- Council to order will the honorable clerk, please read the roll Councilmember Flaherty here Stasburg
- here Piedmont Smith here Zulek here. I'm sorry here daily. Yes Rallo here rough Rosenberger
- Okay, this evening the agendas are posted on the wall, and the clerk prints out some if anybody would
- like to read them. But our agenda includes approval of minutes from four prior meetings, reports from
- council members and city offices, including a report from John Fernandez of Amplify Bloomington, and
- appointments to boards and commissions. We'll also consider one ordinance for first reading to rezone
- the place that's commonly referred to as Hopewell.
- and under second readings will consider two ordinances amending provisions of title two regarding boards
- and commissions and Another that is about ordinance procedures. Each of them have some amendments with
- that and we'll move to The approval of our minutes. Are there any corrections to the minutes is distributed?
- Seeing none is there a motion to approve Second
- There's a motion and a second to approve the minutes all in favor. Say aye Any opposed any abstaining
- that motion carries eight zero Thank you very much. We'll now move to reports and we'll start with council
- member reports Do any council members have a report? councilmember Stasberg
- Do have a report this evening on Plan Commission last week Plan Commission had the second Hopewell PUD
- hearing at this meeting on Monday February 9th The PUD was forwarded to counsel with a positive
- recommendation At the time I did vote in the affirmative though. I regret that now the PUD document
- itself had a number of problems with basic clarity and correctness I pointed most of those out during
- the Plan Commission meeting itself and
- And as a result, the Plan Commission added a condition to their approval that staff and the petitioner
- had to work with me to clarify language and correct citations. There did not seem to be appetite to
- continue the petition to another Plan Commission meeting requiring that the petitioner amend the language
- at that time.
- Plan Commission was going to vote to send it to council and I figured that condition would save some
- amending at the council level if language was Improved before the petition ever got here and it was
- for that reason that I supported it But to be clear this was not just a couple of commas or misspellings
- I made 26 comments on an 11 page document pointing out incorrect references inconsistent requirements
- and enforcing planning staff recommendations from January that were not included in February and
- Was very clear during that meeting that mayor Thompson wanted to get this Document out of the Plan Commission
- and to the council as soon as possible. I Started to regret my vote on Tuesday when I realized that
- president Asari intended to include the hopeful PUD this evening for first reading When I spoke with
- president Asari on Tuesday afternoon, February 10th He said that he wasn't going to hold anything up
- and if it was ready to go then it was going to go the problem is that it was not ready to go and
- The issue was not only related to that extra condition given by Plan Commission and the many modifications
- needed to make that document more readable But the fact that per council policy Documents related to
- legislation need to be sent to council office ten days in advance of the meeting or by noon on Monday
- of the previous week which was the same day as the Plan Commission it's meeting itself and
- I really support this policy. It's good policy. It's necessary policy. This policy gives our staff adequate
- time to ensure that the legislation doesn't have obvious problems and for them to do any related research
- that might be necessary for council consideration. This is policy that was not always strictly enforced
- and I was very deliberate to enforce this last year when I was president and I enforced it for the good
- of our staff and their management of workflow. And this policy is actually also stated in our city code
- in section 2.04 270.
- And that's the planning Commission summary from the week and I have comments about the introduction
- of ordinance 20 2606 when that mentioned when that motion to introduce is made. Thank you Thank you
- so much other reports Councilman Flaherty I Feel like I jumped the line, but I'll go with it Yeah, just
- wanted to follow up on a few constituents who commented or residents who commented last last regular
- session about
- Challenges they experienced as pedestrians navigating our city in the wake of the very significant snowstorm
- Just wanted to recognize that and thank them for commenting. This is not a new challenge for us It is
- property owners responsibility to clear sidewalks in front of their business or home Compliance is very
- spotty our ability to enforce that is also very spotty. I think it might warrant some legislative changes we could
- consider escalating fines or different fines for commercial versus residential property, we could track
- on a multi-year basis instead of saying every year it's like, oh, you get a warning and then a citation,
- and then it melts, and so it's not even an issue anymore, and then you don't have to pay the $50 fine.
- Even if you did have to pay the $50 fine, I don't think that's probably adequate to get people to comply.
- We don't want to unduly penalize folks. We have programs and other things to help out.
