Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Citizens at the public comment mic are going so far off topic – and attacking aldermen so much – that it was time Tuesday for corporation counsel Greg Moredock (pictured) to make a presentation to the city council about the Open Meetings Act.

“Public comment is a designated public forum,” Moredock said. “The government is limited in the restrictions that it can impose; in fact, we can only impose reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions. Those restrictions need to be content-neutral, they need to be narrowly tailored to serve a specific government interest, and the city needs to provide ample alternative channels of communication.”

People are mad about, among other things, changing camera angles on the video feed during public comment. One alderman told WTAX News it’s because people behind the speakers were making obscene gestures. By the end of the night, the council was accused of not following its own rules, making up the rules as they go along, and not even having rules.