2024 County Board Meeting Procedures

BE IT RESOLVED that the County Board of Arlington, Virginia, hereby adopts the following meeting procedures for Regular and Recessed Meetings of the County Board in Calendar Year 2024:

2024 COUNTY BOARD MEETING PROCEDURES

COUNTY BOARD REGULAR AND RECESSED MEETINGS

The Arlington County Board values the opportunity to engage with the public during our public hearings. The procedures that follow are intended to foster that engagement and detail how members of the public can alert the Board to topics that do not appear on a published agenda; propose items for inclusion on a future agenda; request a full hearing on consent agenda items; submit written comments and testify on agenda items. 

To ensure an orderly meeting, to assist all who wish to participate organize their time, and to have some expectation of when matters will be heard, we have various limits on the length of time one can speak, guidelines concerning when comments are taken on specific items, and when certain items are heard. 

There are many other ways to engage your County Board, including the less formal Open Door Mondays.

A. Agenda & Materials

1. Regular Meetings of the County Board are typically scheduled for Saturday and begin at 8:30 a.m. with the Public Comment Period (Section B below), followed by Consent (Section C Below) and Regular Hearing items (Section D Below) no earlier than 9 a.m.
   
   
2. Recessed Meetings are typically pre-scheduled for Tuesday and begin at 3 p.m. with County Board Reports, Appointments, Regional Reports, and County Manager Reports, with the removed Consent Agenda items (Section C below), heard no earlier than 6:30 p.m. that evening and Regular Hearing items (Section D below) heard no earlier than 6:45 p.m. that evening. These meetings may be scheduled at other days and times as decided by the Board during the annual adoption of the calendar year meeting schedule at the Organizational Meeting held in January or as needed throughout the year.
   
   
3. The County Manager, approximately two weeks before the Regular Meeting, prepares a list of proposed agenda items for the Chair’s consideration. The agenda of every regular Board meeting is approved by the Chair. Any Board Member desiring to add additional items to the proposed agenda must submit them to the Chair at least eight days before the meeting.
   
   
4. Members of the public may propose items to be included on the agenda by submitting a written request to the Chair at least two weeks before the Regular Meeting. The Chair decides whether the subject is one that can and should be considered as part of a future Board meeting agenda.
   
   
5. Agendas of upcoming County Board meetings are available for public review in the County Board Office no later than Monday, the week of the Saturday meeting, and are posted online. If the Regular Meeting falls on a day other than Saturday, the agenda will be posted on the County website six days prior to the meeting.
   
   
6. Agenda materials are distributed to Board Members and made available to the public generally eight days before a Regular meeting, but no later than 72 hours in advance of a required public hearing. Additional “supplemental” materials are provided to the Board and public not later than 24 hours before the meeting. The Board may defer any item for which all relevant information has not been disseminated in the above-referenced manner.
   
   
7. All written materials from the public related to agenda items are forwarded to Board Members as they are received. Written materials received in the County Board Office by noon on the Thursday before the Saturday Regular Meeting will be included in the Board’s agenda letter packet and summary. Written materials received after this time may not be readily available for reference by Board Members during the meeting or allow time for staff response to the Board. Board-chartered advisory groups and civic organizations must submit letters to the County Board as soon as possible but no later than noon on the Wednesday before the Saturday Regular Meeting to be posted online with the agenda. All correspondence received by the County Board is available for public inspection at the County Board Office or by email at Countyboard@arlingtonva.us before the meeting and made part of the record of the meeting. Correspondence must include the name, contact information (e.g. email or physical address, and/or phone number) and relevant affiliation, if any, of the individual submitting the materials. (For distribution of hard copies, the Board requests that eight copies be provided.

B. Public Comment

The purpose of the Public Comment period is to alert the Board to topics that have not been the subject of a recent public hearing, or do not appear on a published agenda.

1. The public comment period is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. at Regular Saturday Meetings.
   
   
2. Speakers are limited to two (2) minutes.
   
   
3. Only one speaker will be heard on each topic, but opposing views on the same topic will be considered two different topics. The Clerk shall have discretion, in consultation with the Chair as needed, to implement this procedure.
   
