Ways to Get Involved in City Council Meetings

City Council meetings are open to the public. Learn about speaking and participating in meetings.

About City Council Meetings

The City Council holds public meetings to gather feedback from community members.

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.

Both City Council meetings and study sessions are open to the public, but only City Council meetings have open comment/public hearings.

Attend or Watch Council Meetings and Study Sessions

Find Dates for Upcoming City Council Meetings

View Live and Archived Meetings

The public can also watch the meetings online or view them on Boulder 8 TV on Comcast in high definition on channel 880 or standard definition on channel 8.

Speak at Council Meetings

Speak During Open Comment

The public has the opportunity to provide testimony both “virtually” and “in-person”. 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 be listed in the order in which they signed up. All speakers will have the option to change their location preference if needed by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at cityclerksoffice@bouldercolorado.gov.

BE ADVISED: Due to us offering participation now in both the in-person and virtual formats, ADVANCE SIGN-UP IS REQUIRED for Public Participation. In-person sign-up the night of the meeting WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE.

Open Comment is an opportunity for 20 individuals to speak for up to two (2) minutes 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.

  • Open comment is limited to 20 individuals and if more than 20 register, registering to speak does not guarantee your name will be selected. If more than 20 people sign up, the Clerks Office will randomly select 20 individuals.
  • If less than 20 sign up, ALL individuals will be selected to speak in the order in which they registered.

The sign-up form will open at 8 a.m. the Friday prior to the meeting and will close at 2 p.m. the Wednesday before the meeting.

Please note, once your form has been submitted, you will receive a 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 form closes to ensure you will have time to resubmit your form.

Speak During a Public Hearing

The public has the opportunity to provide testimony both “virtually” and “in-person”. 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 be listed in the order in which they signed up. All speakers will have the option to change their location preference if needed by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at cityclerksoffice@bouldercolorado.gov.

BE ADVISED: Due to us offering participation now in both the in-person and virtual formats, ADVANCE SIGN-UP IS REQUIRED for Public Participation. In-person sign-up the night of the meeting WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE.

Council also frequently holds public hearings, often before they vote on a new policy or make a decision on a proposed ordinance or change to city code. The public may speak to public hearing items when such hearings are scheduled.

The sign-up form will open at 8 a.m. the Friday prior to the meeting and will close at 2 p.m. the Wednesday before the meeting.

Please note, once your form has been submitted, you will receive a 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 form closes to ensure you will have time to resubmit your form.

Join Council Agenda Committee Meeting

Join a Meeting

Members of city staff and three members of council (Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and one rotating council member) meet Mondays at 9 a.m. (except when the Monday is a holiday, then meetings are held on Tuesdays) to go over the City Council agenda.

To join meeting virtually, view the Council Agenda Committee meeting calendar.

To access CAC meeting agendas and summaries please visit our records archive.

Subscribe to Boulder City Council Hotline

What is the Boulder Council Hotline?

The Boulder Council Hotline is an email "conversation" among Boulder City Council members and city staff. Interested members of the public may receive these emails, but may not post emails to the hotline.

If community members would like to respond to something they see over the hotline, they are invited to submit responses to the nine-member city council at Contact City Council and note that messages to City Council are public record.

How to Subscribe to Boulder Council Hotline

To subscribe to the public ListServ to receive all hotline emails, follow the instruction on the Boulder Council Hotline web page.