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5Agenda Item No:5. City Commission Agenda Item Report Meeting Date: December 1, 2020 Submitted by: Thomas Pepe Submitting Department: City Attorney Item Type: Resolution Agenda Section: Subject: A Resolution of the Mayor and City Commission of the City of South Miami, Florida, amending its rules for public meetings of the City Commission and City Boards during a state of emergency due to a pandemic or similar event requiring social distancing. 3/5 (Vice Mayor Welsh) Suggested Action: Attachments: Res re Covid-19 AmendedRules for Mtgs.docx 1 Page 1 of 12 Resolution No. ________________1 2 A Resolution of the Mayor and City Commission of the City of South Miami, 3 Florida, amending its rules for public meetings of the City Commission and City 4 Boards during a state of emergency due to a pandemic or similar event requiring 5 social distancing.6 WHEREAS, on March 9, 2020, Governor Ron DeSantis, by virtue of the authority vested 7 in him by Article IV, Section (l)(a) of the Florida Constitution, Chapter 252, Florida Statutes, and 8 all other applicable laws, issued Executive Order (EO) 20-52 declaring that a state of emergency 9 existed in the State of Florida due to the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-10 19); and11 WHEREAS,pursuant to the City’s municipal home rule powers to prepare for and respond 12 to weather and other emergencies, the Mayor and City Commission of the City of South Miami 13 enacted Ordinance no. 11-93-1539, entitled "Emergency Management; and 14 WHEREAS,the City’s Emergency Management ordinance provides for the City Manager 15 or designee to recommend a declaration of a public health emergency pursuant to sections 14-1 16 and 14-5 of the Code of Ordinances of South Miami; and17 WHEREAS,COVID-19 posed a serious and deadly health risk to City of South Miami 18 residents, particularly elderly residents; and19 WHEREAS,the threat posed by COVID-19 requires extraordinary and immediate actions 20 by the City of South Miami to protect the public health, safety and welfare of its citizens, business 21 owners and visitors; and22 WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, believing that it was prudent to declare a public health 23 emergency and to organize all available City resources to prepare for, respond to and recover from 24 all threats to the security, safety and health of the people who live or work in South Miami, the 25 City Manager for the City of South Miami issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency 26 in the City of South Miami due to the threat of Covid-19; and 27 WHEREAS, on March 20, 2020, Governor Ron DeSantis, under EO 20-69, suspended all28 Florida Statutes that require a quorum to be present in person for local government to conduct 29 municipal business or requires a local government body to meet at a specific public place and gave 30 his blessing for government bodies to utilize communications media technology [CMT], such as 31 telephonic and video conferencing, as provided in section 120.54(5)(b)2., Florida Statutes ; and32 WHEREAS,Section 252.38(3)(a), Florida Statutes, gives power and authority to political33 subdivisions (defined therein as including municipalities) to declare and enact a State of Local 34 Emergency for a period of up to seven (7) days including unlimited extensions of additional seven 35 (7) day periods, and “to waive the procedures and formalities otherwise required of the political 36 subdivision by law pertaining to: a. Performance of public work and taking whatever prudent 37 2 Page 2 of 12 action is necessary to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the community” as well as other 1 powers; and2 WHEREAS, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has advised that to slow the 3 spread of the Coronavirus/COVID-19, individuals should adopt far-reaching social distancing 4 measures and the appropriate wearing of masks; and5 6 WHEREAS, §120.54(4), Fla. Stat., provides that in an emergency, a state agency may 7 adopt any rules that are fair under the circumstances if the agency finds that an immediate danger 8 to the public health, safety, or welfare necessitates and requires emergency action and such 9 action is limited to what is necessary to protect the public interest under the emergency 10 procedure and at the time of the action it publishes the specific facts and reasons for finding an 11 immediate danger to the public health, safety, or welfare and its reasons for concluding that the 12 procedure used is fair under the circumstances. However, under Section 120.54 the emergency 13 rules may not be effective for a period longer than 90 days and shall not be renewable except 14 under limited circumstances; and 15 WHEREAS,there has been a loosening of the state restrictions on interactions between 16 people and it has led to a disregard for safety precautions and a failure of