How to Join and Participate in Council Committee Meetings

 Arabic/اللغة العربية | Chinese/简体中文 | Spanish/Español  | Filipino/Tagolog | Japanese/日本語  | Korean/한국어 | Laotian/ພາສາລາວ | Vietnamese/Tiếng Việt

How to Speak to a Particular Item

Council Committee meetings are held in hybrid format, using the Zoom webinar platform. There are several ways to join in — in person, by phone, or online. You can speak during the meeting in real time or submit a written comment ahead of time.  Committee Chairs may determine the number of speakers on an agenda item or reduce the amount of time available to each speaker to appropriately manage the meeting and ensure their respective Committee has time to consider all the agenda items. A member of the public may only provide one comment per agenda item.

For meeting management during the consent portions of the agenda, speakers will have one (1) minute per item and up to a maximum of three (3) minutes if there are three (3) or more items in that portion of the agenda.

For discussion and information items each speaker may speak up to (2) two minutes, subject to the Committee Chair's determination of the time available for meeting management purposes.
 

Offering Virtual Public Comment &/or Phone-in Testimony on Agenda Items

You may access each Committee meeting using the Zoom webinar link, phone number and webinar ID listed on each respective Committee agenda.

Members of the public can offer public comment on agendized items or during Non-Agenda Public Comment by accessing the meeting online using a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or Smartphone, or by calling into the meeting using a Smartphone, cellular phone, or land line. If participating via phone press *9 to raise your hand and *6 to unmute yourself. 

Two or more people who share a position on an agenda item can participate as an organized presentation, with a lead speaker or a few speakers presenting on behalf of the group. Please review the organized presentation portion further down on this page for more information.
 

In-Person Comment on Agenda Items

Each speaker must submit a written request (speaker slip) to Council Administration at the meeting where they wish to speak, indicating the item they wish to address.

Speaker slips may not be turned in prior to the day of the meeting or after completion of in-person testimony. In person testimony will conclude before virtual testimony begins.

Each person who submitted a speaker slip and wishes to address the Committee will be called by the Committee Liaison to approach the podium and provide testimony. They must state their name and identify whom they are representing, if they are speaking on behalf of an organization or another individual. Two or more people who share a position on an agenda item can participate as an organized presentation, with a lead speaker or a few speakers presenting on behalf of the group. Please review the organized presentation portion below for more information.
 

Organized Presentations on Agenda Items: (Formerly Known as Process for Ceding Time)

Groups of two or more people with a shared position may speak together or have a lead speaker(s) during a Council Committee meeting for an allocated amount of time as part of an organized presentation. Organized presentation requests must be submitted by the lead presenter 24 hours in advance of the meeting via the Organized Presentation Request Form. The lead presenter must list all individuals who are part of the organized presentation in order to determine how much time will be allotted to the presenter. All individuals listed as part of the organized presentation must be present. If individuals are not present, the amount of time available to the lead presenter will be reduced accordingly. 

All participants must use the same attendance format, either all in person or all virtual. If participants’ attendance formats are mixed (in-person and virtual), speaking time will be reduced for the group based on the attendance of the lead presenter. 

If a presentation (e.g. PowerPoint, video, audio) is to be used it may be submitted with the Organized Presentation Request Form. If not submitted with the form, it must be submitted via https://sandiego.seamlessdocs.com/ng/fa/city_clerk_file_upload  at least 2 hours in advance of the meeting.
 

Non-Agenda Public Comment

Every agenda for a regular Council Committee meeting shall provide a period on the agenda for members of the public to address that Committee on items of interest to the public that are not on the agenda but are within the jurisdiction of that Committee. Non-Agenda Public Comment shall be subject to the exercise of the Committee Chair's discretion for a given agenda.

In order to ensure that the Council has time to consider all agenda items, Non-Agenda Public Comment on particular issues and for each individual speaker will be as follows:

Each speaker will be limited to two minutes, and organized presentations are not permitted. If there are eight or more speakers on a single issue, the maximum time for the issue will be 16 minutes for in person speakers and 16 minutes for virtual speakers on that particular topic. Once the maximum of speakers allotted has exhausted, no further comment will be taken on the topic. A member of the public may only provide one non-agenda comment per agenda.
 

