The citizens have been disenfranchised by Mayor Bryan Nelson when he rewrote the City Council Agenda moving Public Comments from the beginning of the meeting and not broadcasting them as announced in the Public announcement. 

• Presenting their positions. Citizens read the Agenda posted late the previous Friday to prepare their opinion to discuss with Council. Public Comments need to be prior to all agenda items for Council members to digest and reflect on the suggestions and opinions not at the second of a decision. 
• Informing all citizens. ALL citizens deserve to be able to hear and see the entire City Council meeting as Noticed by the City Clerk Susan Bone, gavel to gavel. Not all citizens or stakeholders can attend in person and must rely on asynchronous video streaming: employees on duty, shift workers, bedridden, caregivers, travelers, and those without Facebook. The YouTube video should be one complete record. 
• Recognizing special programs. Organizers announce special events and fundraisers for charities in Public Comments. It is fruitless for nonprofits to announce their events after the employees have been removed from the hall, contractors and builders have left, and the streaming program has been turned off. 
• Educational opportunities for youth. Youth must sit through four, five, or six hours of a meeting to participate in Public Comments. They are there to learn about public speaking, communicating with public officials, city structures, and meetings. For example, on Wednesday, 16 April 2025 several young people waited from 7:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. to speak. They still had to drive home in preparation for school the next morning. 
• First Amendment Rights. People speak at Council as Public Square. They want to and are entitled to be heard on any issue. Only the dozen people left in the room hear their voice not recorded and streamed on the City Clerk Susan Bone’s Public Notice. 
• Florida Sunshine Law. The Agenda states that Public Comments are a part of the public City of Apopka Council Meeting. It is not a separate meeting. Adjournment is after the Public Comments. The Public Notice states that the meeting will be streamed on the City of Apopka YouTube channel. The entire meeting IS NOT streamed. 
• Florida Sunshine Law. During Public Comments at several meetings, the Council, city legal representation, etc., engaged in actual meeting conduct as opposed to just listening to the citizens. 
• Equity and bias by the chair between commenters. The chair cuts people off at four (4) minutes unless he does not. If he favors people he allows them to finish their thoughts or go on. The remainder of the citizens are cut off mid sentence and gaveled out.

Please sign this petition informing the chair and members of the City of Apopka Council that the chair’s decision to alter the agenda moving Public Comments to the end of the meeting, turning off the microphone, and not streaming that part of the meeting is in violation of citizens’ rights to know how the city is being governed (Sunshine Law), disenfranchises citizens who cannot attend in person, and violates the First Amendment rights of those wishing to be heard and cannot be heard for 4-5-6 hours. 

Contact Your Council:

• Mayor Bryan Nelson BNelson@Apopka.Net 407-7031701
• Vice Mayor Diane Velazquez DVelazquez@Apopka.net
• Council Alex Smith ASmith@Apopka.net
• Council Nick Nesta NNesta@Apopka.net
• Council Nadia Anderson NLAnderson@Apopka.net