FAIRHOPE, Ala.—A person who spoke during the public participation section of Monday’s City Council meeting was removed from the meeting by a police officer.

Councilman Lonnie Mixon, who presided during Council President Debbie Quinn’s absence, told Calvin Hunt to address the item he had requested be put on the agenda, or he would be removed from the meeting.

After Hunt continued speaking about what he claimed were problems that had not been fixed at Young Street Park, Mixon stopped him.

“You’re finished,” Mixon said.

A police officer tapped Hunt on the shoulder and told him he had been asked to leave, and escorted him without incident from the meeting.

Hunt had two items on the Monday agenda: “requesting public participation in the selection of the chief of police, and the city losing money to the county and annexation is needed.”

Hunt has addressed the council several times this year, often in heated terms claiming the city has ignored an area of town heavily populated by African Americans.

The rules for conducting Fairhope council meetings neither limit residents to agenda items during the public participation section, nor require that they must  request to be put on the agenda beforehand.

Such a rule restricting public comment to agenda items already set by the commission was adopted recently by the Planning and Zoning Commission, but the new rules for council meetings adopted in November do not have a similar limitation for agenda items set by residents.

The new rules state there will be a public participation section on the agenda, and that “no individual who is not a member of the city council shall be allowed to address the same while in session without the permission of the presiding officer and for not more than three minutes, unless approved by the presiding officer.”

At a recent council meeting, after Hunt and another person had criticized the council loudly, Mixon questioned whether the council could do anything about limiting that kind of public comment.

Quinn said she had checked with other councils and did not believe they could impose those sorts of limitations on public participation.

In other business, the council:

•Did not vote on a proposed 2 percent sales tax ordinance that was the subject of a recent public meeting attended by more than 200 people. The item was withdrawn from the agenda Friday.

“A majority of council members did not think we should go forward on this without (Quinn)’s participation,” Mixon said after the meeting.

Quinn is on a scheduled vacation and will return April 18, she said.

Mixon told the audience Monday that the sales tax ordinance will be considered at the April 27 council meeting.

•Withdrew an agenda item titled “establishment of pay scale for rank of captain on the Fairhope Police Department.”

Mixon said last week he put that item on the agenda to address the issue that former Police Chief Mike Comalander’s salary had not been reduced when he was stepped down to captain in January after new Chief Terry Sanders was appointed on an interim basis.

Mixon said last week that several inquiries by the council to city staff had not resulted in a salary adjustment.

“The pay issue has been resolved and his salary has been changed,” Mixon said after the council meeting.

•Approved the following accounts payable and cash disbursements for the month of March: general fund, $2,908,251; gas fund, $506,020; electric fund, $2,094,035; water and sewer fund, $427,376; capital projects, $76,139; and total funds needed, $6,012,755.