Please note:

Audio or Visual Media Use Guidelines:

If you plan to submit presentation materials or visual aids to share during your public comment, you must submit your materials at least two (2) hours prior to the meeting time. Please use the link below and select the appropriate Committee to submit: https://sandiego.seamlessdocs.com/ng/fa/city_clerk_file_upload

Per Council Policy 000-10, audio or visual media may be submitted in advance of Council and Council Committee meetings for display as provided for in the agenda for each meeting. The City shall not accept Universal Serial Bus (USB) or other peripheral devices to share media files from any member of the public for use during any meetings. For network security purposes, City Staff shall not accept or insert USB or other peripheral devices received from a member of the public or any unknown source into City computers and other equipment. View Council Policy 000-10 here.

Comment on Agenda Items and Non-Agenda Public Comment may be submitted using the webform link on each respective Committee Agenda, indicating the comment type and item number (if relevant) for which you wish to submit your comment. Comments received two hours prior to the meeting will be distributed to the Committee and posted online with the meeting materials. All webform comments are limited to 500 words but may include attachments. Comments received after that time frame the day of the meeting but before the item is called will be submitted into the written record for the relevant item. 

Levine Act. Pursuant to the Levine Act (Gov’t Code Section 84308), any party to a permit, license, contract (other than competitively bid, labor or personal employment contracts) or other entitlement before the Council is required to disclose on the record any contribution, including aggregated contributions, of more than $500 made by the party or the party’s agents within the preceding 12 months to any Council Member. Participants and agents are requested to make this disclosure as well. The disclosure must include the name of the party or participant and any other person making the contribution; the name of the recipient, the amount of the contribution, and the date the contribution was made.

Written Materials. If you wish to submit written materials for submission into the record or have an attachment to your comment, you may email it to CouncilCommittee@sandiego.gov or submit via U.S. Mail 202 C Street, MS3A San Diego, CA 92101. Materials submitted via e-mail will be distributed to the Committee Members in accordance with the deadlines described above. Materials submitted via U.S. Mail will need to be received the business day prior in order for it to be distributed to the Committee.

The public may view the meetings on public television (within the City of San Diego only) on City TV Channel 24 for Cox Communications and Spectrum or Channel 99 for AT&T U-Verse, or view the meetings online (link is external)

Order of Business

The order that business will be taken during a Committee meeting is not always in numerical order of agenda items at the discretion of the Committee Chair.

LATE-ARRIVING MATERIALS

Pursuant to the Brown Act, California Government Code Section 54957.5(b), late-arriving documents related to Council Committee meeting agendas items which are distributed to the legislative body prior to and during the Council meeting are available for public review at the Information Services Counter in the Lobby of the City Administration Building, 202 C Street, San Diego, CA 92101.  This relates to those documents received after the agenda is publicly noticed and during the 72 hours prior to the start of the meeting. Please note: Approximately one hour prior to the start of the Council Committee meeting, the documents will be available at the back of the Committee Room or Council Chambers on 12th floor of the City Administration Building in the binder for that respective Committee. Late-arriving materials received during the Committee meeting are available for review by making a verbal request of Council Administration staff located in Committee Room or Council Chambers.

Record of the Meeting and My Participation

Council Administration creates a record of action/journal of proceedings of the Council Committee meetings through the minutes as required by the City Charter.

The minutes reflect all motions made, the motion maker and second to the motion, as well as the vote.  It is important to note that the minutes reflect the motions made and not the discussion or comments of the Council Members or the names and comments of city staff or members of the public. Per Robert’s Rules (12th edition) 48:2, “the minutes should contain mainly a record of what was done at the meeting, not what was said by the members”, but there are many ways comments from the public are memorialized and can be seen:

1. You can submit written comments to each Council Committee via the webform listed on each Committee Agenda which will be retained in perpetuity as part of the Meeting File for each respective Committee Meeting;
2. In person speakers, the speaker slip that is submitted at the meeting is retained in perpetuity as part of the Meeting File for each Committee Meeting;
3. Video footage of each Council Meeting is posted on-line within 24-48 hours of the conclusion of each Council Committee meeting and retained and accessible to any member of the public who may wish to view their testimony and/or the discussion of the Council Members.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to Council Administration at 619-533-4474 or CouncilCommittee@sandiego.gov