- But at the same time it is just objectively true that our pedestrian network for two weeks plus This
- this last month was not safe and it was not accessible that is not meeting our goals You know as a city
- including the goal to eliminate all pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries in our streets by the
- year 2039 And I know we've made some progress on this front, too I know we've piloted some things in
- downtown to have the city of Bloomington
- Clear sidewalks. I think we were piloting something on South Kirkwood this year I do need to get in
- touch with I think at least four department heads who are engaged in some aspect of Sidewalk management
- in this regard to hear how it's going. What do they think? What are we succeeding at? What
- are the opportunities for improvement? There's probably budgetary implications as well. We're entering
- those kind of conversations quite soon as well the council's fiscal committee Which I joined this year
- had its first meeting last week for instance and
- So yeah, I just wanted to recognize all that. I think it's a perennial challenge. There aren't easy
- solutions, but surely we can do better than we've been doing. And I guess the last thing is a few of
- those residents who commented also noted about the challenges with compliance from governmental entities.
- That should be... That one should not be an issue. I know the RDC-owned building at the former Bunger
- Robertson site, fourth in college, did not clear its sidewalks for many weeks.
- This was also true of the convention center for several days. That was true last year of the convention
- center for several days This is over and over again. So we've got to find a way to do better And I think
- it might warrant again legislation budget considerations possibly a deliberation session in the future
- We talked about that last year. We didn't actually hold it. We probably should so thank you Thank you
- so much. We'll go to council member Rallo. Then I think you have councilman Pema Smith after that
- Thank you. Mr. President. I want to I share the sentiments of my colleague Councilmember Flaherty that
- our pedestrian network needs to be Attended to in terms of its accessibility and I realized that the
- storm was exceptional but it went several weeks without with sidewalks still being blocked and that's
- in some cases the only means by which some people can get around and
- Maybe the bus but oftentimes it forced people into the streets, which is unsafe and it's been said before
- that our the penalty is Hasn't been increased for many years and just in that sense it's diminished
- and its effect because of inflation so we should be looking for enforcement and to probably upgrade
- the penalty for Sidewalks that are
- Blocked by snow and I might add Blocked by and with the weather getting better We're going to have scooters
- that are going to be parked on sidewalks and and blocking and blocking sidewalks as well I also just
- wanted to announce that Councilmember Ruff and I have our monthly constituent meeting on this Saturday
- this coming Saturday February 21st at 10 a.m. And you can find the link in
- at the council website bloomington.in.gov slash council It's from 10 a.m. To 11 a.m. But we usually
- go maybe almost two hours. So you're welcome to attend and You'll have a good time bring your coffee
- and hope to see you there Thank you so much Yes, I wanted to mention since
- I just realized I wanted to mention this because councilmember Rallo talked about scooters blocking
- sidewalks which has been an ongoing problem. So I did want to mention that over the last year I've had
- a few communications with Jeffrey Jackson in economic and sustainable development who is
- person in charge of enforcing our scooter rules. And there will be legislation coming up in the coming
- months about scooters. So if any colleagues have concerns or input, I'd be happy to take that input
- or to include you in future email exchanges about that. I also want to highlight the upcoming Black
- History Month events. We've had a couple of great events here in the city. And this Saturday, there
- will be a poster board contest and a reception.
- And this is for children and youth who have researched some aspect of black history and have prepared
- posters and they will be on display here in City Hall. And that's Saturday. There's a reception at 12
- noon and you can go around and look at all the work and then an awards program at one o'clock. And then
- the Black History Month Gala is Saturday, February 28th, the last day of the month.
- That starts at 6 p.m., and that's at One World at the Woolery Mill, and it is a ticketed event. So if
- you would like to attend, please do go ahead and use Google to find Black History Month Gala Bloomington,
- Indiana. It's at the BCT. Oh, you can buy tickets at the Bus Script Shumlee Theater website, my colleague tells me.
- There you have it. So hope to see you at some of those events. Thank you Thank you any other reports
- Back to you comes my brother Thank you something I just started paying attention to today and that is
- that it seems that we are now gearing up for another war and Maybe this is just bluster but a third
- of our Navy is now either in
- in and around the Middle East and approaching there. Now, I'm old enough to remember several wars and
- unnecessary wars that killed innocent people. And I also want to point out that money that goes for
- warfare is money that is not spent here at home for people in need. We've been receiving less and less
- money from the federal government. And so I just want to urge people to pay attention
- to what's happening and maybe give voice. Contact your representative at higher offices and say, go
- back to diplomacy. Go back to negotiations. Find a way in which you can avoid this conflict. Thank you.