   
4. In order to speak, a speaker must complete a speaker slip identifying the subject of the public comment and place it in the speaker slip box in the meeting room before 8:15 AM.
   Virtual Participation: In order to speak, a speaker must identify the subject of the public comment in the online sign up form before 8:15 AM.
   
   
5. Written materials presented at public comment must be submitted by email at countyboard@arlingtonva.us or hard copy to the Clerk prior to speaking. Those materials will be distributed to the Board and will become part of the record. For distribution of hard copies to Board Members, the Board requests that eight copies be provided.
   Virtual Participation: Written materials can be submitted with the online speaker form or by email at countyboard@arlingtonva.us. Those materials will be distributed to the Board and become part of the public record.
   
   

C. Consent Agenda

1. The Consent Agenda may be used for eligible items which may include public hearing items (such as site plan and use permit request; vacations; easements; encroachments; leases and other dispositions of public property; ordinances, plans and policies; etc.) and non-public hearing items, (such as County and Schools appropriations; grant applications; contracts; capital projects; advertisements of public hearing requests; inter-jurisdictional agreements; housing loans; minutes; etc.) These or other items can be recommended for inclusion on the Consent Agenda by the County Manager with the consent of the County Board Chair.
   
   
2. Members of the public may remove any item for which a public hearing is required listed under the "Public Hearing Items" section of the proposed Consent Agenda. The County Board, at the request of a member of the public, will remove any item listed under the "Non-Public Hearing Items" section of the proposed Consent Agenda. Removal of items from the proposed Consent Agenda at a Regular Meeting will result in those items being automatically carried-over for full hearings at the associated prescheduled Recessed Meeting (usually the following Tuesday) as the first items to be heard no earlier than 6:30 p.m.

D. Testimony on Agenda Items

1. Testimony and consideration of regular hearing items will begin no earlier than 9:00 a.m. or as soon thereafter as matters may permit, at Regular Meetings, and no earlier than 6:45 p.m. at Recessed Meetings.
   
   
2. Regular hearing items are heard in the order in which they appear on the agenda. At the discretion of the Chair, the length of some public hearings may be limited, and some agenda items may be postponed until the Recessed Meeting, or taken out of sequence from the order listed on the agenda.
   
   
3. Opening presentations by County staff and the applicant on any item will be limited to 15 minutes each. The order of presentations is as follows: 1) County staff; 2) applicant; 3) advisory group reports; and 4) public testimony. At the discretion of the Chair, the amount of time for presentations or the order of such may change.
   
   
4. In order to speak, an individual must submit a speaker slip identifying the agenda item to the Clerk prior to the first speaker being called for that agenda item. Speaker slips may be downloaded online in advance of the meeting from the County Board homepage at www.www.arlingtonva.us but will not be accepted until the day of the hearing.
   Virtual Participation: In order to speak, an individual must submit an online speaker form identifying the agenda item prior to the first speaker being called for that agenda item.
   
   
5. Speakers will be called in the order in which the speaker’s slips are received. Speakers who are not present at the time their name is called forfeit their opportunity to speak.
   Virtual Participation: Speakers will be called in the order that online forms are received. Speakers who are not present at the time their name is called forfeit their opportunity to speak. however, the Chair, in coordination with the Clerk, will allow speakers experiencing technical problems an opportunity to resolve the issue before the public hearing on the item is closed.
   
   
6. Speaker slips or online speaker forms are valid only for the session of the meeting indicated and are not held over to another session or meeting, except for speaker slips for Consent Agenda items to be heard at Recessed Meetings (see Sections C.2. and D.2.), and for slips for Regular Agenda Items for which an ongoing public hearing has been carried over.
   
   
7. Speakers are not permitted to yield time to others; the person whose name is written on the speaker slip or online form must be the person presenting testimony.
   
   
8. Groups are encouraged to organize to minimize repetitious testimony. Individuals are also encouraged to associate themselves with the remarks of previous speakers where applicable.
   
