VENTURA : Council to Consider Changes in Meetings

Trying to make themselves more user-friendly, Ventura City Council members will consider Monday beginning their weekly meetings earlier and hearing public comments at the beginning of the meeting at least once a month.

Council meetings now start at 7:30 p.m. every Monday. In a special workshop this fall, council members proposed beginning the meetings at 7 p.m. in the hope that the meetings would end earlier. Council meetings now often end between 10:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.

At the same workshop, council members also suggested changing the time of public comments. Now the public can comment on matters on the council’s printed agenda as the issues are discussed. But comments about other topics cannot be made until the end of the meetings.

Under the new rules, on the first Monday of each month the council would take public comment at the beginning of its meeting.