City Council Meetings are not set up for conversation. After coming to testify as a citizen you end up with no comment for your public statement and a thank you for coming.
The need to have a back-and-forth conversation that is filled with many prospective speakers being heard respectful is really important. It is amazing when people tell their stories and how they came to their beliefs with the experience they have had. That knowledge of another person’s point of view can give more clarity to a situation and lead to better outcomes.