Letter To The Editor: SMC should change its public comment policy

Published 12:24 pm Tuesday, June 17, 2025

When I attend a meeting of the County Board of Commissioners, I can speak on agenda items at the start of the meeting and then again on non-agenda items at the end of the meeting. Likewise, the Dowagiac City Council allows for public comment on both agenda and non-agenda items. The same is true of school districts in the county. In none of these situations have I, or others I know, been required to submit our comments in writing the day before the meeting. Not so with the Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees.

SMC’s Board Policy states that anyone wishing to offer public comment on a non-agenda item must submit their comments in writing in advance to the board chair and secretary. One can only ask why? Since agendas are posted only a day or two prior to board meetings, and until recently, emails were not published for board members, I can only assume that the board does not really want to hear from members of the public.

It is especially curious since the board also has the practice of not responding to public comment and therefore doesn’t need time to prepare a response. And surely the chair would not be censoring or disallowing a person to speak at a public board meeting?

Southwestern Michigan College’s Board of Trustees needs to follow the letter and the spirit of the Open Meetings Act; SMC needs to get in sync with other community boards and allow for public comment on both agenda and non-agenda items—without prior approval or screening.

Naomi Ludman

Dowagiac