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PARKERSBURG — The ACLU of West Virginia warned Parkersburg City Council in a letter that it could face legal action over prohibiting speakers at its meeting from talking about individual members.

“The ability to criticize government officials is part of the foundation of our democracy,” said Aubrey Sparks, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia. “Free speech by nature includes criticism of government officials. Parkersburg City Council has a choice: They can grow thicker skin or we’ll see them in court.”

The public forum portion of council meetings has been a point of debate this year, with members voting 6-3 on March 11 to limit topics that could be addressed to items appearing on the agenda. The new rule was tested March 25 by two speakers, one of whom tried to address a public statement issued about a vacant house fire and the other who linked the date of an upcoming council meeting, which was on the agenda, to the death of President Abraham Lincoln on the same day, April 15, in 1865.

Council President Mike Reynolds told both speakers they were violating council rules and would be removed if they didn’t stop.

But the ACLU letter does not take issue with that change, noting that council can “impose content restrictions that are viewpoint-neutral” in a limited public forum.

“However, it is not permissible to curtail, close or otherwise limit the speech of an individual or forum if the motive or effect of doing so is to suppress a viewpoint,” it said.

An ACLU-WV representative said it’s his understanding that the organization had been contacted by at least three members of the community concerned about council’s public forum policies. He pointed to an article about the March 11 meeting as touching on the matter.

At that meeting, Reynolds told a resident not to call people out by name after the man said Reynolds made a disparaging remark about him via text message.

Reynolds and other council presidents have often opened public forums with the admonition that it is not a venue for “personal attacks.” Council rules state that “all remarks shall be addressed to the presiding officer and Council as a body and not to any individual member of the Council.”

The ACLU-WV letter says it is the organization’s position that “any policy that prohibits interested citizens from speaking about their council members violates West Virginians’ right to free speech.”

Council President Mike Reynolds said he had not seen the letter as of Friday but had asked City Attorney Blaine Myers for an opinion on it. Myers said Friday he had not reviewed it yet.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com