How to participate in Public Comments

The Town of Collierville welcomes Citizens’ Comments at all Boards and Commissions meetings. The Citizens’ Comments section of the meeting is for residents to address the Board or Commission about topics that are not on the regular meeting agenda. 

Citizens’ Comments also gives participants the opportunity to speak on meeting agenda items and have it documented for public record. If a participant is under 18 years of age, he or she must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.   

To participate in Citizens’ Comments, residents will need to submit a legible completed Citizen Comment Card to the Town Clerk or Town Staff prior to the start of the meeting. Addresses must be included on comment cards or they will be omitted. These cards can be found on the tables to the left and right when entering the Board Chambers. Citizen Comment cards are not given to the meeting leader in a specific order, and the citizens who wish to speak will do so in the order that the cards appear. 

Ensure you receive your full allotted time by following these instructions while making your comments:

1. Adjust the microphone so you are speaking directly into it. Start your comments by stating your name and address clearly into the microphone for public record.
2. As you begin to speak, you will see a green light turn on near the microphone that signals your individual time to speak has started. You will have the floor for three minutes. When the light turns yellow, this signals that you have thirty seconds left to finish speaking. A red light will turn on when your three-minute time limit is over.
3. If your time is over, and you are not finished speaking, you will be allowed a grace period to finish. However, please do not take advantage of going over the time limit, because there are other residents who may be waiting to participate in Citizens’ Comments. 
4. Individuals with time left over may not yield their remaining time to another person. If there are several citizens who are speaking about the same topic, the Board or Commission will allow you to donate your time to one spokesperson. A spokesperson may speak at the podium for a maximum of ten minutes.  

The Town of Collierville wants to provide a safe and welcoming atmosphere, where all voices are respected, where each speaker is treated with dignity, and in exchange it is expected that each speaker treat others with dignity and respect. 

Here are some helpful tips: 

• Speak professionally and respectfully. Any speech or actions that are perceived as potentially inciting violence will not be allowed. 
  
  
• Avoid repetition. If other speakers before you have already made a certain point, do not repeat those comments. 
  
  
• Clothing with messages or symbols that could provoke violence are prohibited 
  
  
• All remarks should be addressed to the Board or Commission as a whole 
  
  
• Present relevant comments. The topic or issue should be within the scope of the Town government to address  

eComments 

eComments are a way for you to participate in live streamed public meetings if you are unable to attend the meeting in person.

NOTE: You will be required to set up an account to use this feature and submit comments before a meeting begins. Anonymous comments are not allowed. 

Instructions for creating an account and submitting eComments:

1. Access meeting agendas at: colliervilletn.gov/publicmeetings.
2. View upcoming public meetings under “upcoming events.”
3. The eComment option will be in the far-right column.
4. Click on the eComment link to begin.
5. You will be required to set up an account: First Name, Last Name, and Email Address.
6. Following setting up your account, you will receive a verification email. This email needs to be accessed to verify the email. Once your account is verified, please log Username and Password for future access.
7. The meeting agenda items will be displayed. Click Comment next to the appropriate agenda item. The eComment form will become available for that agenda item.
   • Optional: Select an option that reflects your position on the item: (Oppose / Neutral / Support)
8. Enter your comments in the field provided. There is a 500-character limit. (A running counter displays how many characters are remaining as you type.
   • Optional: If you want to add an attachment to your comment, click Choose a File, and upload your file. There is a limit of 3 files. (files must be in pdf, doc, text, csv, and xls)
9. Click Submit Comment.
10. View Comments allows users to view comments made on individual agenda items by other constituents.