work.
If, you get to the meeting, pick up the agenda, and see something you really care about on it, you have a few, precious moments to prepare your remarks. And, it’s hard to know what new information might be brought up in the discussion, so those things can’t be addressed.
After their decisions are made, you can’t congratulate the board members on their votes or chastise them if you disagree. Too late. Wait until the next meeting.
Some boards, like the city council, district library, VBT DDA, LDFA, Keystone Academy, Van Buren Public Schools, and VBT, Sumpter, and Belleville planning commissions, welcome public comments throughout the meetings, but we suppose if the comments were too harsh and too long, they’d have to make new rules, too.
Just when should the public speak?