{"id":453915,"date":"2026-09-05T00:24:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T00:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/453915\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T00:24:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T00:24:23","slug":"a-new-low-council-votes-to-condense-public-comment-at-city-council-meetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/453915\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A new low\u2019 \u2014\u00a0Council votes to condense public comment at city council meetings"},"content":{"rendered":"

An item changing how often residents can speak at Long Beach city council meetings, first heavily opposed in June, made its way back to council Tuesday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is what residents had to say:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy, of all of the things the council has proposed as an actual concrete idea that would actually amend the civil code [and have] structural changes of saving in this budget crisis, the one that you came forward with was condensing public comment?\u201d said resident Sage D.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe money you\u2019re saying you\u2019re saving, that\u2019s just an excuse. You don\u2019t want to hear residents complain. You don\u2019t want to let us air our grievances,\u201d said resident Cindy Milrad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a city of half a million people. Allowing us to speak for 60 seconds is laughable,\u201d resident Fi said. \u201cThis council has made an abundance of poor choices, yet the first on the chopping block is our right to speak on agenda items. \u2026 you are failing our citizens and the lack of decency to hear our voices \u2014 you will not silence us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not often that a proposal meets with universal opposition, unanimous opposition and then comes back for a second time,\u201d said Ian Patton with the Long Beach Reform Coalition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor you to use our ability to speak as a way to hold funds from the library, basically pitting the public against the library, is ridiculous,\u201d said resident Lideth Schuester.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBalancing a budget on the backs of public participation is a new low and it insinuates that your constituents aren\u2019t worthy of real time and engagement,\u201d said resident Ray Gabalich.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you run for office, justify your positions, look yourself in the mirror if you vote to not hear your constituents, the very people you\u2019re elected to represent?\u201d asked resident Jim Hanigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to want to do this thing. You have to want to hear from people. That\u2019s the DNA of this job, the DNA of why you entered service to do things for the public,\u201d resident Brian Cochrane said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t want to hear from us, you\u2019re reducing it to an echo chamber where your only voices are staff members with giant PowerPoints and presentations and your own voices.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is indeed a cheap shot to use our public libraries as a bargaining chip. The idea that if we cut our public commenting short, maybe you\u2019ll keep our local branch open an extra day of the week, that\u2019s low,\u201d said resident Meg Crabtree.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou and the City departments make long, self-congratulatory presentations that we all sit through patiently and now you want to deny our right to question those presentations when they are made,\u201d said resident Stewart Callaway. \u201cThis is a sneaky, underhanded attempt to stifle and limit discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Long Beach City Council approved an item Tuesday evening that will change how residents participate in city council meetings: during one portion at the start of the evening.<\/p>\n

Currently, residents get multiple chances to speak throughout city council meetings: one general public comment section where they can discuss anything they want, one opportunity per item discussed and one last general public section at the end of meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The changes approved by council will combine all three into a single portion at the beginning of meetings, saving roughly $150,000. In a City staff report<\/a>, officials argue these savings \u201cwill allow the City to restore vital community priorities, such as Quality of Life officers and expanded library services.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"District 6 councilmember Dr. Suely Saro intently watches as memebers of the public speak to the Long Beach City Council on Aug. 11, 2026. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

This item was previously considered<\/a> by the city council in June, which was met with heavy opposition from over a dozen residents. Residents showed up en masse at Tuesday night\u2019s meeting to speak against the item, with over 20 attending in-person and over Zoom, with an additional 20 emails written to the council opposing the changes.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

The public will get the chance to speak at meetings according to the following guidelines:<\/p>\n

Total public comment time will be capped at 90 minutes (the council can decide to extend that time)<\/p>\n

If 10 or fewer people sign up to speak, each person gets three minutes<\/p>\n

If 11-20 people give comments, each resident gets 90 seconds<\/p>\n

If more than 21 people sign up to speak, each resident gets 30 seconds to talk<\/p>\n

