Council committee previews 1Meeting public speaker and comment portal; code changes required before public rollout

Councilor Joaquin Martinez, chairing a City Council committee meeting, on an online demonstration of a new public‑facing portal that would let residents sign up to speak or submit comments electronically for council meetings. City staff and a Granicus trainer showed the 1Meeting public portal’s sign‑up flow, clerk reporting features and timer display but said code changes are needed before the city can fully publicize the service.

City staff showed committee members how constituents would use the portal to find meetings, click a microphone icon to “request to speak,” choose the agenda section, indicate for/against/no position, and enter name, address and a topic. “This is where your constituents would go to view meetings, and to sign up to speak or comment,” Granicus trainer Susan Spencer said during the demonstration.

Why this matters: staff and the mayor’s office have been pursuing a digital sign‑up option to modernize public participation, but the current council rules (Chapter 2‑2) list only mail, email, fax or phone as…