NEW ROCHELLE, NY (May 12, 2025) — A New Rochelle City Council member is proposing to rename the public comment portion of city council meetings from “Citizens to Be Heard” to “Community to Be Heard,” saying the change would better reflect the city’s diverse, mixed-status population.
Councilmember Albert Tarantino raised the idea during the discussion portion of the May 12 City Council meeting, saying the current name excludes residents who live and work in New Rochelle on student visas, work visas, or in other non-citizen statuses.
“I try to put myself in their place and see how it feels to stand up there,” Tarantino said. “You might not be a citizen, but we need to hear what you have to say.”
Councilmembers Shane Osinloye and David Peters both expressed support for the proposal.
“I like it,” said Osinloye.
“I have no objection to that,” said Peters.
Mayor Yadira Ramos Herbert asked about the procedural steps required to make the change. Corporation Counsel Dawn Warren said she believed it would require a charter amendment.
No vote was taken pending a legal review by Warren.
Our own review of New York State’s Open Meetings Law and the Model Rules for Public Bodies issued by the Committee on Open Government found no requirement governing what a public comment segment must be called. The state law focuses on public notice, equal access, and the right to record meetings, but is silent on naming conventions.
A search of the New Rochelle municipal code and City Charter on eCode360 — current through Dec. 2, 2025 — returned no results for the phrase “Citizens to Be Heard,” suggesting the designation may be a longstanding tradition rather than a mandated requirement.
A search of the New Rochelle municipal code found that Chapter 16, governing City Council rules, requires that “citizens shall be heard” — a procedural directive describing what must occur, not a named agenda item. “Citizens to Be Heard” as a segment title appears nowhere in the code or charter. That distinction matters: renaming the segment “Community to Be Heard” would not conflict with the code, since the public comment opportunity would still exist.
No code amendment, and certainly no charter amendment as Corporation Counsel Warren suggested, would appear to be required. If that is the case, the council could potentially make the change by resolution or informally, without amending the charter as soon as next week.
This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
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