The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly passed an ordinance at their last meeting to address guidelines around formal presentations given to the assembly by members of the public.
Ordinance 2026-01 focuses the purpose of formal presentations — the 10-minute presentations scheduled near the beginning of assembly meetings and generally listed on the agenda under “Presentations with Prior Notice” — on addressing items within the borough assembly’s purview. The ordinance also states that it seeks to continue allowing members of the public to present on “issues of public concern relating to a borough service or power under borough code.”
The ordinance does not address any of the other public comment opportunities typically available during assembly meetings.
Assembly president Ryan Tunseth, who co-sponsored the ordinance with assembly vice president Kelly Cooper, said during the meeting that the purpose of the ordinance was to provide the assembly president with guidance “as to what things should or should not be accepted” for public presentations “with the thought of trying to maximize the assembly’s time but about maximize the listening public’s time, and not be wasting that time.”
Before the amendments passed on Feb. 3, borough code simply stated that any member of the public may request to make a formal presentation, and approval and scheduling of the presentation was at the purview of the assembly president.
“When I read that, I didn’t feel like it really provided a lot of guidance as to what sort of things might not be appropriate,” Tunseth said. “I think those things can sometimes be controversial. They sometimes could just be benign … but not necessarily important.
“What I certainly want to avoid is that opportunity being used as the ‘bully pulpit’ … or something being used to proselytize or advance some particular agenda or make a political statement or something to that effect.”
Under the ordinance, KPB 22.40.130(B) retains the original language regarding approval and scheduling of formal presentations but also clarifies that, while a presentation may concern a subject not contained in the assembly’s agenda for that meeting, it must still be on matters “relating to borough services, oversight and/or authorities granted to the assembly under borough code.”
A Dec. 18 memorandum from Tunseth and Cooper to the assembly states that formal presentations “provide information on assembly business and are helpful in that they provide the assembly insight on financial, code or planning issues and allow for different perspectives on matters of public concern.”
At the same time, the memo states, “it would not be an appropriate use of public resources to expend time on matters outside the scope of the assembly’s ability to adequately address such issues.”
Assembly member Cindy Ecklund said that she supported the language to amend borough code.
“I think this one provides some restraint,” she said. “But I would hate to limit the public of bringing ideas to our attention.”
Assembly member Lenora Niesen said that the code amendment was “good stewardship of our time to focus our time on things that we actually have the power to deal with, without necessarily limiting the public’s input on anything.”
“I think this strikes a really good balance .. I think it covers everything that it needs to cover and allows, still, a lot of discretion for the president and future presidents,” she said.
Cooper emphasized that the ordinance was not intended to limit public participation in assembly meetings.
“The public can always participate multiple times in a meeting during public comment,” she said. “This is specifically for the presentations … but this isn’t limiting the public’s opportunity to give us input.”
The ordinance passed unanimously. Find it, supplemental materials and the full recording of the Feb. 3 meeting at kpb.legistar.com.
