Online Public e-Comments
The City Council can receive your testimony on current agenda items via this website. The public e-Comment period opens at Noon on the Friday before the City Council meeting and closes at 9:00 a.m. the day of the meeting. During the e-Comment period, click on the Current Council Agenda to find the links within the online agenda. Open the Sample Public e-COMMENTS Agenda and learn more about Public e-Comments.
The Public e-Comments system helps new voices to be heard in the democratic process. Citizens fill out a web comment form which is embedded into the online Council agendas. The data from the form is organized into a report for the City Council. The system is maintained by the City Clerk’s Office.
[INSERT SAMPLE] e-COMMENT FORM - Need New Design from Granicus
PUBLIC e-COMMENTS SYSTEM BENEFITS:
- Helps focus citizen comments to items currently on the agenda;
- Provides a convenient means for citizen input for those who find it difficult to attend meetings;
- Encourages more informed comments by providing a one-stop shop for viewing background information on agenda items such as staff reports and maps or photographs;
- Is a convenient online system for citizens to reach all five Council members simultaneously;
- Provides a method for increased civic engagement in the democratic process through electronic media;
- Allows electronic citizen comments to be part of the public record in accordance with California open government laws;
- Enables the City Clerk’s Office to track, maintain and archive electronic comments;
- Provides the City Council with an easy-to-read, organized report of Public e-Comments prior to each meeting to inform their final deliberations and vote.
HOW IT WORKS:
When the web agenda is posted (at least 72 hours prior to the meeting) a Public e-Comments link is placed in the agenda under the staff report for a specific item. Before the Council meeting, citizens not only have the opportunity to read the staff reports and supporting materials, they can click on the Online Public e-Comments Link, complete the convenient form online, and formally weigh-in on the item.
LIKE VERBAL PUBLIC TESTIMONY, PUBLIC e-COMMENTS ARE:
- Limited to a set number of characters in the text box, much as in-person testimony is limited to three minutes;
- Directed to the Council-body, as all five Council Members receive the same information in the Public e-Comment report;
- Considered to be testimony and become part of the public record subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act and Public Records Act disclosure.
THE e-COMMENT PERIOD runs from the time the agenda is posted and made available to the City Council at noon on Friday until 9:00 a.m. the day of the meeting, at which time the e-Comment link is removed from the agenda. By closing the comment period 9 hours before the meeting begins, staff has adequate time to compile the data and distribute the comments to the Council and staff for review prior to the meeting. The Council staff also makes copies available to the public as per SB 343 (effective July 1, 2008) amending California Government Code Section 54957.5.
THE DATA from the form is imported into a database that can be sorted and compiled into an easy-to-read final report or analyzed in a graph format.
[INSERT SAMPLE] e-COMMENT REPORT - Need New Design from Granicus