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No one knows who said it, but city officials confirm they have heard rumors in passing that the city council meeting format may or may not be up for an adjustment.

Time set aside for public comment during every city council meeting has been, since its conception, slotted at the beginning of meetings.

But now elected officials are considering moving the time to the end of the meeting.

Apache Junction Councilman Jeff Serdy says he doesn’t know when, but the topic may be up for discussion in the near future.

"I have heard rumors of that, yes," he said. "I don’t know, I think we are going to be discussing that."

As of press time Friday, the topic has not been put on any future council agenda, but Councilman Chip Wilson says he, too, has heard the discussion in passing.

"I heard about it yesterday, but no, we have not discussed it," he pointed out after the March 31 work session.

Mr. Wilson says he is happy with the current time slot reserved for public input.

"I encourage (public comment). This is an opportunity for people to officially speak out," the councilman explained. "Why is it that we are going to move the ‘call to the public’ to the end of the meeting?"

Councilman Wilson says moving the time slot would be something that is not necessary.

"I don’t know what the goal is," he said. "They are going to have to sell me on it."

One councilman says elected officials are required to stay to the end of meetings to "handle business," but citizens should not be forced to stay late into the night to voice their opinion.

"They (residents) are the ones who need to come in and talk to us and leave if they have to," said Councilman Joseph Severs.

"Why in the world would we change that?" he asked.

Mr. Severs would also like to see the amount of time offered to residents during "call to the public" extended to five minutes.

"I was happy with the five minutes and when it was reduced to the three minutes I was not for it," he said. "I think that it should go back to the five minutes and be kept at the front of the meetings."

Mr. Severs says he notices citizens coming to the podium are nervous and have a hard time saying what they want to say in the allotted three-minute time frame.

"A lot of people have very important issues and when they come to us they are nervous because they don’t have a lot of experience with public speaking," he said.

Apache Junction resident Noel Benoist says if "call to the public" was shifted to the end of the meeting it would "circumvent" public opinion.

"I think it is extremely important for the time to be at the front," he said. "If they move it to the end they will only get public reaction."

A common fixture during city council meetings, Mr. Benoist says public opinion is important to the process of ensuring a "proactive" local government.

"We have to do all we can to prevent problems rather than being reactive," he said. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."