people to wear masks 17 and to socially distance themselves from one another; and18 WHEREAS, the loosening of restriction has led to a rapid rise in the number of 19 Coronavirus cases; and 20 WHEREAS, the Florida Statute, Section 166.041 sets forth the minimum standards for 21 enacting ordinances and adopting resolutions. Subsection (4) states:22 A majority of the members of the governing body shall constitute a quorum. An 23 affirmative vote of a majority of a quorum present is necessary to enact any ordinance 24 or adopt any resolution; except that two-thirds of the membership of the board is required 25 to enact an emergency ordinance. ***26 ; and27 WHEREAS, the Florida Statute, Section 166.041 defines a statutory quorum as a majority 28 of the membership of the governing body and a majority of the City Commission membership is 29 three members; and30 WHEREAS, the Florida Statute, Section 166.041(4) prohibits an ordinance from being 31 enacted and prohibits a resolution from being adopted unless it is done by an affirmative vote of a32 majority of a statutorily defined “quorum”, e. g., 3 members of a 5 member governing body being33 present; and34 WHEREAS, the City’s Charter and City Ordinances do not require that a quorum of the 35 City Commission be present in order to adopt resolutions or enact ordinances; and36 3 Page 3 of 12 WHEREAS, the Office of the Florida Attorney General has consistently held that Florida 1 Statutes require that the requisite number of members to form a quorum be physically present in 2 the same room and, that if a quorum is physically present, the participation of an absent member 3 may be by video conferencing; and4 WHEREAS, the Office of the Florida Attorney General has been inconsistent over the 5 years as to whether a member of a Commission, board or committee may attend remotely when a 6 quorum is physically present and it has done so without any basis in law, either statutory or case 7 law; and8 WHEREAS, there is no statutory regulation of municipal boards in terms of the number 9 of members who must be present to conduct business; and10 WHEREAS, the City’s Code of Ordinances require that some boards must have a quorum 11 present to conduct business; and12 WHEREAS, the City’s Land Development Code once required that a quorum be present 13 before business could be conducted by the City’s Planning Board, its Environmental Review and 14 Preservation Board (ERPB) and its Historic Preservation Board. However, those sections of the 15 LDC have been amended to allow for a quorum to be present over a CMT platform; and16 WHEREAS, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has advised that for the county 17 to slow the spread of the Coronavirus, individuals should adopt far-reaching social distancing 18 measures; and19 WHEREAS, the E O 2020-69 implied that local government bodies should adopt rules of 20 procedure for virtual meetings, in accordance with section 120.54(5)(b)(2), Fla. Stat. which 21 require: (1) Uniform rules for the scheduling of public meetings, hearings, and workshops; (2) 22 Uniform rules ….that provide procedures for conducting …[those meetings], and for taking 23 evidence, testimony, and argument at such …[meetings], in person and by means of 24 communications media technology. *** [A]ll evidence, testimony, and argument presented 25 …[must] be afforded equal consideration, regardless of the method of communication. If a …[the 26 meetings are] to be conducted by ..., or if attendance may be provided by …[communication media 27 technology], the notice shall so state. The notice … shall state how persons interested in attending 28 may do so and shall name locations, if any, where communications media technology facilities 29 will be available. *** Limiting points of access to …[meetings] to places not normally open to the 30 public shall be presumed to violate the right of access of the public, and any official action taken 31 under such circumstances is void and of no effect. *** As used in this subparagraph, 32 “communications media technology” means the electronic transmission of printed matter, audio, 33 full-motion video, freeze-frame video, compressed video, and digital video by any method 34 available.35 WHEREAS, the City adopted rules of procedure for virtual meeting on May 5, 2020 and 36 pursuant to Resolution No. 041-20-15481; and37 WHEREAS, the Governor’s EO 20-69 has expired and thus Section 166.041 is in full 38 force and effect. If the Attorney General opinions as to theirinterpretation of quorum requirements 39 4 Page 4 of 12 of Section 166.041 is upheld by a court of competent jurisdiction, then a statutory quorum of three 1 members must be present to legally enact ordinances and adopt resolutions by the City 2 Commission; and3 WHEREAS,the City Commission finds that if a member of the City Commission feels 4 unsafe attending the Commission meeting in person due to the risks associated with