The Houston City Council voted to permanently retain its evening public comment sessions, a pilot program launched to give working residents and caregivers a chance to speak directly to elected officials outside traditional business hours. The evening meetings, which took place on the last session of each month at 6 pm, have been moved to 5 pm.
Council members debated whether the evening sessions should remain a monthly fixture or be scaled back in the name of efficiency, but ultimately decided to retain them. The discussion revealed competing views about staff capacity and whether the meetings are truly reaching new voices.
Debates on timing
Councilmember Fred Flickinger proposed an amendment to reduce evening sessions from monthly to quarterly, citing concerns about staffing demands and the redundancy of speakers.
“One of the things that I’ve found in the evening sessions is a lot of the speakers are the same speakers that we have during the day as well,” Flickinger said.
He added that he had hoped the sessions would primarily attract residents who otherwise could not attend daytime meetings, but said that “the vast majority” of speakers were familiar faces. Flickinger also pointed to the logistical strain of staffing City Hall after hours.
“This would relieve some of the additional burden brought on by staffing in the evening,” he added.
But supporters of the evening meetings pushed back, arguing that attendance data and community feedback suggest the sessions have broadened access, not duplicated it.
Councilmember Mario Castillo, who helped lead the pilot, presented statistics from the four evening sessions held so far. The first drew 77 speakers and lasted more than three hours. Another featured 105 speakers and over four hours of testimony. On average, the meetings have drawn about 80 speakers and nearly 200 minutes of public comment.
“To me, that’s a success,” Castillo said. He also disputed the notion that evening meetings attract the same speakers as daytime sessions, saying that had not been his experience.
Castillo said the ordinance before the council already included changes aimed at improving efficiency without reducing access. Those adjustments include moving the start time from 6 p.m. to 5 p.m., eliminating proclamations during evening sessions, and clarifying scheduling so the final public session of the month is not consolidated with other meetings.
“That’s the proposal that I’ll support,” Castillo said.
Inclusive timing
Councilmember Abbie Kamin voiced strong support for keeping evening meetings on a regular basis, particularly for residents who cannot take time off work to attend daytime sessions.
“People who now don’t have to take time off work,” Kamin said, describing feedback from her district. While acknowledging that virtual public testimony could also expand access, she noted that the city does not currently offer that option. “I fully support public meetings in the evenings, because that gives people additional access to City Hall and that’s important.”
“I fully support public meetings in the evenings, because that gives people additional access to City Hall and that’s important.”
Councilmember Abbie Kamin
She also emphasized the importance of enforcing existing rules governing public comment, including time limits and relevance to agenda items. Kamin suggested that some of the strain surrounding public sessions stems not from their timing, but from inconsistent enforcement of those rules.
“It’s important, regardless of when we have a public session, that we are enforcing the rules of germaneness, of time, things of that nature, because some of the reasons why we’re having some of these challenges with public sessions is because we’re not enforcing the rules that are on the books,” she said.
The discussion also raised questions about inclusivity beyond work schedules. Kamin asked the city to be mindful of religious and cultural observances when scheduling evening meetings, noting that the next session falls during Hanukkah, which includes evening observances. She also referenced Ramadan, when many residents break fast after sunset.
“I would ask for sensitivity for all faiths and observances,” Kamin said.
What’s next?
While council members broadly agreed that public input is essential, the debate highlighted a fundamental tension: How to balance broad access with operational demands on city staff and elected officials.
Houston already offers more public comment opportunities than many large cities, Kamin noted, but the question remains whether expanding those opportunities requires additional structural changes, or simply better enforcement of existing procedures.
As the pilot period for evening sessions comes to a close, council members must decide whether the meetings will continue monthly, be reduced to quarterly, or undergo further modification. The outcome could shape how and how often residents engage directly with city leadership.
For working Houstonians and caregivers who cannot appear at City Hall during business hours, evening meetings represent one of the few direct pathways into the policymaking process.
The council is expected to continue discussions on the ordinance in the coming weeks as it determines whether accessibility or efficiency will take priority, or whether Houston can find a way to strike a balance between the two.
