City Council Staff Report Page 1 of 5 May 26, 2026
Staff Report
Agenda Item No. 4.4
DATE: May 26, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Joan Malloy, City Manager
SUBJECT: Adopt a Resolution Approving the City of Union City Public Comment Speaker Card and Remote Public Comment Queue Policy
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Beginning July 1, 2026, Senate Bill 707 requires eligible legislative bodies, including the City Council, to provide members of the public with an opportunity to attend and provide public comment remotely through a two-way audiovisual platform or two-way telephonic service. Remote participants must be provided the same opportunity to comment, including the same time allotment, as in-person speakers.
Because City Council meetings will be conducted in a hybrid format, staff recommends adopting a formal policy to establish a consistent process for counting in-person and remote speakers before public comment begins for each item. This will allow the Mayor to determine the appropriate public comment time limit based on the total number of speakers.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT
Goal B. Governance and Organization Effectiveness:
The recommended action supports effective meeting management, transparent procedures, and consistent administration of public meetings.
Goal E. Communication and Outreach:
The recommended action supports public participation by clarifying how members of the public may provide comments during in-person and hybrid City Council meetings.
BACKGROUND
The City Council provides public comment opportunities during regular and special meetings in accordance with the Ralph M. Brown Act. Public comment is welcomed and encouraged on agenda items and during Oral Communications for matters within the City Council’s subject matter jurisdiction.
The City currently uses speaker cards for in-person public comment. The City’s existing Agenda Item No. 4.4
City Council Staff Report Page 2 of 5 May 26, 2026
speaker card states that individual public comment is limited to 3 minutes per agenda item and includes fields for the speaker’s name, date, Oral Communications, agenda item number, support or opposition, and optional contact information.
The City’s agenda language currently explains that completing a speaker card and providing identifying information are not required to make a public comment, but are requested for recordkeeping purposes.
Beginning July 1, 2026, SB 707 will require the City Council to provide remote public participation opportunities. The agenda language prepared for SB 707 implementation states that members of the public may provide public comment in real time, either in person or remotely, and that remote participants must be afforded the same opportunity to comment, including the same time allotment, as those attending in person.
Because hybrid meetings will include both in-person and remote speakers, staff recommends that the City Council consider a formal policy to establish how speakers will be counted, called, and managed during public comment.
DISCUSSION
The proposed Public Comment Speaker Card and Remote Public Comment Queue Policy is intended to provide a clear and consistent process for public comment at City Council meetings, especially once hybrid meeting requirements begin.
The policy does not require speaker cards. Instead, speaker cards remain a requested tool for meeting administration. Members of the public who do not complete a speaker card may still be included in the speaker count if they identify their intent to speak to the City Clerk or designated staff during the speaker count window before the speaker list is closed.
Hybrid Meeting Speaker Count Process
For hybrid meetings, the proposed policy establishes a speaker count process before public comment begins for each item.
Under the proposed process:
1. The Mayor announces the agenda item or public comment period.
2. The Mayor asks the City Clerk or designated staff how many in-person speaker cards or in-person speaker requests were submitted for the item.
3. The Mayor asks the City Clerk or designated staff to call for remote speakers.
4. The City Clerk or designated staff announces the remote speaker count window and instructs Zoom participants to use the “Raise Hand” feature. Telephone participants may use *9 or another announced method.
5. The City Clerk or designated staff provides a reasonable opportunity for remote participants to raise their hands and then reports the number of remote speakers to the Mayor.
6. Based on the total number of in-person and remote speakers, the Mayor announces the public comment time limit for the item.
Agenda Item No. 4.4
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7. After the speaker count is reported and the time limit is announced, the speaker list and remote queue close for that item unless reopened by the Mayor.
This process gives the Mayor the information needed to set a fair and consistent time limit for the item.
Speaker Order
The proposed policy provides that in-person speakers will generally be called first, followed by remote speakers.
Remote speakers will be called in the order displayed by the City’s remote participation platform. In Zoom meetings, this means remote speakers will be called in the order in which they were displayed, based on when each participant raised their hand.
This approach provides staff with a predictable process and avoids uncertainty about how to order remote speakers.
Late Speaker Cards and Late Raised Hands
The proposed policy establishes that late speaker cards, late in-person requests, and late remote raised hands will not be accepted after the speaker list closes unless the Mayor reopens the speaker list or public comment.
This is necessary because the Mayor must know the total number of speakers before setting the public comment time limit. Allowing additional speakers after the speaker list closes could make it difficult to apply the same time limit equally to all speakers on the same item.
Calling Speakers
The proposed policy requires speakers to be ready when called.
If a speaker does not respond when called, the City Clerk or designated staff may move to the next speaker. The nonresponsive speaker’s opportunity to speak on that item may be deemed waived.
The City is not required to hold the speaker’s place, return to the speaker later, or delay public comment because a speaker is unavailable when called.
This rule applies equally to in-person and remote speakers.
Public Comment Time Limits
The Brown Act allows the City Council to adopt reasonable regulations to ensure that public comment is conducted in an orderly manner, including regulations that limit the total time allocated for public testimony and the time allotted to each speaker.
The proposed policy maintains the City’s standard public comment time limit of up to three Agenda Item No. 4.4
City Council Staff Report Page 4 of 5 May 26, 2026
minutes per speaker, unless the Mayor announces a different time limit.
The Mayor may reduce or adjust the time limit based on the number of speakers, the nature of the item, the length of the agenda, or other meeting-management considerations, provided that the same time limit is applied equally to all speakers on the same item.
Speaker Time and Safety Interruptions
The proposed policy does not establish a broader decorum policy. Instead, it is limited to speaker time limits and immediate safety concerns.
The Mayor or presiding officer may interrupt a speaker when the speaker’s allotted time has expired. If the speaker continues after being informed that the time has expired, the Mayor or presiding officer may end the speaker’s public comment for that item and direct staff to proceed to the next speaker.
The Mayor or presiding officer may also interrupt a speaker if there is an immediate safety concern, including conduct that involves the use of force or a true threat of force. The Brown Act recognizes that a “true threat of force” means a threat that has sufficient indicia of intent and seriousness that a reasonable observer would perceive it to be an actual threat to use force by the person making the threat.
The policy also states that nothing in the policy shall be interpreted to prohibit public criticism of the City’s policies, procedures, programs, or services, or of the acts or omissions of the City Council, City officials, or City staff. This is consistent with the Brown Act’s protection of public criticism.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no direct fiscal impact associated with adopting the proposed resolution approving the Public Comment Speaker Card and Remote Public Comment Queue Policy.
Implementation will be handled by existing staff as part of regular meeting administration.
Any minor updates to speaker cards, agenda language, or remote meeting instructions will be absorbed within existing operating budgets.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution approving the City of Union City Public Comment Speaker Card and Remote Public Comment Queue Policy.
Prepared by: Thai Nam Pham, City Clerk
Submitted by: Thai Nam Pham, City Clerk
Agenda Item No. 4.4
City Council Staff Report Page 5 of 5 May 26, 2026
Attachments
1. Draft Resolution
2. Exhibit A - City of Union City Public Comment Speaker Card and Remote Public Comment Queue Policy