Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Comment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council weighs reverting to one-hour public-comment window at start of meetings, asks staff for revised draft
Summary
Councilors debated reversing a recent change and returning public comment to the start of meetings with a 60-minute cap and chair discretion; staff was asked to prepare a draft revision and consider implications for signups and repeated speakers.
Councilors spent substantial time on the workshop discussing how the city schedules public comment. Staff described the current policy as a default 15-minute general comment period with chair discretion to reopen at the end of the meeting and the option for an hour when a large group appears.
Several councilors and residents urged returning to a simple model that places public comment at the start of the meeting with a one-hour cap, saying that approach is easier for attendees and reduces the burden on people coming for a specific agenda item. Others cautioned that long comment periods can keep a crowd waiting for a separate item and that the chair needs discretion to stop repetitive comments. “Just keep it simple,” one councilor said in favor of an hour at the start.
Council members asked staff to draft a revised rule that would move the principal public-comment period to the beginning of council meetings, set a 60-minute ceiling, and explicitly preserve chair authority to limit repetitious remarks. Staff also discussed procedural details such as whether repeat speakers should be limited and whether topic experts should be invited to committee meetings instead of general comment.
No ordinance change was adopted at the workshop; staff will return with a draft revision for further action. The proposal ties into the separate discussion of restoring remote public comment, which staff will study and bring back with proposed safeguards.
