FAQ
Speaking at a City Council Meeting
Anyone can speak at a regular Altoona City Council meeting. You don’t need an appointment, and you don’t need to be invited.
If the topic is already on the agenda, just show up. If it isn’t, contact the City Clerk at 814-949-2486 a week ahead.
Before the meeting
Not if you want to comment on something already on the agenda. Show up, and speak when the Chair calls for public comment.
You only need advance notice if you want to raise a subject that isn’t on the agenda.
Contact the City Clerk at least one full calendar week before the meeting and tell them what you’d like to discuss. Council can then consider adding it.
A week is the minimum. Earlier is better.
On the page for that meeting, usually posted a few days ahead. Every Council meeting on this site has its own page with the agenda, the video once it’s available, and the minutes once Council approves them.
At the City of Altoona Training Facility & Council Chambers, 1320 Washington Avenue.
Note this is a different building from City Hall, where the City Clerk’s office is.
Contact the City Clerk ahead of the meeting and say what you need.
At the meeting
Walk up to the podium, say your name and address for the record, and speak into the microphone. All comments are made from the podium.
The Chair gives everyone the same amount of time. Under the City Code the limit is five minutes.
Shorter is usually better. Say who you are, what you want, and why it matters to you.
You get one turn during public comment, so say everything you came to say.
The Chair may ask your group to choose one person to speak for everyone, to avoid repeating the same points.
If you’re coming as a group, it’s worth deciding in advance who that would be.
Not during public comment. Address your remarks to Council as a whole rather than to an individual member.
Council members may respond after public comment has closed.
Yes. Meetings are open to the public and you may record them. If you’re recording in the Council Chambers, stay behind the podium area, and don’t start before the Chair calls the meeting to order or continue after it’s adjourned.
You may not need to — every meeting is recorded and posted here with chapter markers, so you can jump straight to the part you care about.
Work sessions run differently from regular meetings. Contact the City Clerk if you’d like to speak at one.
Contact the City Clerk
Phone
In Person
Altoona City Hall
1301 12th Street, Suite 100
Altoona, PA 16601