The September meeting of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission will feature newly revised public‑comment rules — changes introduced by chair Jay Tutchton of Bent County, who announced them without first discussing the revisions publicly with the rest of the commission.

Tutchton set forth the new rules as follows:

• The general public comment agenda item will be set at 60 minutes. 
• Virtual and in-person commenters will be called at random, replacing the previous first-come, first-served system of signing up and prioritizing in-person first opportunities. 
• The Commission will hear commenters in a two-thirds split, allowing only a third of the speakers to come from the online platform.
• Priority, in terms of receiving additional time and being moved to the start of the public comment period, will no longer be afforded to elected officials. 

It’s the last one, on public comment by elected officials, that’s already drawing angst.

Previously, elected officials, whether county commissioners, town or city officials or state lawmakers, were afforded five minutes each at the beginning of public comment periods at CPW commission meetings.

A letter to the commission from Colorado Counties, Inc., points out the practical effects of those public comment changes.

That change sends an “unfortunate message that the voices of local governments are less worthy of consideration than procedural expediency,” CCI wrote.

It could also mean elected officials might not be able to testify at all, under the system devised by Tutchton. Public comment periods at CPW meetings have sometimes gone on for hours, well over the 60-minute limit imposed by Tutchton.

The letter also pointed out that county commissioners are often the primary point of contact between state agencies and local communities, “bringing perspectives that individual commenters may not be able to provide. Artificial constraints on their ability to speak diminish transparency, weaken intergovernmental cooperation and erode public confidence in the decision-making process,” CCI wrote.

Abandoning the five-minute opportunity “without a compelling justification weakens CPW’s partnership with Colorado’s counties,” CCI wrote. 

The two-day meeting will start at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 2, in the Rizzuto Banquet Room at the student center of Otero College in La Junta.