San Diego residents will soon be given an opportunity to speak on non-agenda issues at every city-council hearing, as California's open-meeting law intended.

During a January 13 hearing, city councilmembers are expected to approve adding non-agenda public comment at the end of Monday meetings, putting an end to a 13-year policy of only allowing comment at the beginning of their Tuesday meetings.

The policy was the brainchild of former city councilmember Ralph Inzunza, who thought public comment dragged out meetings and forced residents wishing to speak on specific items to wait for hours so, as he put it, so a "small group of public speakers...who speak day after day on the same topic and seek no specific action from the Council..." could comment. To work around the Brown Act, the council consolidated the two weekly hearings into one larger hearing. Technically, public comment was still allowed but not during the Monday half of the meeting.

Since 2001, the policy went largely unnoticed until Craig Sherman, an attorney for the non-profit Center for Local Government Accountability, filed a lawsuit challenging it.

"The Brown Act specifically requires an opportunity for non-agenda public comment for each meeting and agenda of a local agency such as the city council," read Sherman's lawsuit. Soon after filing, city attorney Jan Goldsmith met with Sherman and brokered a deal. The agreement was that Sherman would put the lawsuit on hold to give time for Goldsmith to approach council.

In an October 2014 memo, Goldsmith warned that the city was on somewhat shaky legal ground if the case moved forward.

"...it can be argued that the Council is charged...with ensuring 'the intent' of the Brown Act's provision for public comment 'is carried out.' This provision must be 'broadly construed' in favor of greater public access. Creating a two-day consolidated meeting in order to limit access, the argument would go, does not carry out a law that is intended to facilitate access. What's more, the argument would continue, if the council wants to protect other speakers, it could schedule public comments at the end of the agenda."

The new policy calls for public comment to occur at the end of the Monday hearing and beginning of Tuesday's hearing. While a three-minute time allotment is typically provided for public comment, residents will be given two minutes.

The council hearing begins at 9 a.m. on Tuesday inside council chambers.