Arroyo Grande council limits non-agenda public comment to one minute

August 16, 2024

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

The Arroyo Grande City Council has decided to limit public comment on items that do not appear on meeting agendas to one minute. [New Times]

During its meeting on Tuesday, the Arroyo Grande council discussed the possibility of moving public comment on non-agenda items to the end of its meetings. Eventually, the council chose to keep the public comment slot at the beginning of meetings and to reduce the time allotted to each speaker from three minutes to one minute.

Councilman Jim Guthrie suggested limiting non-agenda pubic comment to one minute per person in order to make meetings progress more efficiently.

Arroyo Grande City Manager Matthew Downing said other cities, including Atascadero and Grover Beach, have adopted policies that set aside time for public comment on items not on the agenda after the council completes its consent agenda. Grover Beach moved its non-agenda public comment to the end of council meetings. Likewise, the Lucia Mar School District has, for a couple of years, been taking public comment at the end of its board of trustees meetings, Downing said. 

Grover Beach City Manager Matthew Bronson said the Grover Beach council adopted its public comment shift during its July 22 meeting.

Arroyo Grande residents who attended Tuesday’s meeting were unhappy with the limit placed on non-agenda public comment. Multiple members of the public spoke out against the change, but the council still voted unanimously to reduce the time limit from three minutes to one minute per person.