By Sarah Light, staff writer

People addressing the Albert Lea City Council during the public forum will now be limited to a talking time of two minutes and one topic unless otherwise granted, according to new procedures adopted Monday night.

The previous City Council procedures allowed a talking time of five minutes with no limit on the number of topics.

&8220;I would reassure the public that everyone here is doing this in the best interest of our city,&8221; Mayor Randy Erdman said.

This change will help the council meetings remain more professional, he noted.

The issue of whether to change public forum time at council meetings came about after the June 11 council meeting, when Erdman ruled two of the city&8217;s most frequent visitors to the podium as out of order for comments made while addressing the council. Similar grandstanding took place in the past and had culminated that evening.

After much discussion about how to handle the public forum time during the past two months, the council voted on the issue as its last item under new business on the agenda Monday. The new rules were to be effective immediately.

Erdman said he thought this change would limit the &8220;laundry list of complaints&8221; that some people brought to the podium each month.

The City Council&8217;s toughest critic Roger Bok said he will work to get the public to overturn the podium measure.

Councilor George Marin said he checked with his hometown of San Diego, Calif., to see how that city&8217;s leaders conducted their forums. San Diego rules allow one minute and one topic, he said.

&8220;I think the two minutes is fair,&8221; Marin said. &8220;One topic is fair.&8221;

The idea&8217;s only dissenting vote came from Councilor Al Brooks, who said he agreed with changing to one topic but disagreed with changing to a two-minute time limit.

Cutting the time will limit those citizens who have come to share something worthwhile with the council, Brooks said.

Councilor Vern Rasmussen reminded the audience that the presiding officer can ask for further time on individuals as needed.

&8220;This is one more step to make our meetings more professional,&8221; Rasmussen said. &8220;In doing this, I think we set a standard that we can live by.&8221;