Riverside Considers Ending Remote Public Comment Option

The City Council’s Governmental Processes Committee is considering ending remote public comment options for city meetings; the decision will be discussed at the committee’s meeting next Wednesday, October 2, at 9:00 a.m.

Councilmember Philip Falcone, who chairs the committee, is spearheading the review of whether to stop allowing remote and call-in public comments during meetings. The other committee members, Councilmembers Chuck Conder and Jim Perry will join Falcone in the public discussion of whether to return to in-person comments only.

“Initiated during the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a remote/call-in public comment option was established as a method for members of the community to participate in providing public testimony during governmental meetings since the Council Chambers were closed to the public,” Falcone explains in the committee report that the remote option has served its purpose.

This remote option kicked off early in the pandemic when council chambers were closed to the public. Now that California’s State of Emergency ended on February 28, 2023, and Riverside’s City Council Chambers have been open again for in-person participation since June 1, 2021, officials think the alternative method may not be needed anymore.

City staff report that the remote call-in option hasn’t led to more public comments. They point out that the process causes delays in getting callers to speak and requires technical support without much benefit to show for it.

Other cities in the area, like Anaheim, Bakersfield, and Long Beach, have already stopped offering remote public comment options.