Tips for participating in City Council meetings

Meetings Overview

  • Consent Agenda: The Consent Agenda is used to to expedite Council meetings by passing resolutions, ordinances on first reading, and other items through one motion made by the City Council. Ordinances on the Consent Agenda are merely scheduled for Council to set a future date for their public hearing. Except for ordinances on the Consent Agenda, you can provide public comments on any other Consent Agenda items in-person or through written public comments submitted through www.LakewoodSpeaks.org.
  • Public Hearings: When City Council is considering a new ordinance, a public hearing is required to receive public testimony when the ordinance appears on the agenda for the second time. Ordinances are used to amend or create new city laws, rezone property, or authorizing the city’s budget. If you would like to comment on a specific ordinance, you can speak in-person during the public hearing, or submit written public comments through LakewoodSpeaks.org.
  • Public Comment: This is the time to provide your thoughts and comments on topics that don’t relate to anything on the agenda. Are you concerned about a park or think City Council should tackle a specific issue? This is your opportunity to make your voice heard. You can provide written public comment online at LakewoodSpeaks.org or provide in-person public comment at the meeting during the public comment portion of the agenda. 
  • Study Session: These are just what the name says. The City Council studies an issue through in-depth presentations and discussions. To comment on the issues being studied, you can provide written public comment online at LakewoodSpeaks.org. 

Agenda items and presentations

Start by using LakewoodSpeaks.org, which allows you to review the agenda items for each meeting, watch presentations and submit written comments for each council member to review before and during the meeting. Presentations for a specific agenda item are prerecorded and available on the website 10 days before each meeting so you can watch them when it is convenient for you. Staff reports, maps and other documents related to an agenda item are also available at the same time, which gives you time to review the details of the topic. Written public comment on LakewoodSpeaks.org is open during and after the meeting, but will close at 10:00AM the day following the meeting.

 

Public comment

There are several opportunities to provide the specific kind of public comment you want to contribute during the meetings.

  • Consent Agenda: You can provide comments on resolutions council is considering that night during this segment. Resolutions are used to authorize items such as contracts, fees, policies and procedures, certain payments and specific actions. Resolutions appear only once on the agenda, so this is the time to provide your comments on the specific resolution you are interested in. 
  • Public Hearings: When City Council is considering a new ordinance, a public hearing will occur to take public testimony when the ordinance appears on the agenda for the second time. Ordinances are used for such items as creating new city laws, amending existing city laws, rezoning property or authorizing the city’s budget. If you want to comment on a specific ordinance, the time to do that is during its public hearing. 
  • General Public Comment: This is the public comment segment during regular meetings to comment on topics that do not relate to anything on that night’s agenda.
  • Study Sessions: These are just what the name says. The City Council studies an issue through in-depth presentations and discussions. To comment on the issues being studied, you can provide written public comment online at LakewoodSpeaks.org.

Watching meetings

You can watch council meetings in any of the follow locations.

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