Aurora Sentinel: A majority of Aurora City Council members voted on Monday to cut the first open public comment period during meetings down to an hour while eliminating the second period.

The open public comment periods at the start and end of meetings were previously not limited in length, which has occasionally allowed residents to testify for hours at a time on topics not on the agenda, such as the death of Elijah McClain at the hands of Aurora police and paramedics.

With the current three-minute cap on individual comments, the opportunity to talk about items not on the agenda would be limited to as few as 20 people per meeting. Councilors could still extend comment periods by a majority vote. The changes wouldn’t limit how long members of the public can speak to individual agenda items. 

Visit Aurora Sentinel for more.