PHARR – Over the past several months, several Rio Grande Valley cities have moved away from allowing people to speak before or during a public meeting while an item is being considered.

At least seven Valley cities, several school boards and Hidalgo County have chosen to go that direction.

Pharr city commissioners and the mayor unanimously decided to remove public comments from city meetings; as well as the city of McAllen, Mercedes, Donna and Peñitas.

Lorena Singh, a Pharr resident, spoke about a recent experience she had during a meeting.

“They tell you to wait until after the meeting is adjourned. And so they call your name, one by one; whoever’s registered for public comments. And they take you to a room. It was kind of odd because you don’t know where you’re going and you’re the only one that can go into that room,” Singh explained.

A new state law will now require comments to happen before or during the discussion of an item.

Watch the video above for the full report.