   
9. Oral presentations should not duplicate written statements which have been submitted to the Board in advance.
   
   
10. Individuals may elect to speak for a maximum of 2 or 3 minutes per agenda item. Representatives of civic or community organizations representing the interest of Arlington residents may elect to speak for a maximum of 2, 3, or 5 minutes, per agenda item. Two (2) minute speakers will be heard first, followed by 3-minute speakers, and, finally, 5-minute speakers.
    
    Limitations may be placed on the amount of speaking time given to all speakers when lengthy public testimony is anticipated. For example, when there are 75 speakers or more for one agenda item, the speaking time will be 2 minutes for individual speakers and 3 minutes for organizations. Any such limitations will be announced by the Chair before public testimony begins. 
    
    
11. Speakers may use electronic presentations or have paper documents projected during their testimony to the Board. The time required for the Clerk to display the presentation or document will be included as part of the speakers 2-, 3-, or 5-minute speaking time. The timer will start once the speaker has reached the podium or, for virtual speakers, once the speaker is acknowledged. Eletronic presentations for display must be emailed to the Clerk at countyboard@arlingtonva.us or through the online speaker form no later than 7:30 AM for Regular (Saturday) meetings, and no later than 5:30 PM for Recessed (Tuesday) meetings. Presentations must be submitted in one file/attachment. Only Powerpoint, PDF, Word, Excel, or JPG/JPEG files will be accepted. See the Clerk before the item is called to display paper documents. 
    
    Written materials not intended for display during testimony must be submitted by email at countyboard@arlingtonva.us, or card copy to the Clerk prior to speaking. Those materials will be distributed to the Board and will become part of the record. For distribution of hard copies to Board Members, the Board requests that eight copies be provided. 
    Virtual Participation: Written materials not intended for display during testimony can be submitted with the online speaker form or by email at countyboard@arlingtonva.us. Those materials will be distributed to the Board and become part of the record.
    
    
12.  You may also communicate with the County Board on agenda items by emailing the Board at: countyboard@arlingtonva.us  If received by the Wednesday before the Board Meeting at which your item will be heard, these comments will be distributed to Board members as part of their meeting materials in advance of the meeting.

Testimony on Consent Agenda Items

1. Section C.2 details the manner in which items can be removed from the Consent Agenda.
   
   
2. The Clerk will carry-over speaker slips submitted at Regular Meetings to the next prescheduled Recessed meeting and will call speakers, grouped by item, in the   order the item appears on the agenda, and in the order in which the slips are received. Testimony and consideration of Consent Agenda items will begin no earlier than 6:30 p.m. or as soon thereafter as matters may permit at Recessed meetings.
   Virtual Participation: Individuals who have requested an item to be removed will receive a confirmation from the Clerk and instructions for accessing the virtual prescheduled Recessed meeting. The Clerk will call speakers, grouped by item, in the order the item appears on the agenda, and in the order in which the online speaker forms are received. 
   
   
3. Additional individuals may sign-up to speak on removed Consent Agenda items at the Recessed Meeting. Individuals must submit a speaker slip to the Clerk before the first speaker is called for each Consent Agenda item. These speakers will be called after those who submitted slips at the Regular Meeting in the manner described above.
   Virtual Participation: Additional individuals may register to speak on removed Consent Agenda items at the Recessed meeting. Individuals must register online before the first speaker is called for each Consent Agenda item. 
   
   
4. All remaining procedures for testimony on pulled Consent Agenda items follows the structure as described in D.(1) 3, 5, and 7-12, as described above. 

E. Motions and other Rules of Order

1. Board members will place motions on the floor as quickly as possible to focus discussion.
   
   
2. Where no contrary procedures have been adopted by the County Board, Robert’s Rules of Order govern.

F. Recess

1. At most Saturday meetings, the Board’s goal is to recess for lunch at approximately 12:30 p.m. At these meetings, the Board’s goal is to recess for the day at approximately 5 p.m.
   