- Thank you so much. Okay, well that concludes council member reports. We'll now move to reports with
- which we have two. The first one will be from our former mayor, John Fernandez, who's now the CEO of
- Amplify Bloomington. Sir, you have some time, and then we'll hear from our clerk. Thank you for joining
- us. All right. Well, thank you for having me. I appreciate the invitation. A couple of the members of
- the council were able to join us on February 4th when we
- Had our kickoff event for what's now amplified Bloomington It was really a tremendous turnout a lot
- of energy behind what we're doing So I thought I would take up your president's invitation to come share
- some additional thoughts with with all of you who couldn't attend So amplified Bloomington is a new
- New civic alliance that we've morphed into and evolved into from the early days of the dimension mill
- Why are we doing this? I think the important thing to focus on is the why? Bloomington like a lot of
- cities our size face some significant headwinds we see meaningful loss of population particularly in
- the 25 to 45 age cohort we have income disparities that continue to grow
- Housing affordably affordability issues talent out migration Those are all challenges that we need to
- address and at the same time with a lot more remote working and and quality life Migration trends. We
- also have a huge opportunity and we think through stronger collaboration and better storytelling Bloomington
- can position itself as a place where talent not only arrives but stays and
- So what is Amplify Bloomington? It is a civic platform that connects the university's research engine,
- the Mills entrepreneurial ecosystem, the trades district infrastructure, and Bloomington's cultural
- vitality into one coordinated effort. And so our objectives are to unify that economic growth
- and community development effort with cultural vitality, innovation, all under one inclusive and compelling
- brand. The position of the Civic Alliance, we're positioning the Civic Alliance not as a traditional
- economic development corporation, but as a new civic collaboration model, one that integrates institutions,
- aligns our community efforts, and supports inclusive, sustainable growth.
- Amplify Bloomington is not an initiative. It's not a replacement of the BDC. It's not simply a rebranding
- of the mill. It's much, much more than that. And so we have three strategic pillars that we're focused
- on. They'll sound familiar for those of you who've been involved with our work. Our first one is around
- entrepreneurship growth. We want to strengthen founder pathways, investment networks, and early stage
- company growth.
- Second pillar is focus on strategic business attraction and the trades district development We think
- that accelerating the transformation of the district by attracting high-value companies creating
- you know, premier innovation hub will really be the kind of market signal we need to address some of
- the issues that I mentioned at the beginning of this presentation. And our third pillar is on community
- and cultural activation. We want to activate many of our target sector clusters, our membership, city-wide
- programming that connects our entrepreneurship community with Bloomington's broader cultural ecosystem.
- We certainly can't do this by ourselves.
- We've had tremendous support from the city of Bloomington from Indiana University from the cook group
- and many of our other Corporate partners. I want to say to the City Council Just extreme gratitude.
- I mean you've been very supportive of the mill and
- From its beginning you've been very helpful with us as we move forward with the forged development and
- some of the other trades district initiatives We couldn't do this without your support And we look forward
- to continuing to work with the city and all of our other partners as we build a really vibrant place
- I mean our deal is we want people to build meaningful things in Bloomington that can be a company It
- can be a life it can be all kinds of things and we're really super excited about the direction to travel
- and I brought you some swag and
- I mean, so with that, I really appreciate the opportunity to give you a quick intro. Thank you. Thank
- you so much. Council members, anyone have a question? Or comments? All right. Seeing none, thank you
- so much. Mayor Fernandez for that presentation. Next we'll hear from our city clerk.
- Is it okay with you if I stay over here? Thank you very much, I appreciate it. Before I start, I wanna
- say thank you to Council Member Piedmont-Smith for talking about Black History Month. I noted that it
- wasn't discussed at our last council meeting and I was sad. And then this week, with the passing of
- Reverend Jesse Jackson, I at least wanted to share with you
- I was able to meet him three times. The first time was in 1988 when he was running for president. And
- he stood in front of the room, and he did his fabulous call and response. But what stuck with me was
- the moment when he said, I am somebody. You all have heard this, right? I am somebody. And you have
- a room full of teenagers, yeah, I just dated myself, saying, I am somebody. I think part of being a
- great person is showing others that they can be great as well.