the 5 Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic, and wishes to attend the meeting virtually or telephonically, 6 the City Commission finds that there are currently "extraordinary circumstance" that warrant a7 member’s remote attendance, so long as there is a physical quorum present in the room; and8 WHEREAS, the City Commission desires to amend its emergency rules to account for the 9 Governor’s failure to continue the suspension of the quorum requirements of Section 166.041, Fla. 10 Stat., as well as to make other modifications to the emergency rules of procedure for meetings and 11 notices of public meetings during the Covid-19 pandemic or similar health emergencies.12 13 NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY 14 COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA:15 16 Section 1.The foregoing recitals are hereby ratified and confirmed as being true and they 17 are incorporated into this resolution by reference as if set forth in full herein.18 Section 2.The rules of procedure for public meetings and notices of those meetings during 19 the Covid-19 pandemic, or similar health emergencies, are hereby amended and are as set forth in 20 the attached Exhibit A to this Resolution. The City Attorney is authorized to make changes to the 21 rules, consistent with the Commission's intent and to comply with best practices, as they are 22 developed.23 24 Section 3.Corrections. Conforming language or technical scrivener-type corrections 25 may be made by the City Attorney for any conforming amendments to be incorporated into the 26 final resolution for signature. 27 Section 4. Severability.If any section clause, sentence, or phrase of this resolution is for 28 any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, the holding will29 not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this resolution.30 31 Section 5. Effective Date.This resolution will become effective immediately upon 32 adoption.33 34 PASSED AND ADOPTED this ______ day of __________________, 2020.35 36 ATTEST:APPROVED:37 38 ___________________________________________39 CITY CLERK MAYOR40 41 5 Page 5 of 12 READ AND APPROVED AS TO FORM, COMMISSION VOTE:1 LANGUAGE, LEGALITY AND EXECUTION Mayor Philips:2 EXECUTION THEREOF Vice Mayor Welsh:3 Commissioner Gil:4 Commissioner Harris:5 _______________________Commissioner Liebman:6 CITY ATTORNEY7 8 6 Page 6 of 12 Exhibit A1 2 3 RULES OF PROCEDURES FOR MEETINGS AND HEARINGS4 OF THE SOUTH MIAMI CITY COMMISSION5 (LEGISLATIVE AND QUASI-JUDICIAL) AND6 FOR ALL CITY BOARDS7 These rules are established in accordance with the Florida Governor's Executive 8 Order 20020-52 and 2020-69 (as amended), Chapter 252, Sections 120.54 and 9 166.041, Fla. Stat., Chapter 14 of the City’s Code of Ordinances, and the City’s 10 Home Rule Powers. They apply to all City Commission and board meetings and 11 are intended to address both legislative and quasi-judicial items. 12 13 Unless the Governor suspends Section 166.041(4) as it applies to a statutory 14 quorum being present to adopt resolutions and enact ordinances, a statutory 15 quorum of the City Commission will be present in Commission Chambers at City 16 Hall for all public meetings where resolutions are adopted and ordinances are 17 enacted and other members 1, as well as staff and the public may attend remotely18 using Communication Media Technology (CMT), such as the Zoom platform. The 19 meetings of all City Boards will be conducted using CMT and board members and 20 City Staff may attend remotely. 21 22 This action is taken in response to the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic to 23 comply with social distancing recommendations intended to protect the life and 24 safety of City elected and appointed officials, City Staff and the public. 25 26 All references to the “chairperson” is a reference to the Mayor for City 27 Commission meeting procedures and the Board chairperson for all Board meeting28 procedures.29 30 PLATFORM: 31 The video conference platform Zoom, or other similar platforms, will be used for 32 all virtual City Boards and City Commission meetings. The City has a subscription 33 with Zoom and it is the current platform used by the City Clerk for live remote 34 public comments for City Commission meetings held during the state of 35 emergency. The word “Zoom” as used in these rules means any CMT platform 36 that allows a participant to appear live at any meeting.37 1 While the City remains in a State of Emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the existence of the pandemic is hereby determined to constitute an "extraordinary circumstance." (See AGO 03-41) 7 Page 7 of 12 Video of the virtual meeting will be streamed on the City’s website.In addition, a 1 dedicated phone line will be available so that any individual who does not wish (or 2 is unable) to use Zoom may listen to, and when appropriate, participate in, the 3 meetings via phone.4 5 NOTICE: 6 The meetings and hearings will be noticed in the same manner and at the same 7 locations as all City Commission meetings and hearings are noticed (including 8 mailed notice, as may be required by the City Code or Zoning Code). The Zoom 9 conference number (along with instructions) and phone number for participants 10 will be published on the City Commission agenda and will be included everywhere 11 that the meetings and hearings are noticed. 