Council considers hearing new voices first at public comment

Presenter: The Eugene City Council considers letting new voices speak first at public comment, They also discuss bringing back the ability to share virtual comments. At the work session Oct. 13, City Recorder Katie LaSala:

Katie LaSala (Eugene, city recorder): The last time Council updated their operating agreements was in October of 2023 and since that time staff have been tracking topics that have been raised during meetings by councilors and indicated that they would like to discuss it the next time that their operating agreements come for discussion…

[00:00:34] So: Prioritizing boards, commissions, and neighborhood speakers during public comment. This current practice began under Mayor Piercy. Official representatives for boards, commissions, and neighborhood groups are prioritized during public comment over or ahead of the other randomized speakers.

[00:00:51] And staff were looking for some direction from Council as to whether they would like this process to continue and whether it should be formalized in your operating agreements.

[00:00:59] Second item: In-person public comment. This is a piloted change that began at the end of 2023. Currently, public speakers must be in person. Virtual public comment can be sent via email. Staff are looking for some direction from Council as to whether this piloted change should be formalized or whether that process should be discontinued.

[00:01:20] Presenter: Councilor Randy Groves:

[00:01:22] Councilor Randy Groves: I’ve heard from people that have actually come to testify before, where they actually don’t get in to testify, or they’re so late in the process that they have to leave for personal commitments, kids, or whatever, at home.

[00:01:36] And it seems like we hear from a lot of the same people, week after week, saying virtually the same thing.

[00:01:42] And I’m wondering: Is there a way that we could equitably spread that wealth out a little bit and prioritize people who haven’t spoken in, let’s say, a given month? So we hear what they have to say as well. I think all voices are important. But I don’t have an idea of exactly how to formulate that that would be, again, a fair and equitable piece.

[00:02:06] Presenter: Councilor Eliza Kashinsky:

[00:02:08] Councilor Eliza Kashinsky: I think some of Randy’s concerns surrounding folks who are coming to public comment: It’s their first time, you know, they’ve come out to do this, and then not getting to be heard because there are a lot of people who are here every time. 

I think, you know, there may be a way to do that. I think the biggest challenge is going to be sort of the logistics of figuring out who’s here and who’s not, and if there’s maybe some sort of honor system or something where people can kind of say, ‘I’m here regularly.’ 

I do think part of that is looking at the boards and commissions and maybe not continuing that practice to have them come first because we have had a lot of sort of repeat every time comments coming through that way.

[00:02:56] Presenter: Councilor Alan Zelenka:

[00:02:58] Councilor Alan Zelenka: Boards and commissioners and chairs, the reason we put that in there was because those folks (contribute) a heck of a lot of time and effort to the city already, and we want to make it as efficient as possible for them to be able to officially come to us in their capacity as a chair to then talk to us.

And having to potentially wait until 9:30, 10:00 didn’t seem very fair to someone who has something to say about what the commission was doing. That’s why we put them up in the front and I think that’s still a good policy. 

[00:03:28] In-person public comment: I don’t have a problem with people being virtual on public comment. I think it expands the pool… Some people have child-care issues or health care issues or they’re a care provider and they can’t get away from their house.

[00:03:46] Presenter: Councilor Jennifer Yeh: 

[00:03:47] Councilor Jennifer Yeh: I don’t have a problem with virtual comments. I actually think that’s one of the great things of recent technology is that folks who can’t make it all the way downtown, going across the river is hard. And, you know, if they can just call in, why not? If we can make it work. I would love to be able to do that again.

[00:04:05] So then the issue of folks not being able to speak is as old as I have been on here. I’m sure you all were talking about it before that. The randomized speakers, you know, cutting it off at a certain time. That was pretty early on, and I was not a big fan, kind of get it now, but, you know, that was our attempt to try to solve that problem.

[00:04:32] I know we got an email with someone suggested, ‘You could be on the honor system and you could report, ‘I’ve been here before,’ and that somehow you would get at the bottom of the random. And I applaud that as, like, you know, trying to think outside the box and how we might approach it. I feel like that might be hard for staff to accomplish.

[00:04:51] And also when the honor system, there’s going to be disagreements, so I don’t know how to solve this problem either. I think the only really way to solve it is to not have a time limit and just let everyone talk. Otherwise, there’s going to be a problem.

[00:05:02] So if we’re committed to the time limit, I don’t know that anything that we do will solve this problem. It’ll just create it in a slightly different way. But if someone has an idea, I hope they will bring it forward. Oh, Mike’s going to solve it for us. 

[00:05:17] Presenter: Councilor Mike Clark:

[00:05:18] Councilor Mike Clark: I do think I have an idea for what we’ve talked around, around public forum, and it’s this: Did somebody speak last time or did they not speak last time, two weeks ago? And if they didn’t, they go in Group #1, right? If they did speak, they go in Group #2.

And then you randomize those two lists with List #1 is first, and List #2 is second. So the folks who have spoken repeatedly are getting randomized, but they’re in the second group.

[00:05:49] So those who didn’t get to speak two weeks ago have a higher percentage of chance to speak to us than those who’ve spoken to us last week.

[00:05:58] Presenter: City Recorder Katie LaSala:

[00:06:01] Katie LaSala (Eugene, city recorder): That is possible. I would suggest if Council chooses to go down that path, adjusting the sign-up time slightly to give staff time ahead of the meeting beginning because staff are processing that list during the meeting right now.

[00:06:16] And so if you adjusted the cutoff time for signups to either at meeting or right before meeting, then staff would have the ability to process that a little bit easier. But it will require more staff time to do what you’re suggesting.

[00:06:30] I can’t tell you how long it’s going to take because we haven’t tested that right now. So it’s also an option, if you’re not ready to formalize that decision, you could give us direction to pilot that and then tell you what that looks like. 

[00:06:44] Presenter: Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson: 

[00:06:46] Kaarin Knudson (Eugene, mayor): I think we have more to discuss, and I want to appreciate the fact that other councilors also raised a few other items that I think need a little bit of clarifying discussion before the body might be prepared to swiftly vote.

[00:06:57] Presenter: City Attorney Kathryn Brotherton:

[00:07:00] Kathryn Brotherton (Eugene, city attorney): The resolution will not be brought back until a further work session occurs, and there will be potentially additional changes.

[00:07:07] Presenter: The City Council will continue the discussion at a future work session.