- And he did that. And for those of you who don't remember, he was here in Bloomington in 2010, and I
- got to see him again at our MLK Day celebration. And I was able to see him for the last time in 2024
- when we were in Chicago for the DNC meeting, and I got to thank him for everything he'd done for the
- country. So in this month, for Black History Month, I would like to remember Reverend Jackson, who was
- a great man,
- who showed a room full of kids in Iowa City, Iowa that they could be somebody and could be great as
- well. And I'm holding onto that a little bit more this week. That said, I wanted to give you a very
- quick update on the clerk's office and what we're doing. If you all have any questions, I'll try and
- answer them on the fly. If I can't answer them, Deputy Clerk Crossley will. And if she can't answer
- them, well, we'll get back to you.
- Um, so for parking ticket appeals, I talk about them generally during our budget time, but I did want
- to give you a quick update that my computer just, uh, went to sleep. And, um, for 2025, about 13, almost
- 14% of all citations written were appealed. That is running it about where we have been for the last
- several years. When I first started with the city back in 2000, wow.
- 2009, we were averaging at about 10% of all citations written. We've gone up since then for a variety
- of reasons. One of them is user error. It's hard for people to always get it right when they're using
- ParkMobile, or they just make simple mistakes. So just wanted to give you an update on that. I can answer
- more questions about appeals if you need to. And then for boards and commissions, you will hear more
- about this, I'm sure, and you'll be discussing parts of it. I'm not going to discuss
- different aspects of it, but you have three appointments potentially pending this evening. And for team
- A, you have three more appointments that you need to do. For team B, you have four more appointments
- that you need to do. And for team C, you also have four more appointments that you need to do. Deputy
- Clerk Crossley has been working very hard to communicate with all of you. I appreciate those of you
- who respond promptly.
- and that I have not had to call myself and say, hey, could you respond? So thank you for that as well.
- And hopefully we can get that all done before the time expires where you have to make that appointment.
- So that was all I have. If you have any questions, by all means ask them. And if not, thank you. Thank
- you so much. Any questions?
- I have a really brief one. People often ask about the use of the ParkMobile app and whether it's important
- that they pick the exact zone that they're parked in or whether they can choose any zone. You may be
- misinformed and I tell them it doesn't matter the zone you pick as long as you're using ParkMobile.
- What does the clerk say? It does matter. It does matter. Elaborate, please.
- There are different parking rules for the paid lots versus the street parking, so it's easier and better
- if you actually are putting in the correct zone. Now if it's a difference of half a block away, no,
- that probably won't make a big difference. The bigger issue is making sure that your license plate is
- input correctly, which is where we see people do make
- the biggest mistakes where they just transpose numbers, letters, or they pay for their partner's car
- as opposed to their own or their mom's car because they just borrowed it for the day. So please be careful
- when you do that. I feel targeted. Okay. We'll now move on to comments or reports from committees. Do
- any of the council committees have reports?
- Fantastic. Seeing none, we now move on to the greatest part of today's meeting, where our first session
- of public comment. This is a time to make comments on things that are not on our agenda. If you will,
- you have three minutes. If you could so kindly sign in, if you'd like to say your name, that would be
- wonderful. For those online, you have a chance to raise your hand and we will acknowledge you. I'll
- deal with the people in the room first and then we'll go to the folks online. There will be another
- Section of public comment if you don't want to make a comment now But with that I will give it to the
- first person standing here. Go ahead. Oh Thank you guys for your time, my name is Sam Bloomington local
- been here for about eight years and I wanted to speak today to the public and to you counselors about
- the issue of flock safety and our policing networks here in Bloomington and
- We've been talking about this a lot lately. I'm sure everybody's familiar. But these cameras are placed
- in 40-plus undisclosed locations around town, monitoring everybody's comings and goings. And I'd like
- us to pause and think about the severe threat and danger that the existence of this technology poses.
- So these cameras are not just taking video data right. They're AI-powered.
- The video is getting uploaded straight to flocks clouds as it goes and predictive analytics are being
- used to churn through that and make derivative data types like your habits, where do you shop, which
- groger do you go to, where do you work, what's your commute, what are your relationships like, what
- does your car look like, what is your license plate, what is your skin tone, they can capture your face,
- that's been proven by independent research. So there's a tremendous penetration and scope of data here
- that I think
- so far has been implemented in town without adequate thought to what that means and the dangers it presents.
