Public Participation Policy

City of Oshkosh Transit Advisory Board Public Participation Policy

Adopted: November 20, 2013

In order to fulfill its advisory role to the Oshkosh Common Council and afford the opportunity for members of the general public to provide comment on transit service, the Transit Advisory Board (hereinafter referred to as The Board) adopts this policy for public comment.

Policy Statement

The Board welcomes public comment to help fulfill its responsibilities to the Common Council in the following venues, subject to the parameters outlined in this policy:

At public hearings
At Board meetings, in connection with specific agenda items or under an open public comment period
In writing

Public Hearings

As a recipient of Federal transit operating assistance funds, GO Transit is required to provide public hearings relating to specific decisions regarding its service. The following items would require a public hearing:

Annual program of projects
Proposals to increase or decrease fares on any of our fixed-route or paratransit services
Elimination of routes
Creation of routes
Change in net hours of operations for any routes of more than 5 hours per week
Change in route alignment which collectively covers more than 20 percent of a route’s distance
Change in service frequency for a route which increases or decreases the number of trips per week by more than 20 percent

The public hearings are advertised in a newspaper of general circulation in the Oshkosh urbanized area, including newspapers oriented to the minority communities. The notice is advertised at least twice before the public hearing, with the first advertisement occurring not less than two (2) weeks before the date of the hearing. GO Transit staff will also provide notice of its public hearings through notices posted on buses and at the Transit Center.

Barring unusual circumstances, GO Transit will schedule its public hearings to occur at regular meetings of the Transit Advisory Board.

Board Meetings

Per municipal ordinances, the Board will establish a normal monthly meeting date, time and location. The Board will meet based on the necessity of timely input from the Board on matters of concern to GO Transit. If there are no such matters, GO Transit staff will cancel the meeting and will communicate the cancellation notice to Board members and the public as early as possible. Notices of cancellation shall be communicated to the public in the same manner as public notices for meetings are communicated.

GO Transit staff will provide public notice of the Board's regular meetings at City Hall, on the City's web site at https://www.oshkoshwi.gov, and to the media as required by Wisconsin Statutes.

At its meetings, the Board will allow for public comment under any item on the agenda, except for any items that may be considered under a closed session. The Board will also designate a period during its meetings to allow for public comment on transit-related concerns that are not included on that meeting's agenda.

The Board has the following guidelines for public comment provided at its meetings:

A citizen must provide their name and address.
A citizen may speak only on issues within the purview of the Transit Advisory Board
A citizen may provide comment only once during the open public comment period, and only once during each agenda item
A citizen may elect to provide written remarks to supplement or replace an oral statement
The citizen must address the board, not staff
A citizen may speak up to three minutes, unless granted permission by the Board chairperson to speak for a longer period
Citizens participating in Board meetings shall conduct themselves according to the Civility Pledge adopted by the Oshkosh Common Council on June 14, 2011 by Resolution 11-270:
No person shall personally attack a Board member, city official, city employee or any other person. For purposes of this section personal attacks shall include comments directed at a particular person or persons which pertain to any matter that is unrelated to the performance of official duties or the conduct of city business, are threatening, slanderous, defamatory or obscene or are of such a nature that the comments disrupt the meeting or cause a disturbance. No person shall make irrelevant, unduly repetitious, offensive, threatening, slanderous, defamatory, or obscene remarks or act in such a manner as to disrupt or disturb the orderly conduct of any meeting, including handclapping, stomping of feet, whistling, shouting or other demonstrations. Any person violating this provision shall be called to order by the Board chairperson. If the conduct continues, the Board chairperson may order the person removed and the Board shall make a fact finding whether such behavior was outside the scope and content of the Board’s rules and, if applicable, whether the behavior was of a character to cause a breach of the peace.
During the open public comment period, citizens shall provide comment only on transit-related items not discussed elsewhere on the Board's agenda for that meeting.
A maximum of fifteen (15) minutes is allowed for open public comment. Citizens will be allowed time to speak on a first-come-first-serve basis. If the fifteen (15) minute period has not elapsed and no citizens are present to provide additional public comment, the Board may elect to close this period early. The Board also has the discretion to extend this time.

In writing

In order to ensure full participation by those who are unable attend the Board’s meetings, the Board will also receive written comments by mail or electronic mail. These may be sent through the following methods:

By mail, to Transit Advisory Board, c/o GO Transit, 926 Dempsey Trail, Oshkosh, WI 54902
By fax, to Transit Advisory Board, c/o GO Transit, (920) 232-5343
By electronic mail, to tab@oshkoshwi.gov

Comments received in this manner will be forwarded to Board members as a part of the staff memo for the next Board meeting. Comments must be received prior to a public hearing or board meeting in order to be incorporated into the record for that hearing or meeting.