Berkeley Boards and Commissions
Regular Meeting Schedule and Location
Check What's Ahead for the weekly summary of upcoming Berkeley City meetings,
agenda highlights and area demonstrations
In 2022 the City Council eliminated and merged many city commissions. The new list can be found at https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions. The Berkeley Rent Board is not in this list and can be found at https://rentboard.berkeleyca.gov/
Many if not most of the Commissions are NOT recorded. Commission meeting minutes are action only, meaning that minute include items where a vote was taken. None of the discussion, packets or presentations are included in the minutes.
If a meeting is virtual on zoom ask the host to activate the closed captioning. Then click on CC closed captioning to turn it on, use the "carrot/arrow" to bring up "show full transcript." If the meeting host has set up the meeting to allow attendees to save, go to the transcript bottom and click on "save transcript." The full transcript is visible only from when you took these actions. If you activate the closed captioning halfway through a meeting, then the full transcript will be only from that halfway point forward. As the meeting starts to reach the end, start clicking on save transcript for continuous updates. If you have not saved the transcript before the host ends the meeting the entire transcript will be lost.
The zoom transcription service is computer voice recognition software. It is not perfect. It is about 80% accurate depending on the speech clarity of the speakers, but it is close enough to capture meeting content.
For all meetings that are not recorded when the save transcript function is used, that saved transcript will be the only record of Berkeley public meeting discussion.
If the closed captioning is not activated, ask for it! To activate the function, it may require every one to sign off, for the host to end the meeting change the settings and restart the meeting.
Some hosts will activate closed captioning and then prevent attendees from saving the transcript. When that is the setting you will still be able to view the transcript, but the "save transcipt" button will be missing.
Many if not most of the Commissions are NOT recorded. Commission meeting minutes are action only, meaning that minute include items where a vote was taken. None of the discussion, packets or presentations are included in the minutes.
If a meeting is virtual on zoom ask the host to activate the closed captioning. Then click on CC closed captioning to turn it on, use the "carrot/arrow" to bring up "show full transcript." If the meeting host has set up the meeting to allow attendees to save, go to the transcript bottom and click on "save transcript." The full transcript is visible only from when you took these actions. If you activate the closed captioning halfway through a meeting, then the full transcript will be only from that halfway point forward. As the meeting starts to reach the end, start clicking on save transcript for continuous updates. If you have not saved the transcript before the host ends the meeting the entire transcript will be lost.
The zoom transcription service is computer voice recognition software. It is not perfect. It is about 80% accurate depending on the speech clarity of the speakers, but it is close enough to capture meeting content.
For all meetings that are not recorded when the save transcript function is used, that saved transcript will be the only record of Berkeley public meeting discussion.
If the closed captioning is not activated, ask for it! To activate the function, it may require every one to sign off, for the host to end the meeting change the settings and restart the meeting.
Some hosts will activate closed captioning and then prevent attendees from saving the transcript. When that is the setting you will still be able to view the transcript, but the "save transcipt" button will be missing.
Berkeley Commission Roster
If you are interested in serving on a commission you may contact Councilmembers directly. It is not required that you live in the district of the appointing council member. To check for commission members and vacancies go to https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/External%20Roster%2001-20.pdf
This same link is posted on every commission page.
If you are interested in serving on a commission you may contact Councilmembers directly. It is not required that you live in the district of the appointing council member. To check for commission members and vacancies go to https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/External%20Roster%2001-20.pdf
This same link is posted on every commission page.
