Procedural Rules

Procedural Rules/Parliamentary Authority – Public comment at Regular City Council Meetings 

The mayor may, at his/her discretion, seek to modify procedural rules and/or guidelines for a particular hearing or meeting, as long as the modification is within the guidelines of Robert's Rules of Order/Parliamentary Procedure and isn’t in conflict with any constitutional provisions, law, statute, or ordinance or resolution heretofore or hereafter adopted.

At no time will the curtailing of public comment be permitted. Each and every speaker who signs up to speak, and who hasn’t given their time away via a pooling agreement, will be permitted to speak on the topic. 

Upon request, a representative of a registered neighborhood association or organization shall be allowed to speak for up to ten minutes. 

Other speakers may use “pooling” of time to add to the length of their comment period. To pool time so as to be granted up to ten minutes, a speaker must present the names of at least three individuals who are present in the audience and who wish to yield their three minutes. All three people must be present when the speaker is called. At any time before the speaker is called to approach the podium and begins speaking, an individual who yielded his or her time to the speaker may reclaim the time from the speaker and may preserve it for later in the meeting. 

Electronic presentations, such as PowerPoint slides or video must be submitted to the City Clerk’s Office by noon the day of the meeting in order to allow time for pre-screening. Presentations at study session must be related to a meeting topic.

(Per City Council Policies and Procedures Manual(PDF, 544KB) – Policy 05.8 – adopted May 14, 2018)