Attending a WeHo City Council Meeting – Virtually or in Person

This is a great way to let the West Hollywood City Council hear your opinions, and you can do so in person or virtually over the phone. But either way you attend, there are a few things you should know so your visit can go smoothly …

1. If you’re attending virtually, you’ll need to be added to the dial-in public speaker list, so before 12 p.m. the day of the meeting, email the City Clerk at publiccomment@weho.org and let them know your name, the phone number you’ll be calling from, and what issue you want to speak on. Once the meeting starts, you can view the meeting remotely via the video feed at WeHoTV’s Council webpage (a link to the meeting in progress will appear shortly before the meeting starts; be aware that the video feed lags behind real time/telephone audio by 30–45 seconds).

2. If you’re attending in person, you don’t need to give advance notice, and you can just check in at the front table when you arrive to submit a “speaker slip” that says you want to speak about a specific agenda item. (Someone will be at the table to help you.) All the meetings take place at the West Hollywood Park Public Meeting Room – Council Chambers at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. This is right next to the WeHo library. And parking is free in the garage behind the council chambers, or there is bike parking right out front. (Weho Security Ambassadors will be there to help point you where to go.)

Whether you’re attending in person or virtually, remember… 

1. You will only have two minutes to speak. This isn’t a lot of time, so have your points written out on a sheet of paper or your phone, and practice it once or twice to make sure it doesn’t go over two minutes, because otherwise you’ll be cut off.

2. If you’re running late, don’t worry. The West Hollywood City Council has a variety of opening business they do that can take 30-45 minutes in our experience before they get to the first item for discussion on the agenda.

3. It’s best if you can wait to give your comments until the council gets to that agenda item, but if you don’t have time to wait for your agenda item to be called, you can speak during the initial public comments section of the meeting. Just be sure you let the appropriate person know ahead of time, so they can call on you at the right time in the meeting.

• • If you’re attending virtually – let them know in the email you send to the city clerk that you’ll need to speak during the initial public comments section of the meeting.

  • If you’re attending in person – let the person know at the front table when you’re filling out your speaker form that you’ll need to speak during the initial public comments section of the meeting.