Long Beach Council Votes To Restrict Public Comment At Meetings

LONG BEACH, CA — The Long Beach City Council voted 6-3 Tuesday to overhaul how residents can address elected officials, advancing new rules that would move most public comment into a 90-minute period near the beginning of council meetings.

Councilmembers Cindy Allen, Kristina Duggan and Megan Kerr voted against the ordinance. The remaining six councilmembers supported it.

The ordinance is scheduled to return to the council Oct. 13 for a second reading and final adoption.

The vote follows months of debate over the city's public-comment procedures and a 7-2 council vote Sept. 1 directing staff to prepare the changes. Patch reported on the proposal in September.

Under the city's current system, residents can comment on regular agenda items as they come before the council. The new rules would instead consolidate comments on most regular business — including staff reports, contracts, resolutions and appointments — into a single period near the beginning of the meeting.

Residents would generally be allowed to speak once during that period for up to three minutes, although the presiding officer could reduce individual speaking times if necessary to accommodate the number of speakers.

The initial public-comment period would last up to 90 minutes. If speakers are still waiting when that period expires, the presiding officer could extend it in 30-minute increments.

Formal public hearings, ordinances, certain budget and tax matters and appeals would continue to have separate opportunities for public comment. Tuesday's vote followed roughly two hours of public testimony, much of it opposing the change.

Opponents have argued that moving comments to the beginning of meetings would force residents to speak before hearing staff presentations or the council's discussion of an issue, potentially reducing their ability to respond to information presented during the meeting.

Supporters have argued that establishing a predictable period for public comment would make council meetings more accessible to residents who cannot wait hours for a particular agenda item to be heard.

The proposal has also been tied to the cost of implementing Senate Bill 707, which expanded remote-access requirements for local government meetings under California's Brown Act.

Long Beach began allowing people to provide live public comment remotely at council meetings in July. City Clerk Monique De La Garza previously said three to four employees staff a call center during meetings to handle remote participation and remain on duty until meetings end.

The city estimated that consolidating most public comment near the beginning of meetings could save $150,632 in City Clerk overtime costs.

SB 707 does not require Long Beach to consolidate its public-comment periods. The decision to change when residents speak is a separate city policy intended in part to reduce the additional staffing costs associated with providing remote participation.

Tuesday's vote also marked a shift from the council's preliminary decision Sept. 1. Allen and Duggan opposed the proposal then, while Kerr voted with the 7-2 majority to move it forward. Kerr joined Allen and Duggan in opposing the ordinance Tuesday.

The measure now heads to its second reading. The Oct. 13 City Council agenda lists the ordinance as Item 25 and calls for the council to adopt amendments to multiple sections of Chapter 2.03 of the Long Beach Municipal Code governing council procedures.