Some municipalities have time limits on public comment at council meetings, some have none.

But Long Branch has a new twist on the time allotted for residents, or other interested parties, to comment on ordinances or issues of interest.

Unlike any other venue, in Long Branch if a member of the public wants to ask a question or make a comment, they are permitted to speak only once on an issue and for just five minutes.

What's so unusual about that?

In this city by the sea, your five minutes includes any response by a council member or city official.

That means your five minutes could go by in the proverbial New York minute.

Such is the disdain the city administration has for its citizens that it purposefully adopted a rule that makes a mockery of their right to be heard.

At last week's City Council meeting, Diana Multaire, North Bath Avenue, observed, "This process is not working.

"The public has the right to ask and you have the duty to answer," she said, adding, "What you have done is a five-minute gag rule. You have removed yourselves from the admonition process."

Multaire's frustration has been echoed at other council meetings by other citizens.

Before someone came up with this affront, the council had barred comment on redevelopment at meetings at which redevelopment was the business at hand. Public comment, the council mandated, should be reserved for a "special" meeting two weeks later.

The five-minute rule that includes other people's comments and measures like it that discourage citizens from exercising their right to speak out are symptomatic of a systemic problem: the administration's attempt to suppress comment construed as negative.

This includes the voices of community activists and public officials speaking out on affordable housing or acts of violence in the city.

Residents of most municipalities expect their elected officials to respect and protect their rights. That is the primary reason they elect them.

In Long Branch, that level of trust appears to have become as elusive as getting a whole five minutes of council time in which to have your say.