The City Council has added additional structure to the public comment process, aiming for more predictability and clarity for speakers and Council. Please note, there is no change to the voicemail public comment deadlines or speaking time.
Council actions:
- Create a speaker cap and close sign-up once the cap is reached.
- Set a speaker cap of 165 for the second Tuesday session and 50 for the third Tuesday.
- Adopts a system to reduce speaking time as the number of speakers grows.
The Council also shifted the sign-up deadline to 3 p.m. the Friday before the meeting. The previous deadline was 5 p.m. Monday. This change gives staff more time to notify speakers of their time limits and for speakers to adjust their remarks.
City staff will also create a formal process for collecting physical documents shared by speakers.
Council will discuss its July and December public comment sessions at a later date. The regular sessions fall during a scheduled Council break.
Tiered system for time:
For the dedicated session on the second Tuesday at 7 p.m., the public comment period will be approximately three hours with a cap of 165 speakers. For each number range of speakers, the speaking time is set as follows:
- 0 – 55 speakers: 3 minutes each
- 56 – 82 speakers: 2 minutes each
- 83 - 165 speakers: 1 minute each
The third Tuesday, during the Council’s 1 p.m. session, public comment will be approximately one hour. Speakers will be capped at 50 with speaking times adjusted as follows:
- 0 – 16 speakers: 3 minutes each
- 17 – 25 speakers: 2 minutes each
- 26 - 50 speakers: 1 minute each
The changes build on productive conversation and consensus from the Council retreat in January. They will take effect for the public comment session on Tuesday, March 12. Sign-up for public comment for that meeting will close 3 p.m. Friday, March 8.
Council members will monitor the impact of these changes.