Cedar Park Council: intent of new rule isn't to prohibit speech, but ...

Interesting, if not troublesome, tid-bit in the editorial page of Thursday's Hill Country News:

With no fanfare and limited discussion, the council passed a set of rules to govern itself. Among those is a paragraph that states: 

“Members of the City Council shall confine their discussions concerning a motion or a question to the merits of a motion made and seconded or to a question already presented to them. Councilmembers shall show respect and courtesy to, and refrain from making disparaging comments about, fellow Councilmembers, the public, and City staff in the conduct of a City Council meeting, outside of Council meetings, in social settings, and on social media.” 

Council Member Heather Jefts told us [the editorial board] that the verbiage had been discussed for some time and the intent wasn’t to prohibit speech, but to ensure the council members conduct themselves “in a manner befitting the gravity of (their) positions.”

Read more: http://hillcountrynews.com/stories/dissent-is-essential-to-our-democracy,77815

Jefts happens to be one of the liberal candidates on the Cedar Park City Council, having taken out conservative John Lux in May 2017.

Several dictionaries we consulted seem to agree that "disparaging" means "expressing the opinion that something is of little worth; derogatory." We'll see what comes of this.