Public Comment

Shortly before leaving office in late 2022, former Councilmember Droste submitted an item to Council that would consolidate all public comment to a single period at the beginning of Council meetings and limit the number of speakers. This is instead of our current practice of taking public comment on consent items as a group and then on each action item. While this proposal received a negative vote at the Agenda Committee (chaired by Mayor Arreguin), two councilmembers have revived the proposal through a modified supplemental proposal that consolidates public comment on all action items into one period at the beginning. The supplemental suffers many of the same shortcomings as the original.

I need your help to demand that Council vote no at Tuesday February 28 Council Meeting (details about how to voice your opinion below).

This proposal would mean you would have to condense all of your public comments on scores of complex and different items into one single 1–2-minute period. Councilmembers could effectively forget about or ignore your public comment when the item you care about comes up hours later. The public would not have the benefit of an item’s author description of the item or the initial council discussion before commenting. The spirit of the Brown Act, which governs public comment in California, is to safeguard the public’s First Amendment rights and to ensure transparency and accountability. Separating public comment from each policy item effectively strips the public of meaningful input. Critical issues around labor or tenant rights, police reform or the environment do not lend themselves to sound bites.

The most powerful monied interests have the loudest voice in City Hall. Now some want to further eliminate meaningful public participation.

Please write or call into Tuesday’s Council meeting and demand that Council vote NO to item 19 and the supplemental proposal!

To access the meeting remotely: Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, or Android device: Please use this URL https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1610465939. To request to speak, use the “raise hand” icon by rolling over the bottom of the screen.

To join by phone: Dial 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (Toll Free) and enter Meeting ID: 161 046 5939. If you wish to comment during the public comment portion of the agenda, Press *9 and wait to be recognized by the Chair.

To submit a written communication for the City Council’s consideration and inclusion in the public record, email council@cityofberkeley.info and cc clerk@cityofberkeley.info.

I ran for office to represent and listen to the people of Berkeley. Engaging in hours of robust public testimony and debate comes with the job description. Democracy can be messy and time intensive; don’t let Council shirk its duty.