Two months ago, the Austin City Council passed a measure reducing the frequency a resident can speak on agenda items.

Previously, Austinites could attend any council meeting and sign up to speak on any agenda item.

Under the new measure, residents would now be limited to speaking once every three meetings. According to Mayor Lee Leffingwell, who proposed the new rule, the measure would create equity. His argument is that the same residents often monopolize the speaking list.

Leffingwell’s proposal stifles the right of residents to bring concerns and insight to Austin’s woes. The change allows council members to hide behind mere procedural rules while residents grapple with the realities of government failure.

Austin, like many cities across the country, had to deal with the consequences of the national economic downturn. The city faced an unprecedented $40 million budget shortfall.

Without the wisdom of city manager Marc Ott, who concocted a remedy of budget cuts and increased taxes, the council would have bowed to special interests and seen departmental budgets explode at the expense of taxpayers.

Unfortunately, the city council still pressured Ott to give additional bonuses to public workers offset by an even higher rate, breaking its promise to residents to bring about a fair solution to difficult times.

The biggest failure of the city council has been its lack of oversight of the Capital Metro commuter line catastrophe. The commuter rail passed in 2004 promised voters that the Leander-to-Downtown route would be completed as early as 2008.

The project, though, has been crippled with delay after delay due to safety concerns. Close to half a billion dollars has been sunk into the project, even though it remains delayed indefinitely.

The city council has been asleep at the wheel, only calling the delays a “concern.” They owe it to residents, though, to investigate such incompetence, hold the Capital Metro board accountable, address safety concerns and fast-track the opening to ease traffic congestion that plagues I-35.

The Austin City Council has historically been a battleground pitted between developers and environmentalists. Such restraints on debate limit both sides from articulating their vision for our city’s future. Additionally, local government can now dole out millions of taxpayer dollars without scrutiny.

Obscuring such deals by imposing additional limits to debate is contrary to the ideal of open and honest government. Austin residents deserve a city council that is responsive to their needs, especially during dire economic times such as now.

The last thing city council should be doing is placing more barriers between itself and the citizens for which they hope to provide.