12 All notices will make clear that City Hall (and other meetings spaces where 13 advisory or quasi-judicial meetings/hearings may be held) is open for a limited 14 number of the public, especially for those members of the public who wish to 15 participate but who do not have the ability to participate in the hearing by CMT.16 All notices will provide that any person needing an accommodation to listen or 17 participate in the meeting should contact the City's Clerk.18 STAFF/PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: 19 20 Each member of the public will be given 5 minutes to participate in the meeting. 21 The board or the City Commission may increase or decrease the time by a vote of a 22 super majority of the members attending the meeting. 23 24 The public may comment on any non-quasi-judicial item on the agenda during 25 public remarks or during an advertised public hearing but will not be allowed to 26 comment twice on the same item. If the item is quasi-judicial, the public may only 27 comment during the taking of public testimony when the item is heard. Members 28 of the public who attend the meeting must keep their microphones muted at all 29 times, except when acknowledged by the chairperson to speak on a particular 30 agenda item.31 32 City Manager is authorized and instructed to adopt and strictly enforce rules to 33 prevent the spread of Covid-19 which must include the requirement that masks be 34 appropriately worn (covering both the mouth and nose and referred to as 35 Appropriately Wearing) in public. Everyone must maintain a distance from one 36 another of no less than 6 feet (Appropriate Social Distancing) and at all times when 37 entering and being within any building located in the City of South Miami. 38 Currently, the Commission Chambers, has a limited capacity of approximately 16 39 people depending on the conditions40 8 Page 8 of 12 1 QUASI-JUDICIAL HEARINGS: 2 Everyone who participates in a quasi-judicial hearing must appear in Chambers 3 in person, or, if they attend remotely, their live image must appear on the video 4 screen or if not, they must have pre-registered with the City Clerk and provided the 5 Clerk with sufficient identification as set forth below in pre-registration meeting 6 sign-up form.7 8 Summary of Procedure9 a.A member of the City’s Staff will present a report on the item.10 b.The Applicant will follow the Staff report and will present all its 11 evidence supporting the application.12 c.The public will be called upon to speak.13 d.The public speaking for or against this application will have a 5-14 minute time limit for public testimony.15 e.All speakers will be sworn in individually and the public speakers 16 may be cross-examined by the Applicant or the Applicant’s attorney. 17 However, the law does not give the public the right to cross-examine 18 anyone.19 f.The applicant or its attorney will be given opportunity to cross 20 examine each speaker.21 g.The applicant will be given an opportunity to provide rebuttal 22 evidence and a closing statement.23 h.The members of the Commission or Board will be given an 24 opportunity to ask questions of the applicant, the applicant’s attorney, the 25 applicant’s witnesses, and the public speakers.26 i.The Commission or Board will then deliberate and vote on the 27 item.28 Exhibits: For all quasi-judicial hearings except appeals, a list of all proposed 29 exhibits and a copy of the proposed exhibits must be provided to the City 30 Clerk/board liaison, five (5) days prior to the hearing, unless the Clerk or board 31 liaison determines that a smaller or greater amount of time is needed, in a format 32 that is easily viewable on the Zoom platform. All exhibits must be clearly labeled 33 to allow for efficient retrieval and display on the Zoom platform during the hearing. 