The City Commission of Sweetwater on Oct. 6 approved an ordinance converting the city’s youth advisory board into an ad hoc entity and, on a separate item, approved on first reading updated rules for public comment that allow a designated representative to speak for a group.

Commissioners said both measures are intended to give the commission flexibility while preserving residents’ right to speak at meetings.

The youth-advisory ordinance amends Chapter 2, Article 10, Division 3 of the Sweetwater Code of Ordinances to make the board ad hoc, allow the mayor to constitute it on an as‑needed basis and require commission ratification of appointments. The measure was presented as a second-reading public hearing; no members of the public spoke during the hearing, and the commission adopted the ordinance by roll-call vote.

Commissioners also took up a separate change to rules governing public comment that the mayor described as modeled on county practice. The first-reading ordinance, described by the mayor as permitted by Section 286.0114 of the Florida Statutes, would require the clerk to maintain a speaker’s form and allow the commission president or the commission to designate a single representative to speak on behalf of a group. Supporters said the provision is a discretionary tool to manage meetings with large groups and repeated testimony; the commission president said he had no intention of invoking it routinely.

Motion and vote details: the youth-advisory ordinance (second reading) was moved by Commissioner Yano and seconded by Commissioner Reynaldo Rey; a roll-call vote recorded support from Commissioners Yano, Diaz, Ray, Villasil (as announced), and President Villanueva and the item passed. The speaker‑rules ordinance passed first reading on a motion by Commissioner Yano and second by Commissioner Ray and will return for second reading.

The mayor and the commission framed both items as administrative tools: the youth board change centralizes appointment authority with the mayor but preserves commission ratification, and the speaker-rule change aims to reduce duplicative testimony when large groups attend. No specific implementation timeline or changes to speaking time limits were set during the meeting; the commission president said he would not use the group‑speaker option in ordinary meetings.

Background: Commissioners said they have struggled in some meetings where many people from a single group seek to testify and that the new rules are intended to be optional tools, not limits on free speech.

The ordinances will be codified into the city code if and when the speaker‑rules measure clears second reading.