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Clerk’s office to pilot digital public-comment sign-up using iPads, staff recommend tiny URL over QR codes
Summary
City staff told the council committee they have built an online public‑comment form and plan to pilot iPad stations in the chambers; staff recommended avoiding QR codes and using a short URL, and asked council to decide who will manage the queue during hybrid meetings.
City staff said the clerk’s office has built an online public‑comment form and plans to pilot two locked iPads in the council chambers so members of the public can sign up electronically rather than with paper cards.
The proposal aims to reduce misspellings and clerical work, help the clerk’s office capture accurate names and topics for minutes and improve the hybrid meeting workflow for callers on Zoom and in the room.
Clerk’s office staff described a Google form and a live spreadsheet that sorts signups (for example by whether a commenter wants to speak on an agenda item) and shows whether someone is connecting via Zoom. The staff member presenting said they would prefer a short URL over a QR code because of cybersecurity concerns and earlier unsuccessful coordination with ITS. Staff proposed a locked iPad stand to secure the device in chambers and asked for council direction about when to start the pilot and who should moderate the electronic queue during meetings.
Council members and clerk staff discussed practical issues and a short implementation timeline. Staff urged running a test before rolling the system out citywide; one staff member suggested waiting until the October 27 test date if the committee agreed. Council members raised the need to assign monitoring responsibilities (the president, vice president or parliamentarian), suggested a small practice run with clerk staff, and asked that the public‑facing form be shared with council staff ahead of the trial.
Clerk staff noted there would be a learning curve and that the office wanted to keep paper signups available for users who prefer or need them. They also said they are exploring borrowing or buying a locked iPad stand so devices would not be left unattended.
Next steps: staff said they will circulate the live form and recommended timing for the pilot; the committee did not record a formal vote and asked staff to coordinate test runs and present results at a future meeting.
