Published: 1 years 277 days ago
Sacramento Press: Residents will need to attend Sacramento City Council meetings later in the evening if they want to speak about issues that are not on the weekly council agenda.
The City Council changed its meeting rules Tuesday night to move the open public comment section to the end of the weekly meeting. Currently, the public can speak at the beginning of the meeting on any issue that is not related to the City Council agenda.
Council members were split on the issue and voted 5-3 to alter the time of the open public comment section. Mayor Kevin Johnson and council members Kevin McCarty and Ray Tretheway opposed the change. Councilman Steve Cohn was absent from the meeting.
Johnson and Tretheway said it benefits the public to keep the open public comment period earlier in the evening. Councilwoman Lauren Hammond, meanwhile, strongly supported the move.
“I think moving public comment to the end hurts transparency and council access, and I think it’s disrespectful to the public,” Johnson said.
City Council meetings start at 6 p.m., and citizens often participate in open public comment period before 7 p.m. Now, citizens who want to speak on off-topic issues will need to wait until the end of the meeting. City Council meetings vary in length; some meetings have run for several hours.
http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/34979/City_Council_to_hear_public_comment_later_at_night
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