Residents will still be able to speak at hearings, which include items like zoning changes, alcohol licenses, Environmental Impact Reports and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In June, the council presented the public comment changes as a way to meet the requirements of Senate Bill 707<\/a>, which updates the Ralph M. Brown Act<\/a> to require California local governments to provide full remote access and participation to their city council meetings. Residents argued that the changes to public comment were not necessary to meet SB 707 requirements, and the motion failed 5-3.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"District 9 councilmember, Dr. Joni Ricks-Oddie, looks at the audience as members of the community give public comment during the May 5, 2026 Long Beach City Council meeting. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune) <\/p>\n

The City\u2019s Reasoning for the Changes<\/p>\n

The argument for bringing the item up again was for cost-saving measures, as the City prepares to adopt its 2027 fiscal year budget and grapples with a $58.2 million deficit<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The City projects it can save $150,632 in overtime hours for the City Clerk\u2019s office by moving public comment to one portion at the start of the meeting. City Clerk Monique De La Garza said a team of three to four people is in the call center during meetings to handle Zoom calls, all of whom are working until the meeting is over.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By moving public comment to the beginning and capping it at 90 minutes, she said that staff overtime hours can be cut.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s not that this is a reduction, it\u2019s a savings strategy,\u201d said Mayor Rex Richardson. \u201cThis is an additional cost that in a reduction scenario, or a reduction year, it\u2019s difficult to add more resources above and beyond holding the line in this scenario, particularly when services are being cut.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Councilmember Opposition<\/p>\n

Second District Councilmember Cindy Allen said she couldn\u2019t accept the item on the floor, and felt it was still very similar to the item the council previously rejected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just oppose this, I think it\u2019s the wrong thing to do,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Allen pointed out that the City\u2019s presentation materials, which are part of what they present at council during items, are not always made available to the public in a timely manner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

City Manager Modica called these last-minute additions \u201cvery rare.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"District 2 councilmember, Cindy Allen, looks at the podium as members of the public give speak to the council on Aug. 11, 2026. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune) <\/p>\n

For the Sept. 2 meeting, presentation items for the budget hearing were not published publicly until Tuesday afternoon, just hours before the meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Allen also added that she didn\u2019t like how the public comment changes were \u201ctied to libraries\u201d in the staff report.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mayor Rex Richardson told Allen to sign back up to finish her comments since she had reached her five-minute time limit, which she took issue with later in the meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had two sentences left and you just cut me off,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s so disrespectful, but you chair the meeting and you pick and choose who you want to hear from so I get it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She then finished her comments on the item, saying she can\u2019t imagine a council meeting where 10 or fewer people show up, so those people will presumably only have 60-90 seconds to speak.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fifth District Councilmember Megan Kerr, who voted no on the item in June, voted yes on Tuesday with requested tweaks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kerr requested the following changes to the motion:\u00a0<\/p>\n

That the City Clerk report at every meeting how many people are signed up to comment and their method of public comment\u00a0<\/p>\n

Having a cut-off date for City staff to add presentation materials and reports by the Friday before City Council meetings<\/p>\n

Closing public comment when the last person is speaking, rather than at the start of an item<\/p>\n

\"\"Megan Kerr, 5th district councilmember, looks at the audience as members of the public walk to the podium to give their public comments during the Long Beach City Council meeting on May 5, 2026. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

Richardson chimed in that he would support these changes, although the mayor doesn\u2019t get a vote on items.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sixth District Councilmember Suely Saro said she was making her decision based on young people, immigrants and people who may be coming to meetings as part of an organization or labor union.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t ever see my residents staying here later at night in order to make sure their comments are made, because they want to make it in the beginning and they want to be heard and then they leave. And I want to make sure I respect their time, they know their time is certain when they speak,\u201d Saro said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Allen and Third District Councilmember Kristina Duggan were the two dissenting votes on the item, with the rest of the council approving it 7-2.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The city council still has to vote on a final approval of this item at a future meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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