New Encinitas Tool Makes It Easy To Comment on City Council Agenda Items

ENCINITAS, CA — The city of Encinitas is rolling out a new online civic engagement tool for public comment on City Council agenda items, it was announced Friday. The new tool, eComment, is another way the city can receive public input as it enables the public to comment on City Council agenda items even if they are unable to make it to the Council meeting to comment in person, according to a news release.

The eComment feature will be implemented for all City Council meetings beginning with the Sept. 14 meeting.

When the City Council meeting agenda is posted online, an eComment link is placed in the agenda under the staff report for each item. Before the Council meeting, community members not only have the opportunity to read the staff reports and supporting materials, they can click on the eComment link, complete the form online, and submit their comments on any or all of the agenda items.

The eComment period opens when the City Council agenda is posted and closes at noon the day of the meeting. During the eComment period, community members can click on the Current Council Agenda link to find the links within the online agenda.

Residents can submit a comment of up to 250 words, as well let the Council know their position on an item by selecting "oppose," "neutral" or "support."

“eComment is another tool the city is deploying to be even more inclusive in the democratic process because it provides community members an easy way to voice their opinions to City Council,” said Encinitas City Manager Karen Brust. “Our hope is that the eComment system facilitates new participation in the City Council meetings with citizen input.”

Once the public comment period closes, a report of all ecomments will be provided to each Council member. Reports of ecomments will be treated like emails received after agenda posting and become part of the official record.

The new eComment system represents the third online tool the city of Encinitas has rolled out this year in its effort to empower community member involvement in the civic engagement process. The other tools, Nextdoor and PlaceSpeak, were previously launched. Each tool is serving unique functions for city communication, as follows:

• Nextdoor – As a recognized public agency on the established location-based social network Nextdoor, the city is using this platform to proactively push information out to community members. Community members active on Nextdoor are then able to have a discussion amongst one another on the city’s posts.
• PlaceSpeak – This recently launched tool will be used for the City to provide information on a topic and gather input from verified members of the community in a variety of ways (discussions, polls, surveys, etc.). Community input will be used to guide city and council decision making.
• eComment – The city will use eComment to give community members a convenient way to get involved and provide official input on City Council agenda items. All comments will be consolidated into a report and delivered to City Council members prior to a meeting, helping them better understand the views of their constituents.

Per City Council direction, the initial launch of eComment will be a one-year trial. Based on results from this trial, Council will determine whether to continue with the service and/or expand its use for Commissions.

It was not clear from the city's news release if there is a cost for the eComment trial, or how much it cost the city to sign up for PlaceSpeak.

Patch file photo/Maggie Avants