Weigh In: Meetings Give Residents Chances to Learn, Provide Feedback

Residents can offer opinions during various types of meetings or directly to council members.

This is the second in a series of blog posts, titled “Weigh In,” that highlight the many ways in which residents can engage with the City and its leadership to provide input into policy development and decision-making.

The residents of Virginia Beach are invited to participate in City government, either in-person or virtually, during weekly City Council meetings, as well as sharing their opinions during other opportunities planned throughout the year and individually with their council members.

City Council meetings

City Council meets in afternoon and evening sessions. The afternoon sessions do not allow time for public comment. The evening formal sessions are open to the public and have time set aside for public comment. Generally, they are held at 6 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month in the City Council Chamber of City Hall, Building 1, 2401 Courthouse Drive. Sessions are not held on federal holidays; the last two Tuesdays in July and December; the first Tuesday in August (in recognition of National Night Out); nor when the first Tuesday of November is the date of the General Election.

Agendas for City Council’s sessions are posted on the City Council webpage on the Thursday before the Tuesday meeting. Council meetings are cablecast live on VBTV Cox Cable channel 48, on Verizon Cable channel 45, on the VirginiaBeach.gov media center and on the City’s Facebook page. The meeting is rebroadcast on Cox channel 48 and Verizon channel 45 the following Thursday (at 7 p.m.), Friday (at 9 a.m.) and Sunday (at 9 a.m.).

Residents can speak for up to three minutes on public comment, public hearing and ordinance/resolution items, as listed in the published agenda. The first meeting of each month also provides an additional opportunity to speak for up to three minutes on any topic, after the City Council meeting has adjourned.

Residents are asked to follow the speaker policy, including registering before 5 p.m. on the day of the meeting by calling the City Clerk’s Office at 757-385-4303. If applicable, please bring 12 copies to the City Clerk before the start of the meeting of any photos or documentation pertaining to your topic.

Attending in person is the most effective way to speak to City Council. It is also possible to speak virtually, using WebEx, if you have a good Internet connection and a device with a working microphone. To do so:

Register with the link provided on the Current Session Brief Agenda. Please note the link is unique to each meeting. Please be sure that when you select the WebEx link, the webpage reflects the upcoming meeting date.
Register with the City Clerk’s Office by calling 757-385-4303 before 5 p.m. on the day of the meeting.

Once registered, the speaker will receive a response stating that their registration has been approved or is waiting to be approved. Once approved, the speaker will receive an email confirmation providing detailed information about the webinar. That email is how the speaker will access the meeting.

Public meetings, community meetings, open houses and more

City Council members also plan meetings for their districts, where residents can learn about issues particular to their neighborhoods, ask questions of their councilmember and other city leaders, and provide input.

Additionally, City departments schedule community meetings, open houses and other events to educate residents and get feedback from the public on particular issues. The FY24-25 Focused Action Plan includes several specific initiatives to increase the opportunities for residents to provide input and feedback, and these meetings often coincide with these initiatives and surveys on SpeakUpVB.com, but they may also be scheduled independently.

For example, in November 2023, Virginia Beach Housing and Neighborhood Preservation hosted the Community of One Public Input Meeting to gather feedback on the plan to make homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring. Also, in November, the City’s Planning team hosted four public workshops to solicit resident input on updates to the City’s Comprehensive Plan.

In February 2024, about 145 residents attended a Community Conversation to help set priorities for the City’s FY 24-25 budget and Capital Improvement Program, the first time the public had an opportunity to weigh in that early in the budget process. And as always, residents could participate in two budget hearings in April, before the City Council votes on the budget in May.

To ensure you don’t miss any upcoming meetings and get all the details required for attending in-person or virtually, sign up to receive the City’s weekly Be in the Know email newsletter and regularly check the calendar of public meetings.

Contacting your council member or mayor

Residents are invited to contact their City Council representative individually to discuss matters particular to their districts or to contact the mayor about citywide issues. Emails and telephone numbers for the council members and mayor are listed on the City Council page. Comments also can be shared with the entire City Council at citycouncil@vbgov.com.

If you are unsure of the district you live in, you can find out through the easy-to-use district lookup tool.

Accommodations

Virginia Beach wants to make sure that all residents have the opportunity to provide input. Residents who have physical, hearing or visual impairments and need assistance to attend City meetings, may call the Virginia Relay Center at 1-800-828-1120, and ask them to call the City Clerk at 757-385-4303 at least 48 hours in advance. Sign language interpreter services are available.

All live meetings and any program that is replayed on City channels are created with Closed Captioning information. Find out more information about accessibility in Virginia Beach.

If you have questions about public engagement, please email Speakup@vbgov.com or call Nancy Bloom, public engagement manager, at 757-385-6279 To be notified of future public input opportunities, sign up for the City’s Be in the Know email newsletter.

The Public Engagement unit in the Communications Office creates opportunities for all residents to share their input; reaches out to stakeholders to ensure that all segments of the population are heard; and gathers, analyzes and provides community input for City leaders.