Public Testimony is Too Early
The 5:00pm start time for public testimony is a barrier to participation by working people. The board can reduce that barrier by shifting the whole meeting agenda thirty minutes later. The meeting would start thirty minutes later, public testimony would start thirty minutes later, and the meeting would end thirty minutes later. The Board would have to weigh the negative impact of the change on the internal stakeholders against the positive impact for members of the public. The board could also resolve the problem by restoring Petitions and Delegations. It was not that long ago that there were two opportunities for the Board to hear from the public at each board meeting. One was public testimony when people could address motions before the Board. The other was Petitions and Delegations when people could speak on any topic. When the Board consolidated the two speaking periods they promised that, if the change created negative impacts, the Board would restore the second session. Petit...