As a result of a vote at Council last week, changes are coming to public participation in City Council meetings. In short, eComments are no longer being read aloud and the character count has been extended to 1000 characters. In addition to eComments, the public can address the Council in their own voice via Zoom.

Councilmember Larry Agran is a proponent of the move to Zoom-assisted participation but objects to the plan to dispense with reading eComments aloud. As he put it at the January 12 meeting, “the chief responsibility of Council is to listen to as many people as possible”. He maintains that eComments are more likely to achieve the attention of Council and the public if they are read aloud.

For more on how to access the meeting, including how to submit eComments, speak to an agenda item via Zoom or phone, or receive technical support visit: https://legacy.cityofirvine.org/cityhall/citymanager/pio/ictv/player/default.asp?ID=512.