Clark County Council wants to come up with a plan to deal with unruly behavior at meetings

Clark County Council members said they will explore policy changes after two disruptive incidents occurred during public comment at a recent meeting. File by Andi Schwartz

Councilor Glen Yung suggests that changes should be made in how to deal with unruly and potentially illegal activities during public meetings, and it is possible that there will be consequences for people who cross a line

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

After two disturbing incidents during public comment last week, the Clark County Council said this week that it will be looking into ways it can police unruly behavior at its meetings.

One person stuck paper down their pants, simulating the wiping of their backside, then threw the paper on the floor — where it remained for about 20 minutes, despite protests from people sitting near the debris.

Another man walked away from the podium after speaking his mind, then shoved a person who was sitting on an aisle seat.

“I think we need to look at making some fairly significant changes,” Councilor Glen Yung said Wednesday during Council Time, adding that the events that happened last week “are very concerning to me.”

He also praised the individual who was shoved.

“My hat’s off to the individual for exercising restraint in that situation,” Yung said.

But what did the council do in those situations?

Nothing, at the time.

To be fair, not everyone saw the shoving incident. But every councilor saw the discarded paper, meant to symbolize soiled toilet paper.

“We don’t have a way to remove people. That’s fundamentally the problem,” Chair Sue Marshall said on Wednesday. “The sheriff has said they’re not going to remove people. And apparently the prosecutor has said they’re not going to prosecute people.”

A spokesperson for the Clark County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that the sheriff’s office is open to working with the council. The sheriff’s office has a duty to protect the first amendment rights of people but would be willing to discuss how to handle a situation that rises to the level of disorderly conduct.

Marshall said the actions of the two individuals responsible for the poor behavior last week were on their way out of the hearing room as soon as they committed those acts.

“The tool that I have been told I can use is to take a recess, but that would not have helped at all in those two instances,” Marshall said.

Yung suggested looking into the city of Vancouver’s policy for its meetings. The city recently has banned or trespassed those who misbehave at city council meetings. No one on Wednesday from the county suggested a permanent ban for anyone, but certainly a temporary ban for poor behavior could be an option.

Councilor Michelle Belkot initially disagreed with Yung’s proposal. She feared it could be used to silence one side over another. She even used last week’s behavior as an example, because nothing was done. The two offenders in last week’s meeting happened to be protesters who are anti-law enforcement, anti-ICE.

“I think it’s kind of a double standard when we have several speakers that come and they speak, and if you don’t like what they have to say, you cut them off, but it’s OK for someone to … wipe their rear end with paper or shove another person in the audience,” Belkot said. “Neither of those two people were removed, but yet the people you don’t necessarily like what they have to say, you cut them off. It’s a double standard.”

Yung tried to clarify, noting that he agrees that the people responsible for those two incidents last week should have been dealt with, that they should not be tolerated, and that there should be consequences.

“We narrowly avoided a severe altercation … in the hearing room,” Yung said. “We have got to figure out a way to deescalate.”

Councilor Wil Fuentes agreed.

“What happened is completely unacceptable. We need to find and figure out how we can take action to prevent these individuals from being here and potentially behaving in the same way,” Fuentes said.

After hearing from the councilors, Clark County Manager Kathleen Otto said she intended to reach out to the sheriff’s office and the prosecutor’s office to discuss the issue.

The discussion this week came after several people spoke out online about what they witnessed at last week’s Council Time. Clark County Today Editor Ken Vance also wrote a column. He described meetings as becoming an embarrassment to the community because no action was taken against offenders of the council’s rules regarding public comment. Beyond the two incidents last week, profanity had been chanted and used frequently in previous meetings.