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How Do I Participate?
How to submit an "Item from the Audience":
To provide comment in-person, please sign in on the sheet in the Council chambers at the time of the meeting.
To provide comment remotely, please contact the Clerk's Office by 3 p.m. on the day of the meeting with either written comment (500 word limit - please label as "Items from the Audience"), or by providing your name and phone number for comment over the phone.
Council Meetings
The City Council meets for business meetings on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month. The alternate Tuesdays are Council Study Sessions. Starting January 1, 2021, all meetings start at 7:00 p.m. and are held in the Redmond City Hall Council Chambers (15670 NE 85th Street, Redmond, WA), unless otherwise noticed.
View the Council Meeting Calendar
Council Meetings Schedule
| 1st Tuesday | 2nd Tuesday | 3rd Tuesday | 4th Tuesday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Beginning at 4:30 p.m. | Committee of the Whole: | Committee of the Whole: Finance, Administration, and Communications | Committee of the Whole: Public Safety and Human Services | Committee of the Whole: Parks and Environmental Sustainability |
Beginning at 7:00 p.m. | Regular Business Meeting* | Study Session | Regular Business Meeting* | Study Session |
*Includes Items from the Audience, when residents can address the council for four minutes on any topic.
Note: Special Meetings are scheduled and advertised as needed.
During regular business meetings the Council takes action including Adopt, amend, or repeal ordinances; Enact resolutions; and approve or deny proposed actions such as awards of contracts.
The Council also hears items from the audience, and may hold public hearings, issue proclamations, hear staff reports, and recess into Executive Session. For definitions of the terms used, please see Meeting Terminology.
During study sessions, city staff presents the Council with detailed briefings on a variety of issues. Council members discuss the topics, ask questions, and give staff direction on how to proceed. The Council meets in study session format on the second and fourth Tuesdays. No public comment is taken during these sessions.
There are currently four standing committees attended by the full Council. These are known collectively as Committee of the Whole. Each standing committee is focused on a specific subject area, they are: 1) Parks and Human Services; 2) Planning and Public Works; 3) Public Safety; 4) Finance, Administration, and Communications. There is also a Regional Affairs Committee of the Whole, but it does not currently meet.
Special meetings are called as needed. Formal action may or may not be taken at these meetings. The purpose of a special meeting will be advertised on the meeting agenda. Opportunity for public comment, if any, will be specifically noted on the meeting agenda.
Meeting Components
Executive Sessions
The Council does occasionally meet in executive session, which is not open to the public. By law, the Council may only discuss certain items of business during executive sessions. These topics include, but are not limited to, personnel matters, property acquisition and disposition, and legal advice on matters of litigation or potential litigation.
Quasi-Judicial Matters
Quasi-judicial matters are most often land-use matters. The Council is legally required to decide the issue based solely upon information contained in the public record and obtained at special public hearings before the Council.
The public record for quasi-judicial matters is developed from testimony at earlier public hearings held before a Hearing Examiner or a city board or commission, as well as from written correspondence submitted within certain legal time frames throughout these processes. There are special guidelines for these public hearings and written submittals.
Public Hearings
A public hearing offers a formal opportunity to provide your views to the Council about the hearing’s subject. The Council may then discuss the issue and will sometimes decide at that time. In other cases, Council may defer discussion and decision-making to a future meeting.