Most city council and planning commission meetings still happen on weekday afternoons — a scheduling choice that quietly excludes the shift workers, parents, and hourly employees whose neighborhoods are most often the subject of debate.
It’s not that these meetings are secret. Agendas are posted, minutes are public, and public comment periods exist. But a 2 PM Tuesday meeting is functionally closed to anyone who can’t leave a job mid-shift, which skews who actually shows up to speak.
A handful of evening and weekend sessions each year, or even a simple hybrid virtual option, would go a long way toward making local government feel accessible rather than merely open.
