PORT ORCHARD — Beginning May 9, if you arrive at 7 p.m. expecting to watch the full proceedings of the Port Orchard City Council’s meeting, you’ll miss the pledge of allegiance and the first half-hour of discussion.

That’s because council members voted April 25 to start City Council meetings 30 minutes earlier at 6:30 p.m. The time shift was prompted by some council members and citizens who said the meetings, which can last two hours or more, run too late into the evening.

Results from an online survey posted on the city’s website showed that 76 percent of participants agreed, and said they’d more likely attend a City Council meeting if the start time was moved up.

For those interested in knowing, there is a Port Orchard municipal code — 2.04.010 — that dictates the council’s regular meeting and work session start time. Council members voted at their April 25 meeting to amend the code to reflect a new 6:30 p.m. start for regular council meetings, which are scheduled on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, and work sessions on the third Tuesday of the month.

The meeting location hasn’t changed, of course. The City Council meets in the Robert G. Geiger Council Chambers, 216 Prospect St., at City Hall in Port Orchard.