City Council Meetings

The City Council may allow oral testimony during meetings. Public comment is typically included as an agenda heading, when it is anticipated. You also may provide written comments (see below) to the City Clerk’s Office at least 24 hours prior to the meeting, or in person during the meeting. Written comments are not edited and will include all content and information submitted, which, for comments submitted as email, will include the email address from which it was sent.

To contact the Mayor or City Council Members directly:

Guidelines

• You may not promote or oppose any candidate for public office or any ballot proposition.
• You may not use this time to advertise. Announcements of public events can be made through the City Council’s proclamations process.
• Speakers who disrupt the orderly conduct of the meeting may forfeit their right to address the City Council and be asked to leave the meeting.
• Meetings will follow the Rules of Procedure of the Council of the City of Tacoma and/or Robert’s Rules of Order.
• Hate has no place in Tacoma, and we deeply regret that our City Council meetings and the City’s social media platforms are sometimes used as a weapon against beloved neighbors, colleagues, friends, and family members. As difficult as it is to hear and see such hatred, what City employees can do about these comments is limited. In 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously reaffirmed that there is no “hate speech” exception to the free speech rights protected by the First Amendment, and that government agencies may not discriminate against speech based on the speaker’s – or commenter’s – viewpoint.
• While the City is obligated to manage its public forums in a manner that is consistent with the Supreme Court ruling and First Amendment principles, we will not allow the spite of a few to cancel or dampen our whole-hearted enthusiasm and support for all our community members.

View the City Council meeting schedule on Legistar.

The public comment period is reserved for testimony on motions, resolutions and ordinances on the current meeting agenda.

Comments will not be accepted on ordinances or communication items forwarded to the City Council by the Hearing Examiner for which a public hearing has already been held. The Clerk will announce these items at each meeting prior to public comment.

Comments will be limited to the amount of time announced by the Mayor or presiding officer, no more than two minutes per person per meeting.

Speakers may address the City Council once during the public comment period.

The Mayor, presiding officer, or Clerk will provide instructions about how to request to speak during public comment.

Those attending in person will sign in at the back of Council Chambers; those attending remotely will click the ‘Raise Hand’ button or *9 on their phone. The speaker’s name or the last four digits of their phone number will be called out when it is their turn to speak.

When it is your turn to speak, please identify yourself and topic(s) on the agenda you will address for the public record. Please address all remarks to the City Council as a whole.

The City Council may allow testimony on a motion, resolution, or ordinance at a time other than the public comment period if the item is new or has substantially changed.

You also may provide written comments (see below) to the City Clerk’s Office at least 24 hours prior to the meeting, or in person during the meeting (if in person, please provide ten copies).

View the City Council meeting schedule on Legistar. 

Community forum is regularly scheduled on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month, at the end of the regular meeting agenda. Check the meeting agendas on Legistar and public notices for updates.

Community forum provides an opportunity for community members to speak on items under the City Council’s jurisdiction that are not on that evening’s agenda.

Comments for community forum are limited to the amount of time announced by the Mayor or presiding officer, no more than 90 seconds per person. Community forum is limited to 60 minutes.

The Mayor, presiding officer, or Clerk will provide instructions about how to request to speak.

Those attending in person will sign in at the back of Council Chambers; those attending remotely will click the ‘Raise Hand’ button or *9 on their phone.

The speaker’s name or the last four digits of their phone number will be called out when it is their turn to speak.

When it is your turn to speak, please identify yourself and topic(s) you will address for the public record. Please address all remarks to the City Council as a whole.

You also may provide written comments to the City Clerk’s Office at least 24 hours prior to the meeting to enable staff to compile and distribute them to the City Council, or during the meeting (please provide ten copies).

If you commented during the public comment period, or a public hearing, you may also speak during community forum that evening.

Public comment is also taken at City Council standing committee meetings, study sessions, and Committee of the Whole meetings where action is taken. Public comment is typically included as an agenda heading, when it is anticipated.

View the calendar of meetings on Legistar for details:

• Study Session
• Committee of the Whole
• Community Vitality and Safety Committee
• Economic Development Committee
• Government Performance and Finance Committee
• Infrastructure, Planning, and Sustainability Committee.

The Mayor/Chair/presiding officer, or Clerk will provide instructions about how to request to speak.

Those attending in person will sign in to speak in the meeting room; those attending remotely will click the ‘Raise Hand’ button or *9 on their phone. The speaker’s name or the last four digits of their phone number will be called out when it is their turn to speak.

When it is your turn to speak, please identify yourself and topic(s) you will address for the public record. Please address all remarks to the City Council or Committee Members as a whole.

You may also provide written comments to the City Clerk’s Office at least 24 hours prior to the meetings (see more information on written comments, below), or in person during the meeting (if in person, please provide ten copies).

Written comments must be submitted to the City Clerk’s Office at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the meeting to enable staff to compile and distribute written comments to the City Council. Written comments received after this deadline may not be forwarded to the City Council prior to the meeting.

Submit written comments by email to cityclerk@tacoma.gov twenty-four (24) hours before the City Council business meeting, study session, Committee of the Whole, or standing committee meeting.

Please let us know which your comment is related to and which meeting it is for (City Council regular meeting public comment or community forum; a specific public hearing; Committee of the Whole meeting topic; Council Committee; etc.). Written comments may also be submitted to the City Clerk in-person at a meeting, or to the Customer Service Center at the Tacoma Municipal Building during regular office hours; please provide 10 copies.

Written comments are not edited and will include all content and information submitted, which, for comments submitted as email, will include the email address from which it was sent.

Comments will be compiled and sent to the City Council, posted online, and added to the meeting record.

See information above on how to appear before the City Council in person or virtually, and how to make oral comments.

Contact the Mayor’s Office to request the presentation of a proclamation or recognition.

The City Clerk’s Office posts public notices for public meetings and arranges for legislation to schedule public hearings before the Hearing Examiner and City Council.

• City Council agendas, minutes, and recordings
• Hearing Examiner’s Office
• Public Notices

Firearms and other weapons are now prohibited in Tacoma municipal buildings during meetings, study sessions, and committee meetings of the City Council; committees, boards, or commissions; and public hearings. Washington state law (ESHB 1630) prohibits the open carry of firearms or other weapons. A violation of these restrictions is a misdemeanor for a first offense and a gross misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense. For more information and potential exemptions see ESHB 1630, Chapter 106, Laws of 2022.