If you care to take part in this call, please email cstorer@imla.org.

By way of background, there is a feeling, if not a reality, that civility, public discourse, and interactions we all have with one another are becoming more negative by the day. This, we find, is true in local government as well. NLC released a report in 2021 highlighting the existence of the issue on a national scale (https://www.nlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/On-the-Frontlines-of-Todays-Cities-1.pdf).

Engagement with the people is essential to our form of government. This is especially true when it comes to local governments. The discussion between a local entity and the public is not like Twitter, an uncivil individual can’t just be removed from the platform. Local governments are tasked with finding ways to operate that maximize public engagement and free speech while maintaining order and civility in public meetings, amongst local officials, between local officials and the public, and on social media.

Join Robert Palmer, the General Counsel and Director of Government Affairs for the Iowa League of Cities to discuss the role of the local government attorney in assisting the government in promoting civility, including a discussion of legal considerations in doing so. This is not a formal presentation, but rather, the aim is to foster discussion on zoom between members interested in this issue.