by Dave Alexander

Ann Arbor officials recently announced the launch of eComment software. The program, which gives residents the option of commenting online on City Council agenda items, has been around for over a decade.

In 2008, Arcata, Ca. launched eComment software, “giving residents another way to voice their opinions about City Council issues,” officials said. In 2012, the city of Raleigh, North Carolina launched eComment. Residents in that city are not only able to comment up to two hours before the meeting, but are also able to continue to comment after the Council meeting was over.

Raleigh’s Public Affairs Director Jayne Kirkpatrick said the two-hour cutoff was to make certain that city’s Councilors were not receiving comments in the middle of meetings. She added that “as technology advances, the city has to be cautious of violating state open meetings laws.”

“We have to be extremely vigilant to make sure what we’re doing is increasing transparency and communication and it’s not being used in any way in the reverse and create a situation that the public is now aware what’s going on,” she said.

Fast forward to 2017, now, for Ann Arbor folks who can’t make it out on a Monday evening to make their voices heard in city government, there is an option to comment online on the current Ann Arbor City Council agenda. Regular City Council meetings are held on the first and third Mondays of each month.

City of Ann Arbor officials said eComment was launched as “a new way for the public to share their thoughts on city issues.” As in Raleigh, Arcata and the dozens of other cities that have launched eComment, the online program allows residents to provide feedback on City Council agenda items before each meeting. Unlike Raleigh (and in many other cities), residents will not be permitted to comment on the City Council agenda items after the meeting has concluded.

For Ann Arbor City Council meetings, the eComment feature will be available to use each Thursday afternoon, once the upcoming Council meeting agenda is published to the city website, via Legistar. eComment will remain open until 4 p.m. the day of the Council meeting. The Ann Arbor city clerk will then email an eComment report to Councilmembers, along with agenda responses the evening of the meeting.

The public views shared via eComment on individual agenda items become part of the public record and are placed in the Council meeting minutes. The public may still to sign up to speak in person before City Council.

Get started:
1. You must register in order for your comment to be viewed. If you do not register, then your comment won’t be captured. Registration information includes a first and last name and valid email.

2. Only one comment per agenda item per registrant is allowed. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed. This forum allows public input on agenda items. Consistent with Council rules, Council will accept comments, but does not respond to questions during public comment.

3. To submit your comment, scroll to the bottom of the page, and use the blue “submit” button. Do not use the submit button at the top of the page (which is for the search box).

The eComment software is priced between $6,500-$10,000, plus the cost of hosting.