The City Council will hold its fourth virtual meeting on Tuesday, May 19 beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Even though the public cannot attend the meeting, people can still participate in the public hearings and are supposed to be able to comment on any item on the general business portion of the agenda, although there is no indication that is possible on the agenda itself, in the press release about the meeting or on the City Council “Meeting Calendar” page where comments are posted.
Under the heading “Public Hearing Agenda” is the information about how to participate in the public hearing portion of the meeting, but it would be easy to miss since that notice is under the heading “To Submit Comments For This Virtual Meeting,” giving no indication that is where people also find information on how to participate in the meeting.
The notice states, “If you would like to provide comments on any annexation/zoning or Economic Development public hearing item and/or participate in the hearing the night of May 19 please email virtualcomment@greensboro-nc.gov by Monday, May 18 at 12:00 p.m. Typed comments only. Please do not embed videos in the email.
“When emailing comments or requests to participate in the public hearings, please provide your name and identify which public hearing item or items you are addressing. Persons requesting to participate in the public hearings during the May 19, 2020 City Council will be emailed a separate online meting invitation with instructions on how to participate, including a unique password that cannot be used by other individuals.”
At regular meetings in the Council Chamber, the City Council also invites the public to speak on general business agenda items and people often do. However, there is nothing in the notice that indicates that would be possible.
What appears to be the most interesting item on the agenda is item 39, “Resolution Directing the Filing with the City Clerk of the Budget Estimate for the Fiscal Year 2020-2021.” It may not sound like much, but this is when City Manager David Parrish presents his fiscal year 2020-2021 recommended budget to the City Council. The City Council rarely makes significant changes to the manager’s recommended budget. If that holds true this year than the 2020-2021 budget the City Council is scheduled to adopt on June 16 will be nearly identical to the recommended budget presented on May 19.
However, this is such an unusual budget year that the City Council may make significant changes to the recommended budget before the June 16 adoption.
