San Mateo council to try 6 p.m. special‑meeting starts with six‑month review

The City Council directed staff on Dec. 15 to try a standard 6:00 p.m. start time for special meetings that occur before regular meetings, beginning in January 2026, and to return in six months to review how the change is working.

Deputy city clerk presented an analysis showing past special meetings began as early as 5:00 or 5:30 p.m. in years when closed‑session or lengthy study sessions were required. Council members debated the tradeoffs: Deputy Mayor Fernandez and others argued a 6:00 p.m. start helps members with daytime work schedules and encourages greater participation without rushing from work; others cautioned that some study sessions require more than one hour and that heavy public‑interest items may need earlier starts or additional special meetings.

Council agreed on flexible guardrails: the default will be a 6:00 p.m. start, staff will aim to communicate any exceptions clearly and use additional special meetings or the occasional 5:30 start for heavier agendas. The city manager said staff will try to schedule meetings to allow an approximate 11:00 p.m. end time and will work with the mayor and council to balance workloads. The council asked staff to monitor the effects on meeting length, member availability and public participation and report back after six months.

There was no formal roll‑call vote on this procedural direction; staff characterized it as council direction to implement a trial and report back.