Palmdale council adopts ordinance moving regular meetings to Tuesdays at 5 p.m.; residents urge later times and remote participation

The Palmdale City Council voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance changing the regular city council meeting day to Tuesday and keeping the start time at 5 p.m.

Council staff presented two options for reorganizing meeting schedules: Tuesdays at 5 p.m. (Option 2) or Tuesdays at 3 p.m. with closed session beginning at 2 p.m. The councilmember who made the motion asked the body to adopt the second presented option to keep the 5 p.m. start time; the motion passed after discussion and a roll-call vote.

The item drew substantial public comment. Supporters of changing the meeting day and time for business reasons included Michael Desano, who said the change "makes sense, just to conduct business during business hours" and Fernando Dutra, who told the council he supported staff’s recommendation because daytime meetings make it easier for consultants and agency partners to attend. Several speakers opposed moving meetings earlier. Diana Love said, "I am not in support of the change of the ordinance. I think it's very confusing to the members of the community and I also think it's very inconvenient for people who are working." Other commenters argued that the Antelope Valley is a commuter community and that earlier meetings would prevent many residents from participating.

During council discussion, one councilmember voiced concern that the version before the council did not include a provision for remote participation and asked whether the council could reach consensus to provide remote participation options for residents who commute. Another councilmember asked for clarification in the ordinance’s election-day language: the draft stated meetings would be adjourned on "election days" but did not specify which elections (city, county, state or federal). That councilmember said the ordinance needed specificity about which election days would cancel a meeting before the language could be finalized.

Despite those concerns, the council adopted the ordinance version keeping the 5 p.m. start time and moving the day to Tuesday. The ordinance was adopted by unanimous vote; no amendments were made to add remote-participation language or to clarify which election days would apply.

Ending: Councilmembers asked staff to return with any needed clarifications about election-day language and the feasibility of adding remote participation. A timeline for revised ordinance language or follow-up was not specified on the record.