Participate in City Council Meetings

The City Council holds public meetings to conduct its business and gather feedback from community members. All meetings are open to be viewed by the public. There are three types of council meetings.

Regular Meetings take place in person at the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building on the first and third Thursday of each month with limited exceptions for scheduled breaks and holidays. The agenda for these meetings includes open comment and business items requiring city council to vote. Some of these business items include public hearings. Regular meetings can be observed in-person in Council Chambers at the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building, 1777 Broadway, or viewed on YouTube, the city’s website, or on Channels 8 and 880 on Comcast in Boulder.

Study Sessions give City Council the chance to work on a particular issue or set of issues. While council may give direction to city staff during a study session, no votes are cast during these meetings. Study sessions are held online only. There is no in-person option for participants or community members, and only invited presenters will receive a link to join the virtual meeting space. All community members who wish to observe these sessions can do so by watching the broadcast on YouTube, the city’s website, or on Channels 8 and 880 on Comcast in Boulder.

Special Meetings are scheduled by council when formal action must be taken during a meeting that does not occur on a standard Regular Meeting night. These meetings do not include open comment. Special meetings are held online only. There is no in-person option for participants or community members, and only invited presenters will receive a link to join the virtual meeting space. All community members who wish to observe these sessions can do so by watching the broadcast on YouTube, the city’s website, or on Channels 8 and 880 on Comcast in Boulder.

Community members can provide testimony before City Council both virtually and in-person in two agenda categories:

1. Open Comment during Regular Council Meetings
2. Public Hearings during Regular and Special Council Meetings

Be Advised: Due to staff managing in-person and virtual speakers, advance sign-up is required for all public participation. In-person sign-up on the night of the meeting is not available.

The sign-up forms for Open Comment and Public Hearings are available in English and Spanish. If you request an interpreter, the city will make every effort to secure one for you.

Open Comment

Open Comment is an opportunity for up to 20 individuals to speak for up to two (2) minutes each on any topic that is not scheduled for a public hearing (specific topics council will be voting on) that evening. Open comment is scheduled at all regular council meetings, but not special meetings or study sessions.

• Registering to speak does not guarantee your name will be selected. 
• If fewer than 20 community members in total sign up, all individuals will be selected to speak in the order in which they registered.
• If more than 20 people sign up, the Clerk’s Office will first identify and prioritize community members who did not speak during open comment at the previous regular meeting. Those individuals will take the available speaking slots in random order. If open slots remain, speakers who have been identified as having spoken at the prior meeting will be randomly chosen to fill any remaining slots.

Register to speak during Open Comment by completing this online form.

Public Hearings

Council regularly holds public hearings prior to voting on a new policy or a proposed change to city ordinance or code. Community members may sign up to testify in public hearings. There is no limit to the number of community members who can sign up to speak at a public hearing, and individuals will speak in the order in which they signed up. Testimony at a public hearing is limited to three (3) minutes if there are 15 or fewer speakers, or two (2) minutes for more than 15. Community members may choose to pool time by indicating that preference on the form.

Register to speak during a Public Hearing by completing this online form.

• The sign-up forms for both open comment and public hearings are available at 8 a.m. on the Friday prior to the meeting and close at 2 p.m. on the Wednesday before the meeting.
• Once your form has been submitted, you will receive a system generated confirmation e-mail verifying your form has been received. If you do not receive this confirmation e-mail within 15 minutes of submitting your form, please contact the City Clerk's Office before the sign-up closes to ensure you will have time to resubmit your form.
• You will be asked to indicate on the Open Comment & Public Hearing forms if you will be speaking virtually or in person. In-person speakers will speak first, and virtual speakers will follow. All speakers will have the option to change their location preference if needed by contacting the City Clerk’s Office.
• Only one person is permitted at the podium at a time, unless a speaker brings one companion for physical, linguistic or moral support.
• All speakers are asked to state their name and connection to Boulder, such as, neighborhood in which they reside, Boulder-based employment, school or business ownership.
• Each audience member is permitted one sign or flag up to 11”x17” in size, held no higher than the person’s face.