Apparently, I can't submit an e-comment on an item in the consent calendar so I am placing it here. I am very disappointed that you are moving public comment to the beginning if the meeting. Most of your campaigns stressed transparency and a desire to represent the citizens of Sandy. Your actions do not reflect that. This is a community where many, if not most people work from 8-5 and have little flexibility to adjust their schedules. Your 5:15 meeting time prohibits citizens on that schedule from running for the city council and discourages the general public from participating. While access on Zoom has helped, there are people commuting, preparing meals, etc. at that time. If you don't want to break up your meeting agenda for public comment at 6 PM, then start the meeting at 6 PM. Additionally, requiring public comment on all items except public hearings during the initial comment period denies citizens the opportunity to listen to the council discuss the item and become better educated about it before making a pertinent comment. It also limits them to three minutes to address all of the agenda items that may interest them. While a couple of you may feel that this proposed schedule and procedure are acceptable because that is what many other organizations do, they are not the citizens who elected you and pay taxes to cover your salary and benefits. You have a responsibility to encourage public engagement for all ages, economic statuses, and technological abilities, and to increase transparency by scheduling your weekly meeting at a time that is reasonably convenient for your constituents. You also have an obligation to use the time the citizens set aside to view the meeting in an expedient manner. If you have seventeen participants and three hours later you are thanking the remaining viewers for staying on Zoom, and the meeting continues until 10:05, I respectfully suggest that you may want to listen to the recording and determine if the schedule and procedures are really the issue.
I appreciate the council calendar has been revised for party equity. When the resolution was combined with the calendar, the agenda was left with a dead link to the calendar page, and the packet was not updated with the final calendar.
Apparently, I can't submit an e-comment on an item in the consent calendar so I am placing it here. I am very disappointed that you are moving public comment to the beginning if the meeting. Most of your campaigns stressed transparency and a desire to represent the citizens of Sandy. Your actions do not reflect that. This is a community where many, if not most people work from 8-5 and have little flexibility to adjust their schedules. Your 5:15 meeting time prohibits citizens on that schedule from running for the city council and discourages the general public from participating. While access on Zoom has helped, there are people commuting, preparing meals, etc. at that time. If you don't want to break up your meeting agenda for public comment at 6 PM, then start the meeting at 6 PM. Additionally, requiring public comment on all items except public hearings during the initial comment period denies citizens the opportunity to listen to the council discuss the item and become better educated about it before making a pertinent comment. It also limits them to three minutes to address all of the agenda items that may interest them. While a couple of you may feel that this proposed schedule and procedure are acceptable because that is what many other organizations do, they are not the citizens who elected you and pay taxes to cover your salary and benefits. You have a responsibility to encourage public engagement for all ages, economic statuses, and technological abilities, and to increase transparency by scheduling your weekly meeting at a time that is reasonably convenient for your constituents. You also have an obligation to use the time the citizens set aside to view the meeting in an expedient manner. If you have seventeen participants and three hours later you are thanking the remaining viewers for staying on Zoom, and the meeting continues until 10:05, I respectfully suggest that you may want to listen to the recording and determine if the schedule and procedures are really the issue.
I appreciate the council calendar has been revised for party equity. When the resolution was combined with the calendar, the agenda was left with a dead link to the calendar page, and the packet was not updated with the final calendar.