   
2. The Board’s goal at evening meetings is to recess no later than 11 p.m.

G. Closed Meetings

The only items which the Board may consider in closed meetings are those permitted by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

H. Miscellaneous

1. Special meetings, work sessions and closed meetings may be held in addition to the schedule of Regular meetings and Recessed Sessions adopted at the Organizational Meeting held annually in January. Special meeting notification requirements are governed by the Virginia Code.
   
   
2. The Organizational Meeting is held on or around January 2 each year at a time determined by the County Board.
   
   
3. Translation services in Spanish are available at Regular Saturday meetings during the public comment period. Please contact the Clerk or Deputy Clerk to the County Board for assistance. For translation services for Consent Agenda and Public Hearing items, individuals are encouraged to contact the Clerk or Deputy Clerk to the County Board at 703-228-3130 (TTY 703-228-4611) or email to countyboard@arlingtonva.us at least three (3) days prior to the meeting. Persons needing translation services in Sign Language or other languages are also encouraged to contact the Clerk or Deputy Clerk at least three (3) days prior to the meeting. Translation services are available for recessed or special meetings if requested at least three days in advance by contacting the Clerk or Deputy Clerk. Closed captioning and hearing assisted devices are available at in-person County Board meetings. All virtual participation includes closed captioning.
   
   
4. All County Board Regular and Recessed meetings are broadcast live by Arlington TV on Comcast Xfinity channels 25 (standard definition) and 1085, and on Verizon FiOS channels 39 and 40 and include closed captioning. Streaming video of the meetings is available for viewing online and on YouTube at the time of the meeting, and as an archived video on the next business day following a meeting. Archived meetings can be viewed on the County Board website. Arlington TV rebroadcasts recent meetings throughout the month until the next meeting is held.

BE IT RESOLVED that the County Board of Arlington, Virginia, hereby adopts the following meeting procedures for the Annual Budget and Tax Rate(s) Hearings of the County Board in Calendar Year 2024:

2024 MEETING PROCEDURES

COUNTY BOARD ANNUAL BUDGET AND TAX RATE(S) HEARINGS  

1. Each public hearing begins at 7:00 p.m. If necessary, the hearing may be recessed at 11:00 p.m. to the following evening at 7:00 p.m. to hear those who have signed up to speak but have not yet been heard. However, the County Board may decide to continue the hearing later than 11:00 pm.
   
   
2. Advance online sign-up will be available for each hearing. Individuals may register at the County’s website at www.www.arlingtonva.us, or by phone at 703‑228‑3130. Individuals will be able to sign-up in advance beginning at 8:00 am five business days before each hearing date. Online and in-person sign-up will close at 7:00 on each night of the two hearings.
   
   
3. Individuals may sign-up to speak for two minutes or three minutes. Those who wish to present longer statements for the record may do so by submitting them in writing to the Clerk (see #8 below). Speakers may cancel reservations by calling the County Board Office at 703-228-3130 by 5:00 p.m. the day before the scheduled hearing.
   
   
4. Individuals may also sign-up to speak the evening of the hearings. All in-person and online speaker slips must be submitted to the Clerk by 7:00 p.m.; no slips will be accepted after that time.   Sign-up is on a first-come, first-served basis.
   
   

5. Order of Speakers: All two-minute, advance sign-up speakers will be called first in the order of receipt, followed by two-minute, day-of-meeting sign-up speakers. Next, all three-minute advance sign-up speakers will be called in order of receipt, followed by three-minute day-of-meeting sign-up speakers.

6. Repetitious testimony is discouraged.
   
   
7. Speakers may not donate time to others; the name of the person written on the slip must be the person presenting testimony.
   
   
8. Those wishing to submit written statements in lieu of oral presentations may do so at any time, except that citizens who wish Board members to receive written statements in time for the public hearing must submit those statements to the County Board Office no later than three business days before the hearing. When written materials are provided in-person, the Board requests eight copies. All written statements (letters, emails or copies of testimony) are a matter of public record. They are available to the public and the media in the County Board Office. Written statements and materials should be accompanied with full contact information by the submitter, including name, address, telephone and email. Written materials may also be submitted by email at countyboard@arlingtonva.us.