The San Luis Obispo City Council is dropping Zoom and will start meeting in-person again after nearly a year and a half.
Tuesday, July 6, is the first day council chambers will open up and that means a change in how the public can speak up during meetings.
"I think it really helps kind of have a better civic conversation,” said San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon.
During the pandemic, the City Council met via Zoom, which means they took votes and heard people out without meeting face to face.
Tuesday’s meeting will happen at 6 p.m. in council chambers, but for those who can't make it, the meeting will also be streamed.
"Anyone who's vaccinated can come in and mask free and those that aren't vaccinated will still need to wear a mask,” Harmon said.
When the meetings were held on Zoom, neighbors could virtually raise their hands to speak. Now they can do it in person.
"People are encouraged to come in and if they'd like to speak, they can fill out a speaker slip and speak here on Tuesday night. They can speak at public comment about anything that's not on the agenda,” Harmon said.
People can also submit their opinions via email or regular mail as long as they're received by 3 p.m the day of the meeting.
"The item that we're going to be talking about this week is really about our climate leadership and how we can hopefully inspire and impact people in our community and other communities to really join us and become climate champions too,” Harmon said.
City Hall is also now open to the public Mondays through Thursdays.
