San Diego County Transforms Public Meeting Engagement with PublicInput

Overcoming Fragmented Outdated Public Comment Process

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors serves as a vital platform for residents to share their perspectives.  Hosting frequent, high-volume meetings, the Board helps to shape regional policies on housing, health, transportation, and the environment.

However, maintaining meaningful public access at this scale posed serious operational challenges, especially as community expectations and legal requirements for digital accessibility evolved.

Meetings often stretched six to eight hours and drew hundreds of participants. And, behind the scenes, staff were managing comments and speaker lists through two separate systems:

This dual process was time-consuming and error-prone. Without integrated workflows, staff were burdened by manual tracking, and residents faced unnecessary barriers to participation. The system’s lack of accessibility and redundancy also left the County at risk of compliance gaps with the Brown Act and the recently passed SB 707.

Recognizing the need for modernization, San Diego County sought a unified, cloud-based solution that could streamline every phase of the meeting process—from agenda creation through post-meeting reporting—while ensuring full compliance with California’s SB 707.

PublicInput Meetings: A Unified, End-to-End Solution

To transform its operations, the County implemented PublicInput Meetings, a hybrid public engagement platform designed to simplify participation, automate workflows, and ensure accessibility across all channels.

The County launched PublicComment.SanDiegoCounty.gov, a single, user-friendly hub where residents could register to speak, view agendas, and access meeting information—all in one place.

Implementing PublicInput Meetings fundamentally changed San Diego County’s public meeting experience—making participation easier for residents and meeting management more efficient for staff.

For Residents: 

Residents now enjoy a seamless, equitable experience whether participating in person or remotely:

• • • Anywhere Access: Register to speak from any device, without needing to arrive early.
    • Multi-Item Registration: Submit one form for multiple agenda items, eliminating repetitive paperwork.
    • Real-Time Notifications & Call-to-Join: Receive automated queue updates and, for virtual participants, an automated call when it’s their turn to speak.
    • Language Accessibility: Access translations in 100+ languages and request interpreters directly through the platform.

For Staff and Board/Council Members: 

For staff, what was once a labor-intensive process is now a structured, data-driven system:

• • • Automated Agenda Management: Meetings populate automatically from Legistar, reducing duplicate data entry.
    • Efficient Speaker Tracking: Manage all speakers in one dashboard, by item and participation type.
    • Dynamic Engagement Reports: Real-time dashboards show speaker counts and participation trends, helping staff plan and manage meetings effectively.
    • AI and Automation: Auto-generated transcripts and summaries reduce post-meeting workload and free staff to focus on facilitating discussions.

Through these improvements, San Diego County replaced hours of manual coordination with automated workflows, clearer processes, and improved access—making it easier for residents to engage and enabling staff to manage meetings more efficiently.

The Result: San Diego County Manages Public Meetings More Effectively

PublicInput Meetings unified San Diego County’s entire meeting workflow across three phases:

1. Pre-Meeting (Preparation)

Through a seamless integration with Legistar, PublicInput Meetings automatically generates draft agendas and meeting workflows as soon as new items are scheduled. 

Constituents can now register to speak via a custom Request to Speak form, receiving automated confirmations and reminders—eliminating manual coordination for staff.

2. During the Meeting (Real-Time Engagement)

County staff manages both phone and in-person speakers through the Speaker Management Dashboard, which displays live queues by agenda item and supports up to 250 concurrent calls.

Residents experience an accessible process, whether joining in person, by browser, or through a toll-free number.

3. Post-Meeting (Analysis and Reporting)

After each meeting, the system automatically generates transcripts, audio records, and engagement reports. Staff can now export these directly to prepare official minutes or analyze participation trends. 

Post meeting enhancements include AI-powered transcription and automated minutes generation, reducing hours of manual staff work to just minutes.

By connecting every phase of the meeting workflow, PublicInput Meetings replaces fragmented manual tasks with automation—saving time, improving reliability, and strengthening transparency.

A Model for Modern Compliance: California’s SB 707 Mandates

PublicInput positioned San Diego County at the forefront of compliance with California Senate Bill 707, which enforced strict standards for accessibility and hybrid participation in public meetings.

How PublicInput Supports SB 707 Compliance

These turnkey capabilities distinguish PublicInput Meetings from limited point solutions—offering agencies a fully integrated, compliance-ready platform purpose-built for transparency and accessibility.

Build Your Own Model for Accessible, Compliant Engagement

San Diego County’s success shows how technology can simplify complex operations while strengthening the principles of open, accessible governance.

If your agency is ready to save time, ensure compliance, and make participation more accessible for every resident, let us show you PublicInput Meetings—the complete toolkit for modern, transparent, and inclusive public meetings.