Only two weeks after approving a new policy for the city’s meeting minutes, the Apopka City Council voted 4-1 to revise the document to say that a 10-word or less summary per individual must be added under public comment.  

Commissioner/Vice Mayor Diane Velazquez initiated the conversation about public comment in the minutes at the beginning of this week’s meeting as the council reviewed the Aug. 6 minutes.  

She argued for brief summaries of public comments, citing examples of residents by name and the topic of their comments.  

“I know that we approved the resolution, but I don’t think we – either I misunderstood, but I know that I didn’t agree with just list the names,” Velazquez said. “There were some residents on that list that made some comments that was important, but it’s not listed here.” 

Commissioner Nick Nesta said the issue Velazquez raised was the reason he voted against the policy approved on Aug. 6.  

“This is what I was debating against last time that you had voted the affirmative for,” Nesta told Velazquez. “It specifically says minutes shall not include detailed discussions, debate, personal opinions, comments, attacks, disagreements – comments. It specifically said it’s not going to include comments, so when I was going through all of this … this is something that was so important.” 

Velazquez responded to Nesta acknowledging that she did agree to the policy. 

“But I actually thought that there would be a small sentence to say, at least, what they were saying,” Velazquez said. She recommended the word “comments” be eliminated from the resolution and replaced with “brief summaries.”  

As for the Aug. 6 minutes, the council voted 3-2 for it, with Commissioners Alexander H. Smith and Nadia Anderson, and Mayor Bryan Nelson voting to approve them, and Velasquez and Nesta voting in opposition. 

During his council report, Smith brought the minutes policy back up for a vote, saying he agreed with Velazquez that just listing commenters’ names in the minutes was inadequate.  

“If we are going to give [City Clerk Susan Bone] the leeway to summarize those comments, then we ought to be also willing to accept the summary that she gives us and not attack her because it doesn’t say what we wanted to say,” Smith said before making the motion. 

Velazquez seconded the motion. After discussion, the council voted unanimously in favor of revising the policy to state a 10-word or less sentence for each person in public comment.  

However, on the advice of city attorney Cliff Shepard, public comment must be held for this action item. Residents criticized the policy for suppressing public voices and called for accurate records. 

Afterward, the council took another vote on the policy revision 4-1 with Nesta in opposition. 

At the July 16 Council meeting, Nesta presented a case for the city having a meeting minutes meeting policy that would ensure accuracy and transparency. The City Council then voted 3-2 in opposition to having Shepard draft a meeting minutes policy for later presentation. Nesta and Velazquez voted for it, while Anderson, Smith and Nelson opposed it.  

On July 16, the council discussed the possibility of Bone writing such a policy, but the proposal did not receive a vote. Bone took the initiative to draft a policy for presentation at the Aug. 6 meeting. 

At the Aug. 6 meeting, Bone introduced Resolution 2025-33, explaining the meeting minutes style that would focus on action taken. The council voted 4-1 to adopt it.