Frequently Asked Questions

Anyone can appear before the City Council and express their point of view. You may speak during the general public comment segment toward the beginning of each meeting, on any topic that is not related to legislation being considered that evening. Or you may address a specific legislative item on the agenda, in which case you will be called to speak when the item comes up for discussion. In either case you must sign up to speak with Council Staff by 7:30 to address the Council under General Public Comment, or prior to the start of the item that you want to address and your name will be placed on a speaker list. If you are speaking on a specific item it is helpful to let Council Secretary know the agenda item reference number. The Council Secretary is usually seated at the entrance to the Council Chambers. Speakers are taken in the order they signed up. The Council President determines the length of time allotted to each speaker at the beginning of each meeting, and due to the frequently long agendas, this is typically two minutes. Therefore, it is important to keep your comments short and plan on making your point as quickly as possible.

Because the agenda for a Council meeting is ever-changing, the actual agenda for a meeting is not final until 72 hours prior to a meeting, which is typically 5 p.m. on the Friday immediately prior to the Council meeting. At the meeting, copies of the agenda can be found just inside the entrance to the Council Chambers. Also, you can access the City Council agenda from our web site by accessing the Find Legislation, Meetings, Agendas

From the City Council web page select