Housing and Human Services Commission adjourns special meeting for lack of quorum, hears public comments informally

The Housing and Human Services Commission adjourned its special meeting on July 23 at 10:10 a.m. after failing to reach quorum, Vice Chair Mark Solomon said, and invited attendees to present comments informally though no formal votes or public commentary would be taken.

The adjournment prevented the commission from taking any official action on the agenda. "As a result, we cannot take action. Also, because we don't have quorum, we cannot take public commentary," Solomon said. Earlier, he asked staff to recess and attempt to secure quorum, first to 10 a.m. and then briefly to 10:05 a.m.

The decision mattered for participants who had come to City Hall to speak: Solomon thanked those who attended in person and said the commission wanted to hear from them despite the inability to accept formal public comment. He told the room, "We will reconvene at 10:05," then later declared the meeting adjourned at 10:10 a.m. and invited attendees to the table to speak informally.

Because the commission lacked quorum, there were no motions, votes or formal directions recorded during the session. The meeting record shows repeated attempts to delay start times to reach quorum, but the transcript indicates no subsequent formal meeting was convened during the special session. The commission did not set a new meeting date or take up any agenda items during this session.

Members of the public who spoke during the informal portion were heard for informational purposes only; the commission did not accept those comments as formal public testimony on the record and did not vote on any items. Any formal consideration of agenda items will require a future meeting with quorum present.