But a new pilot program city staff rolled out this week falls short for some of the city's most civically active San Antonians.
Many of the city's 94 boards and commissions let people leave voicemails to be played during the "public comment" portion of their meetings when the pandemic forced community members to weigh in from afar. Though use of that option slowly dropped off as residents returned to meetings in person, several boards and commissions still allowed the practice until the city cut the option early this spring.
Its elimination prompted swift backlash from community members who felt the change would silence residents who had work or home obligations that prevented them from attending meetings, which often take place during business hours.
The new pilot, which launched this week, invites people to once again leave voicemails for five boards and commissions. City staffers are placing the messages in a digital folder for members to review ahead of meetings, along with emails.
City staff are hoping by June 1 to find AI-powered software to transcribe the messages and help organize the emails the city receives, City Clerk Debbie Racca-Sittre said.
City staff will also summarize voicemails it received for each item and include the summary in meeting minutes.
"We must do everything possible to hear from the people, and technology can help us do that," Jones said in a statement. "It can be hard to get to City Hall to provide feedback — if you're a caregiver, working non-traditional hours, or just trying to make ends meet. From social media, to my townhalls, to texts I received, the community wanted to keep the voicemail option."
Bianca Maldonado, president of the Monticello Park Neighborhood Association, was frustrated when the city yanked the voicemail option. And she worries that board members and commissioners won't take the time to review written or transcribed voicemails ahead of meetings.
Maldonado also said it's unfair for the city to have cut the voicemail option while it continues to allow developers, board members and commissioners to join meetings via video call — and option also added because of COVID-19.
"The pilot makes no sense," she said. "The pilot adds more work and it does not address the issue at hand. Why are you creating extra work when something was hugely successful? Those voicemails allowed for more public engagement than these boards and commissions had ever seen before. The only answer is people did not want to sit through those voicemails anymore and hear public comment and that is really sad."
Maldonado isn't alone. She's one of many neighborhood association leaders who talked to council members, the mayor and their staffs in an effort to keep the pandemic-era voicemail option alive.
"It's just, once again, moving away from engaging community, and that's not good in a democracy," said Leticia Sanchez, Historic Westside Residents Association co-chair.
Cynthia Spielman, secretary of the Beacon Hill Area Neighborhood Association, said she believes hearing voicemails at meetings have a greater effect than written remarks and can sometimes move people to change their minds on an issue.
"Very few people can get to those commission meetings because they work during the day," Spielman said, noting that she also struggles to get to meetings because she is usually taking care of her granddaughter. "And if we don't get down there and say what we have to say out loud, then we have no way of knowing if they're just not looking at something that the city says, 'Oh, four people against it, four people for it.' That is worse than not having a voice at all, to be honest."
In late January, Racca-Sittre announced to city executives that all boards and commissions would stop accepting voicemails by April 1.
She said the decision to scrap the option came after board and commission members expressed concern about the sometimes high-volume of scripted voicemails they listened to — messages that were sometimes the same word for word.
Racca-Sittre said she wants to ensure that the options residents have to give their opinions are uniform across all boards and commissions. During the pandemic and in the years following, the bodies continuously changed the rules for how to collect voicemails, emails and written comments.
Racca-Sittre disagrees that board members and commissioners will be less likely to review comments that they receive ahead of their meetings, instead of listening to the voicemails during the sessions.
"These board members are really dedicated and committed, and I feel strongly that they want to there will be listening to the voicemails," she said. "They will be reading the emails. They take that under advisement. They take their job very seriously."
Residents can leave voicemails on designated phone lines posted on the city's website for the Board of Adjustment, Historic and Design Review Commission, Historic Compliance and Technical Advisory Board, Planning Commission and Zoning Commission.
The messages can run up to two minutes must be received by 4 p.m. the business day before a scheduled meeting.
More information is available at SA.gov/MeetingParticipation.
City staff will be tracking how many people send in comments and talking to board members and commissioners about their thoughts on the program. The feedback will be sent to City Council to determine if the pilot program should be expanded to other city meetings.
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