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Read the press release here.

Public Gets Its Say At City Council Meeting For The First Time

By  Heather Cherone and Kayla Martinez | July 26, 2017 12:09pm | Updated on July 26, 2017 2:55pm

 The new shot clock — designed to keep public speakers to their three-minute limit — looms over Mayor Rahm Emanuel for the first time Wednesday.
The new shot clock — designed to keep public speakers to their three-minute limit — looms over Mayor Rahm Emanuel for the first time Wednesday.
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DNAinfo/Heather Cherone

CITY HALL — For the first time in the history of the Chicago City Council, members of the public got their say Wednesday.

For a little more than 30 minutes, 12 speakers covered a range of issues facing the city from homelessness to the use of money earmarked for redevelopment projects and city services — or the lack thereof.

The first speaker was George Blakemore, a frequent commentator at public meetings, who always prefaces his impassioned statements by introducing himself as a "concerned citizen."

A giant neon shot clock — the newest addition to the City Council chambers — kept the speakers from exceeding the time limit.

While the speakers walked to a newly installed microphone to have their say, Mayor Rahm Emanuel chatted with City Clerk Anna Valencia, seemingly paying no attention to the Chicagoans speaking, several of whom said they were proud to be given a chance to speak to the City Council.

Most aldermen paid little attention to the speakers as well, chatting with their colleagues and milling around the chambers.

After the meeting, Emanuel told reporters he paid close attention to the public speakers, and specifically turned to watch them speak. However, Emanuel said what he heard was very similar to the things he hears from members of the community at various events around the city and when he takes the CTA Brown Line to City Hall twice a week.

"Welcome to Democracy, it is a beautiful thing," Emanuel said.

David Shapiro addresses the City Council during the very first comment period about the need to fund Chicago's schools adequately. [DNAinfo/Heather Cherone]

Mark Wallace, the director of Citizens to Abolish Red Light Cameras, drew loud cheers and applause when he stepped to the microphone to condemn the red-light camera program as corrupt. The City Council was expected Wednesday to approve a $38.75 million settlement for failing to allow motorists to challenge tickets issued by red-light and speed cameras.

"The city continues to defend a program that is not defendable," Wallace said.

City officials reluctantly moved to allow public comment at City Council meetings after a judge ruled blocking public comment violated the state's Open Meeting Act.

But the overall limit on public comment was blasted by Richard Garcia, who along with Andy Thayer of Uptown Tent City Organizers brought the lawsuit that forced the issue, and who said it unfairly limits the ability of the public to participate in council meetings.

"In a city of [three] million citizens, three minutes for comment is not enough," Garcia said.