- For one, this data has been shown countless times being used unlawfully by ICE, by fascist federal police
- forces to track people, to track people trying to get abortions out of their home state. Police in Wisconsin
- have used it to stalk ex-girlfriends.
- don't need to harp about how ICE is murdering people in the streets. My ask for you, Council, is to
- do something about this. I appreciate Councilor Asare's draft resolution speaking to the use of ALPRs,
- automated license plate readers. I think it's a great start. I think it's important to outlay the terms
- of the debate, the dangers, the risks at hand. I just think we need to go a lot further because
- This is a threat to our lives when you think about who can use it I do not believe the mayor's line
- that this is a purpose-driven limited-use tool because by definition is a general surveillance network
- The data is live-streamed the cameras are independently powered and networked the public does not own
- the data the public cannot access the data We don't know who can get it and it's been shown being used
- in terrible ways So I'd ask you council
- to go a step further and create an ordinance to ban the use of FLOC and similar fascist technologies
- and help stand up for citizens here. I know the current contracts have terms in them that you can't
- necessarily touch, but you can ban future use beyond those contracts and it takes an ordinance from
- council. So please consider that. Thank you for your time. And that's your time. Thank you so much.
- Thank you. Next in council chambers.
- Mr. President council, this is Chris her energy from the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce and
- membership organization with 911 businesses I represent 80% are small in nature Tonight I'm going to
- talk about an issue. I have discussed a few times mostly anecdotal, but tonight I bring a letter an
- exhibit from the Monroe County assessor Judy sharp that should concern every policymaker in this room and
- from one of the most thoughtful and trusted public servants in this county. In it, she explains that
- the properties along South Walnut Corridor from 2nd Street south to Hillside, her office has rolled
- land values of 120 businesses back to 2024 levels for payable 2026 and will hold them flat into 2027.
- In this letter, she calls it, at best, a Band-Aid. She references boarded up buildings, graffiti, trash,
- empty lots. She acknowledges the connection between the health of businesses and the health of the market.
- The assessor can adjust the values, but she cannot fix conditions. What is the market telling us? We've
- already seen stall furniture, a 50-year-old multi-generation downtown business relocated and noted in
- the HT cited persistent issues tied to street homelessness, property damage, block deliveries, biohazard cleanup,
- customer fear, and mounting costs. On the same corridor, Tapper Bruce Architecture invested 8,000 in
- fencing alone for repeated trespassing and syringe discovery. Comprehension financial consultants spent
- thousands modifying landscape, capping utilities, mitigating risk with daily encounters of hazardous
- waste. These are not one-time costs.
- These are reoccurring operational burdens on our business community. There's fiscal consequences in
- this. Land value rollback is not symbolic. It means assessed values have softened, market confidence
- has weakened, future revenue to the city is constrained, all the while SB1 is already compressing what
- local government can collect. Private business are absorbing these costs, and the tax base itself is
- signaling distress.
- When the assessor's office sees it, documents it, and adjusts it, the data is no longer anecdotal. The
- corridor is losing value. The loss belongs to all of us. Three specific asks, formal engagement between
- city leadership and the assessor's office to fully understand the corridor revenue implications. A focused,
- measurable stabilization strategy for South Walnut. Not a task force, not a study, but actionable
- accountability and recognition that this is not a business complaint issue. The assessor has done
- what she can do, the market has responded. It's up to the policymakers in this room and city government
- to do something. I'm going to leave the letter itself with staff tonight. I thank you for your time.
- That's your time. Thank you very much. Are there other comments in the room? Please take it away. Hello,
- I'm Paul Rousseau.
- And I would first like to thank council members Flaherty and Rolo for your comments about the situation
- of the sidewalks right after the storm As I told the mayor personally a few days ago. It felt to me
- like a kick in the teeth because I normally bicycle and I was walking instead for two weeks and It was
- it was brutal But I do recognize that the problem is
- is unusual in that it's a severe problem that only appears like coming out of the closet every four
- or five years. How often do we get these large snows? But it's not the first time, I don't think, that
- Bloomington has had a large snow. And so I would think that here, a quarter of the way into the 21st
- century, Bloomington would have figured this out, but apparently we haven't. Now, I mostly have questions
- for you to consider, because I don't really know how to proceed.