34 All exhibits will be posted online, as is customary.35 MINUTES: 36 Minutes and a recording of the meeting will be kept as customary.37 38 39 9 Page 9 of 12 ZOOM WEB-BASED VIRTUAL CITY MEETING PROCEDURE1 2 Live Remote Public Comment Process3 The City of South Miami is providing the ability to submit Live Remote Public 4 Comments and testimony to its virtual Meetings. Anyone wishing to submit a live 5 remote public comment through the Zoom process, will appear live on the TV 6 screens in Commission Chambers as well on the computer screen of the other 7 participants, including members of the applicable board, committee or commission8 during the meeting.9 10 You can test your connection to Zoom by clicking on the following link: 11 http://zoom.us/test12 13 Please make sure that your computer has a working speaker, microphone and, 14 preferably, a working webcam so that you can hear and be heard and see and be seen 15 on the City Hall monitors and by the other Zoom participants in the live streaming 16 of the meeting. Some computers and/or smartphones have both features. Should it 17 be impossible or undesirable for you to attend virtually by computer or smartphone, 18 you may participate in the meeting by telephone by dialing: +1-786-635-1003 and 19 entering Meeting ID: 3056636338 or join the meeting using the system set up at City 20 Hall and as explained in the notice of the meeting that is posted at City Hall and also 21 at http://www.southmiamifl.gov/580/Public-Meetings-Notices. There is limited 22 space for the public to attend and those who have contacted the City Clerk in advance 23 of the meeting and who have reserved a space will have a preference over those who 24 did not register for the meeting. Each Board may change its telephone number and 25 meeting ID provided it is clearly shown in its public meeting notice.26 27 At the beginning of all meetings, the participants will need to silence or turn off all 28 cell phones and silence or turn off the sound on all devices that are in the room 29 with the participant at their remote location, other than the device that they will be 30 using to participate in the meeting. Those who are attending in person in the 31 commission chambers, which is limited to approximately 16 people depending on 32 the conditions, must turn off all sound on all devices. If a participant’s devise 33 emits any sound while in the commission chambers and if the participant fails to 34 immediately silence it, or if it happens twice on that same day, the participant will 35 be asked to leave the chambers and will not be allowed to return with any 36 electronic devise that emit sound.37 38 If a Participant has not yet done so and a Participant will be participating during 39 public remarks or at a public hearing using Zoom, the Participant must have, at a 40 10 Page 10 of 12 minimum, a free Zoom account, a Participant should have entered the Participant’s1 actual name in the Participant’s Zoom profile and the Participant should sign-in to 2 the Participant’s Zoom account in order to participate in the meeting. If the 3 Participant has a Zoom account, ensure that the profile shows the Participant’s real 4 name so that when the Participant raises a “virtual hand” to speak the chairperson5 will know who the Participant is, otherwise the Participant may not be called upon 6 to speak depending on the circumstances. More instructions are also posted on the 7 City Clerk’s webpage at HTTP://WWW.SOUTHMIAMIFL.GOV/580/PUBLIC-8 MEETINGS-NOTICES and at City Hall on the Clerk’s outside bulletin board 9 located outside the side entrance to the building.10 If the Participant is using Zoom to attend the meeting, the Participant may 11 need to change the screen from “full screen” to “gallery” or “speaker view”. To do 12 this, move your mouse pointer/cursor around in the upper righthand corner of your 13 Zoom screen and you will see the options. 14 To be able to participate, you need to open the participant column. To do 15 this, move your mouse pointer/cursor over and around the bottom of your Zoom 16 screen to reveal the menu and in the middle is an icon and the word “participant”. 17 You must click on that word, “participant” and a column should open up to the 18 right of your Zoom screen and it will show the names of all of the Commission 19 members and all of the people attending through Zoom and attending over a 20 telephone line.21 For Zoom users, in the lower righthand corner of the participant column is 22 an icon of a “virtual hand” or the words “Raise Hand”. 23 If chairperson asks for certain people to raise their “virtual hand” and if you 24 are one of those people, and if you are using Zoom, you must click on the “virtual 25 hand” icon. If there isn’t a “virtual hand” icon, look for the words “Raise Hand” or 26 similar words and click on them.27 Those of you who are calling in on a phone line, in order to participate you 28 must dial 786-635-1003, and when asked for the meeting ID, type in 305-663-29 6338. If asked for the participant ID type the same number, 305-663-6338. 