City Council to Vote on Changing Meeting Time

The City Council will consider a resolution at Monday’s meeting that would move council meetings to 4:30 p.m. 

The move to change the council’s meeting time is being made by Mayor Victor Gordo “to accommodate more public participation,” Gordo said. “After listening to many in the public request that we get back to a more normal meeting time, we’re going to be doing that.”

Gordo announced his intentions to move the meeting time in a video released on Friday.

The Municipal Code requires that the City Council hold its regular meetings at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the City Council has been conducting special meetings beginning at 2 p.m. Mondays by videoconference/teleconference.

The council has not met at its regular time since last March when City Manager Steve Mermell declared a local emergency. 

“In order to conduct a regular meeting at an earlier, albeit interim time during the pandemic, an uncodified ordinance is proposed to change the regular meeting time from 5:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.,” the resolution states.

Audience members still are not allowed inside council chambers and the meetings will continue to be held via Zoom.

Gordo, who before being elected mayor in November served as the council’s District 5 representative, was instrumental in fully reopening local government in April. At that time, the council was meeting every other week and most commissions and committees were dark due to the coronavirus.

Gordo and several other council members pushed for committee and commission meetings to resume, even though the city was still responding to the pandemic.