Riverside Debates New Public Comment Rules

Riverside’s fight over public comment is no longer just about a stopwatch. Nearly seven months after the City Council changed its meeting rules, residents and elected officials are still arguing over whether the city has made meetings more manageable or made dissent easier to contain. The latest local reporting, published May 18 by the Raincross Gazette, said the dispute now centers on what speakers expect from public comment and what California law lets councilmembers do in response. The rules at issue were approved unanimously on Oct. 22, after a committee process that began months earlier and included debate over speaker cards, time limits and how much discretion the presiding officer should have during crowded meetings. The October package gave the mayor or mayor pro tempore authority to cut speaking time from three minutes to two minutes when agendas run long or speaker lists grow, and it imposed a 15-minute limit on councilmember debate. The council also added a six-month review period after resident objections. (raincrossgazette.com) ### What exactly changed in Riverside’s council meetings? On Oct. 22, Riverside adopted what the Raincross Gazette described as the first update to the council’s Rules of Procedure in two years. The changes let the presiding officer reduce public comment from three minutes to two minutes during crowded meetings and capped councilmembers’ debate time at 15 minutes for initial remarks. (raincrossgazette.com) In August 2025, the Governmental Processes Committee had already advanced that framework after rejecting an automatic trigger that would have cut speaking time once 25 or more people signed up. Instead, committee members backed discretion for the presiding officer. Vice Chair Jim Perry said he thought that approach was “fair” and “equitable,” according to the Gazette. (raincrossgazette.com) ### Why did city officials say the rules were needed? Ward 1 Councilmember Philip Falcone said the city was trying to keep meetings efficient without excluding residents. “Our city council meetings are not public meetings. They’re not community forums,” Falcone told the Gazette. “They are business meetings held in public.” Chuck Conder, speaking during the committee debate in August 2025, pointed to a February meeting that lasted 4½ hours because of extensive testimony on an issue he said was outside the council’s authority. (raincrossgazette.com) Falcone also argued that councilmembers themselves should face time limits if residents are timed. The city’s legal review also reached beyond speaking time. (raincrossgazette.com) In June 2025, City Clerk Donesia Gause said Riverside’s requirement that speakers complete a card before addressing the council conflicted with the Brown Act, which protects the public’s right to comment even if no card is filled out. Senior Deputy City Attorney Ruthann Solera joined that review of Resolution 24255, the rules governing council procedure. (raincrossgazette.com) ### Why are critics still upset if the shorter limit is used rarely? City Clerk Donesia Gause told the Gazette that the council reduced individual speaking time from three minutes to two minutes on Oct. 14, when 76 public comments were received. Gause also said Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson has curtailed the general oral-communications period once since the rules changed, on April 7, when it was reduced to 45 minutes. (raincrossgazette.com) The criticism has persisted because some residents want more direct engagement than the Brown Act allows. The Gazette reported that the dispute now turns partly on whether speakers expect councilmembers to answer, debate or otherwise act immediately after a comment. Falcone said state law bars open-ended back-and-forth during public comment, though councilmembers can refer matters to staff, ask for a future agenda item, ask a clarifying question or give a brief response in some cases. (raincrossgazette.com) ### How does state law shape what Riverside can do? California’s Brown Act was central to the city’s review. Gause said in June 2025 that Riverside could not require a speaker card as a condition of speaking, and the committee discussed changing the rule from “shall” to “may” or otherwise making cards optional. Public speaker Pete Benavidez, founder and chief executive of Blindness Support Services, supported that change, saying mandatory cards could create barriers for people with disabilities. (raincrossgazette.com) That legal boundary also explains why the argument has widened beyond procedure. The Gazette reported May 18 that the debate is now about both the purpose residents assign to public comment and the limited responses councilmembers can lawfully make during that portion of a meeting. ### Where can residents track what happens next? Riverside’s City Clerk posts council agendas, meeting records and rules of procedure through the city’s online documents portal, and the city’s Legistar calendar lists upcoming City Council and committee meetings at City Hall’s Art Pick Council Chamber, 3900 Main Street. (raincrossgazette.com) The public calendar showed a City Council meeting scheduled for May 19, 2026, along with additional committee meetings later in May. (riversideca.gov) (raincrossgazette.com)