Public Comment
Properly submitted comments will be accepted and included in the official record of the meeting pursuant to City Commission Policy No. 2020-04(PDF, 714KB). Any comment received that does not meet the public comment timing and requirements will be rejected and will not be included in the official record of the meeting.;
Information for Public Comment
- Date and time of meeting you wish to comment on; and
- Agenda item number (the agenda item number can be found on the agenda); and
- Name, email, and phone number
How to Make a Public Comment in a Public Meeting
In Person Attendance
Anyone seeking to provide Public Comment in-person is requested to submit a comment card to the City Clerk. Comment cards with completed information may be submitted until the Mayor closes Public Comment for the agenda item. When recognized by the Mayor, the Commentor will approach the podium. Public Comment is limited to three (3) minutes per person.
Online
Submit a written eComment using the Public Comment link on the Public Meetings Calendar website. The link will be available online at 8:00 a.m. the day before the meeting until one hour prior to the start of the meeting. The link is only active in the time frame stated. Your public comment is limited to 2,000 characters.
Voicemail Message
Leave a voicemail message via telephone at (941) 429-1032. Voicemail messages will be accepted the day before the meeting from 8:00 a.m. until one hour prior to the start of the meeting. Please provide information as listed above in the City’s outgoing message. The message must not exceed two minutes, fifteen seconds. Voice messages will be forwarded to Commission and played into the record.
Other
When the City implements other public comment options, instructions will be posted here.
If meetings are scheduled on successive days, IT will open the link for the eComment system and will not close the link until the time for Public Comment for all the meetings has expired. The City Clerk plans to monitor the timeliness of all Public Comments for any meeting and will not read any Public Comment that is not submitted timely. It may be confusing when the time for Public Comment overlaps. Refining the electronic system for an automated determination for timeliness may be a better solution.
The current system indicates that a Public Comment has been successfully submitted even if it is untimely. If this message is used with the eComment system, then the message will be modified to indicate the following: "the Public Comment has been successfully submitted to the City Clerk to determine whether the Public Comment is timely. Public Comments that are not submitted timely will not be read."