POLICY FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

MIDDLESEX COUNTY MUNICIPAL JOINT INSURANCE FUND

POLICY FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

The Middlesex County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund (“Fund”) recognizes the value of public comment on issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on matters of community interest. In order to permit the fair and orderly expression of such comment and consistent with the Open Public Meetings Act, the Fund shall provide a period for public comment at every regularly scheduled and advertised meeting of the Fund and Fund Board of Commissioners. If a meeting is being held by virtual means, the opportunity for public comment will be provided through virtual means as determined by the Chairperson.

The portion of the meeting during which the participation of the public is invited shall be limited to three (3) minutes per individual. At the discretion of the Chairperson, the three-minute period for public comment may be extended. Individuals engaging in public comment will only have one (1) opportunity during the meeting to publicly comment. Public participation shall be governed by the following rules:

1. A participant must be recognized by the Chairperson and must preface comments by an announcement of his/her name, municipality of residence, and place of employment, and if they are speaking on behalf of a group or organization, the name of that group or organization.
2. Each statement made by a participant shall be limited to three minutes in duration.
3. No participant may speak more than once during the period of public comment.
4. All statements shall be directed to the Chairperson; no participant may address or question an individual Fund Commissioner or any of the Fund’s Service Providers.
5. Members of the public are encouraged to provide a copy of written statements to the Fund Commissioners for reference.
6. The Chairperson may:

1. Interrupt, warn, or terminate a participant’s statement when it exceeds the 3 minute limit or is abusive, obscene, defamatory, or is irrelevant to the business of the Fund;
2. Request any individual to leave the meeting when that person behavior is abusive, obscene or is disruptive to the proceeding;
3. Call for a recess or an adjournment to another time when the lack of reasonable decorum so interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting as to warrant such action; and
4. Waive these rules when necessary for the protection of safety, privacy or the efficient administration of the Fund’s business.

POLICY ON VIDEO CAMERA USAGE DURING PUBLIC MEETINGS

Members of the public are permitted to videotape the public portions of Fund meetings subject to the following reasonable restrictions:

1. No source of lighting or flash photography is permitted;
2. The camera/videotaping must be silent;
3. The person operating the camera must be in the back of the room and positioned in a way so as not to obstruct the vision of any meeting participant or member of the audience, a tripod may be used as long as it does not obstruct the view of others; silent cellphone videotaping must be disclosed and may be permitted as long as the cellphone is not held above shoulder-level and does not interfere with the view of other members of the audience;
4. The person operating the camera must do so in a professional and safe manner without causing any disruption to the meeting or to any member of the audience,
5. The person operating the camera is not permitted to speak during the meeting unless it is part of the public comment period and the Chairperson has afforded that person the opportunity to address the Fund in accordance with the above Policy for Public Participation, and
6. If circumstances warrant it, the Fund may impose other reasonable restrictions necessary for the protection of the persons attending the meeting.
7. If videotaping a meeting causes any disruption, the Chairperson will be authorized to request the person operating the camera to cease such operations.
8. No audio or video recording may be used for any commercial purpose.
9. In order to avoid any claims of manipulation or false representation, no audio or video recording should be edited and distributed to third persons in edited form, except to disclose the exact quotations from such recordings.
10. The Fund encourages the person creating such recording to provide a copy of the full recording to the Fund upon request.