Kiosk sign-up system getting a makeover

Although citizens who wish to speak at Thursday City Council meetings may do so starting on Mondays, they are currently not able to sign up at the kiosk in City Hall for other meetings, such as Council committees. But that is going to change in the near future, according to City Clerk Jannette Goodall, who addressed Council at Wednesday’s budget hearing. Goodall explained that staff is modifying the existing system and will be replacing the kiosks with new ones that will accommodate sign-ups for more than one meeting at a time. The new system will allow the City Clerk’s staff to upload multiple agendas to the kiosk at one time, allowing citizens to see what is on upcoming agendas and sign up to speak if they wish. “We would upload the agendas maybe twice a week, depending on when we got them. And so we’re starting with, of course, the Council meetings and the Council committees, and then we will have to look at whether we can handle all of the boards and commissions,” she said. Commissions would have to be a separate phase, she said. “I hope to have it up and running in the next couple months,” Goodall said after the meeting, adding that she had not heard from the city’s information technology staff “on our latest round of fixes for the system. We’re constantly working with them to get the bugs fixed, so hopefully soon.” As for signing up for a hearing from the comfort of your own home, Goodall said, she is working on that, too, but it depends on security questions that have yet to be answered. Council Member Greg Casar, for one, was very enthusiastic about the idea that the kiosks would be improved. He asked whether the clerk’s office needed additional funding to accomplish the kiosk changeover, but Goodall told him it did not.