Isophoric News · Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Oswego's Common Council voted 7-0 to add a 15-minute public session to the end of its committee meetings
The Oswego Common Council voted 7-0 on Monday, Oct. 26 for Resolution 346, an amendment to its rules that adds a 15-minute public session to its committee meetings, placed at the end of each meeting, according to the result announced at the meeting. The proposal had come to the Administrative Services Committee on Oct. 19 as a request from Council President John FitzGibbons, "to amend the rules of the Common Council Committee Meetings," according to that committee's agenda, and mirrors the 15-minute session that opens full council meetings. As first proposed it would have come at the start of the meeting. Before the vote, Mayor Robert A. Corradino called the change "a fine example of this council and administration working together," saying the original proposal was for 15 minutes at the beginning and that he and several councillors thought it better, considering the time of residents and department heads, to put it at the end, according to the meeting video. Resolution 346 was taken up immediately before Resolution 347, the GHD engineering bid. At the Oct. 19 committee meeting, the proposal's sponsor said the change would give residents one more opportunity to raise concerns about the city, and said they were "perfectly open to an amendment" putting the session at the end. Two councillors raised concerns. One suggested capping the session at 15 minutes and moving any overflow to the end so department heads would not have to sit through a long one; the other said they had never received a complaint about being unable to speak at a committee meeting, because the audience is already welcome to speak on agenda items, and that if the session goes forward it should come at the end and be limited to city business. The sponsor disagreed with limiting the topics, saying the council does not edit the content of public session at its own meetings; the council's published rules for that session bar profanity, name calling and personal attacks on city officers, employees or members of the public and require speakers to list their name and address. Mayor Robert A. Corradino read prepared remarks into the record, saying his concern was not with public participation but with its practical effect on city employees and on residents who come on city business, that public sessions in his 11 years of attending council meetings had run well past their allotted time, in some cases an hour or two, and that if the council decides an additional comment period is necessary he would strongly encourage placing it at the end of committee meetings. A councillor said they had no problem with putting it at the end but that the county legislature, which holds its public session at the end, sees a significant portion of its 25 legislators leave once their business is done, and "it's easier to pick out one of seven than one of 25." The four committee members present then voted in favor of a motion to amend the proposal to put the session at the end of committee meetings; one member was excused.
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