City Council

Ways to get involved

Speak at a City Council Meeting.

Show solidarity and reactions with other groups that are speaking — the mood in the room can sway the discussion.

Attend/watch and take notes to help Indivisible keep informed on local issues.

Network with other concerned citizens and advocacy groups that attend the city council meetings.

Stay abreast of Council and Mayoral elections.

Contact your representative about issues.

Find Your Representative

• Option 1: Log on to GA My Voter Page.
  • Under “My Districts & Elected Officials.”
  • County Districts: School Board/Commission (For Columbus, they should be the same).
• Option 2: Columbus, GA has its own election map. You can also search by address.

City Council Schedule

Double check upcoming meeting dates — dates can often change around holidays, absences, and other city events!!

Meetings can last 4-5 hours. If you can’t attend a full meeting, attending any section of a meeting can be helpful. 

2nd Tuesday Meeting

The City Council meeting is held at 9 am the 2nd Tuesday of each month. 

Agenda: City council should publish the Agenda for the meeting by 5 pm the 1st Thursday of the month (the week before the meeting, 1st Thursday 5 pm).

Speaking: If you want to reserve a time to speak at the meeting, you must fill out a Public Agenda Application by noon the Friday before the meeting (1st Fri 12 pm). 

4th Tuesday Meeting

The City Council meeting should be held at 5:30 pm the 4th Tuesday of the month.

Agenda: City council should publish the Agenda for the meeting by 5 pm the 1st Thursday of the month (week before the meeting, 3rd Thurs 5 pm).

Speaking: If you want to reserve a time to speak at the meeting, you must fill out a Public Agenda Application by noon the Friday before the meeting (3rd Fri 12 pm). 

Meeting Structure

The most up to date meeting agenda arrives at Municode first.

Documents here include:

• Agenda — how to know what the topic of the meeting is before the meeting.
• Summary Minutes — official decisions, posted right after a meeting.
• Minutes — more detailed description posted by the Clerk of City Council after reviewing the meeting transcript.
• Agenda Packet (HTML) — this will give you the most detail to reference when preparing for an Indivisible meeting.

You can also find records here, but there are occasionally some delays on this site. 

Mayor’s Agenda

Proclamations: The first 10-30 minutes of a meeting are introductions, announcements — rewards to individual citizens, celebrating “Official day of ______.” Usually there are not major changes in this section, but it can be nice to hear about different groups or non-profits in town. Sometimes they will also announce upcoming city events.

Presentations: 1-2 hours. Often the meatiest part of the meeting. A random rotation of city departments and major community stakeholders will give a pre-planned PowerPoint presentation explaining their programs and budgets in detail. Great way to learn/advocate on that specific department if the presentation of the week interests you. (You may need to send questions/comments to your rep before and after the meeting as the floor is not open to the public during this section).

City Attorney’s Agenda

Ordinances: Official decisions/laws passed by the council during the meeting.

• 1st reading: open to comments. Anyone in the room can speak if you stand up fast enough! (A law will not become final until the 2nd reading.)
• 2nd reading: Council makes final decision to pass a bill in stone. NOT open to comments. (Which stinks, because the ordinance votes happen before the Public Agenda when people can reserve minutes to speak.)
• Zoning
  • Has major impacts on traffic, construction, housing, equity, neighborhood planning, infrastructure, and business development.
  • Wide variety — everything from single lots which need a quick rule fix and are passed without comment, to neighborhood-wide debates on a new development complex. 
  • Open the “Council Staff Report” attachment for more details.
    • Example
    • Pay attention to:
      • Proposed Use of Property
      • Environmental Impacts
      • Traffic Impact
      • Attitude of Property Owners
    • Look at a map to know where it’s happening
• Columbus Code amendments
  • Changing laws, policies, and penal code — less common than zoning changes, but have a bigger impact. 

Resolutions: Anything involving money. See attachments for details!

• Budget decisions.
• Grants to implement federal programs in Columbus.
• Settlements.

Public Agenda

About 30 min – 1 hr depending on the number of speakers.

Spiciest part of a meeting — some heated discussions and lively debates on the most recent issues.

Great opportunity for community networking.

Common Speakers:

• Community stakeholders and advocates bringing city-wide issues.
• Individual citizens with a city complaint.
• Non-profits announcing new initiatives or special events.

(See speaking at a meeting section below.)

City Manager’s Agenda

May have additional presentations and budget approvals, accepting grants — finding out about a mix of federal and state programs that support the community.

Can also include some formal decision making (Georgia General Assembly, Columbus consolidated boundaries).

Information regarding Purchases.

Updates and Presentations

Usually another 1 hour or so.

Second set of presentations similar to the mayor’s agenda, just different groups. Usually PowerPoint presentations.

The Finance Director often gives a budget update or steps up to clarify questions from council members. 

Bid Advertisements

Announcing to vendors that the city wants to buy a contract for something.

Clerk of Council’s Agenda

10-15 min, shorter section of meeting.

Enclosures: Routine meeting logistics (schedule changes, absences, record adjustments, etc.), but it is good to track which city council members skip meetings.

Board assignments: Huge number of vacancies — they always need more board members! Contact mayor or city council member as applicable if interested in serving on a board. Also see Columbus Consolidated Government Boards and Commissions.

Public Agenda

Only occurs if one of the speakers in the Public Agenda section requested to get a 3 minute extension while they were speaking.

Since you have to wait several hours to get your extra few minutes of speaking, the end of the meeting often has important/hot button topics and determined speakers.

Executive Session

May either be at the end of a meeting or an intermission in the middle. It’s usually an hour or so. City Council discusses closed matters and the public must stay out of the room for lawsuits or other legal issues. Some community stakeholders and news media have had controversy on the council overusing executive session to shut out public debate.

Speaking at a Meeting

Sign Up by Friday noon before the meeting.

The Clerk will assign the speaking order on the meeting Agenda.

First round of speaking — 5 minutes.

Podium has a microphone and a timer, but no electronic presentations. You can bring paper attachments (PowerPoint slides, photo evidence, documents, news articles). 21 copies are required for any paper handout to account for all the government officials and the official record. Only the council will be able to see the handouts, not the audience/public.

You can ask the Council questions and they can ask you questions (but it comes out of your 5 min. total). Council members may ask you to follow-up, email, or answer questions after the meeting. 

Second round of speaking — 3 minutes.

You can ask for additional time, but only if you request it during your initial 5 minute slot. You must wait until the very end of the meeting — they will add your 3 min slot at the end (can be several hours later).

Other Local Government Opportunities

Serve on a board

Vacancies/applications are posted at https://www.columbusga.gov/Boards.

Voter Registration

More information here.

School Boards

Contact your local board member with issues or attend school board meetings. 

Board members listed by district (see “find your representative” instructions at the top of the page).

Work Sessions: 2nd Monday of each month at 5:00 pm. Lasts about 3 hours. Discussion Meeting.

Board meeting: 3rd Monday of each month at 6:00 pm. Lasts 1.5 hours. To get on the public agenda, send an email to the Board Secretary Ms. Karen Jones by 2pm the DAY OF the meeting. Jones.Karen.P@Muscogee.K12.ga.us

Current board work session and meeting agendas

Previous Board Notes

Run for Elected Office!

Other Initiatives and Groups

Project Revolution advocates against bad conditions at the local jail.

Several immigration groups encourage observing immigration courts — American Bar Association has more information.