30 If you are one of those people who have been asked to raise a “virtual hand” 31 and you are using a telephone line to participate, then to raise your “virtual hand” 32 when called upon, and only when called upon, enter the star symbol (or asterisk) 33 on the phone keyboard and then the number 9. To take your “virtual hand” down, 34 do the same thing a second time. 35 36 If you want to mute yourself, enter the star (or asterisk) on the phone 37 keyboard and then the number 6. To unmute yourself, do the same thing. If you 38 are muted either while using Zoom or on a phone line, the chairperson may or may 39 not be able to unmute you when the chairperson is ready to call upon you. The 40 11 Page 11 of 12 chairperson may need to ask you to unmute yourself. If the chairperson does so, 1 and you are using a phone line, enter the star symbol or asterisk and then the 2 number 6. It may take a few seconds for it to work so be patient. Count to 3 3 before trying again. If you are on Zoom, there are 3 ways to unmute yourself. 4 Move your mouse pointer/cursor around the upper righthand corner of the small 5 screen showing your face or screen name. It should show the words “unmute”. 6 Click on that word. In the lower left-hand corner of the big Zoom screen, if you 7 Move your mouse pointer/cursor around that area you will see a symbol of a 8 microphone. If you are muted there will be a line striking through the mic symbol. 9 Clicking on the mic symbol will unmute your mic. Finally, if you have opened the 10 participant column to the right of your screen you will see your name and the mic 11 symbol with a line striking through it. Move your mouse pointer/cursor around in 12 that area and you will see the word “unmute”. Click on that word. In any case, 13 wait 3 seconds before trying again. If you have not unmuted yourself, the 14 chairperson will ask you a second time to unmute yourself. The chairperson will 15 wait 5 seconds and if you are not unmuted, the chairperson will go to the next 16 person.17 18 If you want to participate but your live image is not appearing on the Zoom 19 screen, you may want to log out of the meeting and log back into the meeting with 20 your phone or another computer that does have a webcam, otherwise, without your 21 live image appearing on the Zoom screen AND without pre-registering for the 22 meeting with appropriate identification, the chairperson will not be able to swear 23 you in and you will not be allowed to speak as to the quasi-judicial item on the 24 agenda.25 26 PRE-REGISTRATION 27 MEETING SIGN-UP FORM28 This form must be submitted to the City Clerk via email at 29 npayne@southmiamifl.gov or by phone at 305-663-6340, by 4:00 p.m., one 30 business day before the meeting.31 32 PARTICIPANT INFORMATION33 Name: _________________________________34 Address: ___________________________________________________35 Phone: ___________________Facsimile (if any): ___________________36 Email (if any): ______________________________________________37 Description of the item on the agenda item (“Topic”) upon which you intend 38 to present your verbal comments/evidence:39 ___________________________________________________________40 12 Page 12 of 12 ___________________________________________________________1 ___________________________________________________________2 ___________________________________________________________3 ___________________________________________________________4 If attending meeting via ZOOM5 Please provide your Zoom screen name, which should be your real 6 name__________________________7 If attending meeting via the TELECONFERENCING OPTION8 Please provide the phone number you will be using to call into the meeting:9 _________________________10 11 QUASI-JUDICIAL ITEMS12 If the item to which you want to speak is quasi-judicial and you are called 13 upon to be sworn in but your live image will not be visible on-screen, you 14 must also deliver ONE of the following to the Clerk along with the Zoom 15 screen name or telephone name that will be appearing on the Zoom screen 16 representing your presence in the Zoom meeting:17 · a copy of your Florida identification card; or18 · a copy of your driver license; or19 · a copy of the page of a valid passport that has your photograph on it; or20 · a copy of other identifying documents as described in s. 117.05(5)(b)2, Fla. 21 Stat. ^^22 WITHOUT YOUR SCREEN NAME AND THIS INFORMATION, 23 YOU WILL NOT BE SWORN IN AND WILL NOT BE ALLOWED 24 TO TESTIFY AT THE QUASI-JUDICIAL HEARING.25 26 GENERAL MEETING PROCEDURE27 If you have signed up in advance of the meeting, you may be given priority ahead 28 of others who did not sign up. You will be called upon and you may speak on the 29 Topic and present your evidence (physical and testimonial) or comments through 30 your choice of communication (i.e., Zoom, teleconferencing, or in person).31 At the appropriate time, all participants who want to speak will be asked to raise 32 their virtual hands. If the Mayor/Chairperson requests that all or some speakers 33 take their hands down and if a participant fails to do so, or otherwise disrupts the 34 meeting, the chairperson may permanently mute that person's microphone and 35 video image for that meeting, and said person will not be allowed to participant in 36 that meeting.37 38 In addition, by signing up you may also receive priority for the limited space 39 available in the Commission Chambers.40 13