The City Council of Columbia meets on the first and third Monday's of every month. This meeting is where City Council hears input from staff and the community and votes on matters of policy and specific requests from citizens. If you are attending your first meeting, it can be very intimidating. This is to explain what is happening and how it works. The 2019 Council Handbook is here https://www.como.gov/council/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/02/Council-Handbook-2019.pdf It describes policies and progress on the Strategic Plan, but not how to interact with City Council.
Most Monday's have a
work session as well as the regular meeting. The Agendas for both are generally available on the Thursday evening prior to the meeting and you can find it on the calendar here
https://gocolumbiamo.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx -- The calendar, like most things on the city website, is difficult to use. The entire year's worth of meetings are posted, in reverse date order, so you will need to scroll down to the appropriate week to view the agenda for that meeting. Work sessions can start at 5 or 6 and generally go until right before the regular council meeting. The general public is welcomed, but there is not an opportunity for public comment. Dinner is served for people who attend, though generally only council and staff eat during the meeting.
Agenda
The City Council Agenda has several parts, but it tells you when to expect the issue you care about to come up. A sample agenda is attached to this page. It is separated into the sections:
- Introductory Items
- Special Items
- Appointments to Boards and Commissions
- Scheduled Public Comment
- Public Hearings
- Old Business
- Consent Agenda
- Introduction and First Reading
- Reports
- General Comments by Public, Council and Staff
| Section | Basic Definition | What to Watch For | Public Comment? |
| Introductory Items | General starting information around the council meeting. Pledge | This is where council members will request things be moved from the Consent agenda or adjusting the agenda | No |
| Special Items |
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| Depends |
| Appointments to Boards and Commissions | People apply to be on one of the Boards and Commissions for the city. The Council generally appoints people based on their application and input from interested community and staff members |
| Prior to the council meeting, you can contact your council person with your recommendations for positions |
| Scheduled Public Comment | Up to five community members can speak on whatever topic they want for five minutes each | People often have issues or events that affect their lives. This is there chance to have council listen. | You must apply for this comment by noon on the Wednesday before the Council Meeting. This page has the form https://www.como.gov/CMS/WebForms/form.php?formid=161 |
| Public Hearings |
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| Old Business |
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| Consent Agenda |
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| Introduction and First Reading |
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| Reports |
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| General Comments by Public, Council and Staff |
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