- I don't know how to suggest changes to the code to you, but I would ask these questions. Would a variable
- fine schedule be legally possible? For example, larger fines for commercial properties and or properties
- that have extensive sidewalks such as a large corner lot. And then meanwhile, smaller fines for those
- who are residents and owner-occupied homes in contrast to the large properties.
- I don't know. Because what we're after here really is, in a fine schedule, the idea is to change behavior.
- And you want the fine to be appropriate to what the person can pay, obviously. And then also, from an
- educational perspective, what can be done to educate the public better about the city ordinance? Because
- I found that so many property owners didn't seem to even know about this, even if they'd been here for a while.
- I'll also tell you two stories about this that illustrate the wide differences. In the You Report, I
- found a story of a woman who was in her 80s who had a corner lot near Northwest Side, and she had shoveled
- the entire thing herself right after the storm. And then the plows came along, and they covered
- it completely. And so she was complaining, saying, do I have to do this again?
- Meanwhile, there's a particular bad actor on the north side of town. I won't name their name. They have
- a large corner lot, one corner of it being the entire block. And this is in a high student traffic area.
- And the whole storm, and in two weeks, all the way until it melted, they just didn't care. And then
- I heard from another landlord. That's because the landlord that wasn't complying with the law is out
- of city. They don't live here.
- But my time's up one final thing though is that the bicycle lanes also had a problem, but I'll address
- that another day Thank you. Thank you so much other comments in the room Hello, my name is seaforth
- breeze I've been a resident in Bloomington for a little over a decade now at this stage I wish to speak
- about flock cameras. I'll keep my comment pretty brief I
- The residence that I'm currently staying at, it's a rental, is directly in the line of sight just down
- a hill from one of the cameras. Every single day, when I cycle to work, when I get in my car, all hours,
- even when I'm on my patio, the camera is staring right down at me. To bring back one of the earlier
- public comments, these companies
- and it's not just flock but expanding beyond that to the security apparatus that is represented by these
- companies, they are not accountable to the public in a meaningful way. They have been demonstrated on
- numerous occasions now in cities as far-flung as like California, for example, to have ignored requests
- from the municipalities that they contract with to keep the data contained to that municipality.
- You know, I'm relatively young. I'm around 30ish and like seeing the expansion of this technology into
- every part of my life, into every venue from my workplace, when I'm driving down the street, when I'm
- going into the shops, when I am, I mean just everywhere. It is a
- tech solution that does not have a horizon. And it justifies, you know, it's a response that is not
- solving things. It is retroactively putting Band-Aids on some more structural concerns and needs.
- I mean, for the street that I live on, if the concern is purely an aspect of, you know, traffic, sort
- of like management,
- it is a long straightaway with wide streets and it is a structural problem of the street that people
- are driving the way that they are driving. And that there's plenty of turn offs on the street as well,
- which means that there's constantly opportunities for people to slow down suddenly to turn into a place.
- And so I see that as an aspect of this where it's very easy to implement these things.
- in the hopes of solving more systemic issues, but all it ever creates is privacy, security, sort of
- like liabilities. It is a sort of local sovereignty issue. Anyways, I cede my time. Thank you. Are there
- any other comments in council chambers? Seeing none, I'll move online. Are there any comments online?
- Jean Glaser. Thank you. Can you hear me okay? Now we can. Yes. Brilliant. Thank you. Good evening. My
- name is Moby Jean Glaser. I've lived in Bloomington for 17 years. I'm a parent and a trauma therapist.
- I want to thank members of council who have made time to really listen in to their constituents on matters
- of flock and who are working on a resolution that I understand will be introduced in March. I appreciate
- appreciate the opportunity to be in dialogue with y'all and how responsive y'all have been. I want to
- encourage all members of council to take every possible action available to them to end the current
- contract with FLOC and to prevent any future contracts from being made. Right now, we need preventative
- and proactive measures taken to ensure the safety of our community members. In a recent town hall, I
- asked Mayor Thompson about FLOC
- surveillance and its benefit risks to our community. And she said she did not believe this technology
- is surveilling our community.
- However, myself and many others strongly disagree with her. She spoke to the contract itself as a means
- of creating safety and preventing abuse. Many folks feel we cannot trust Flock to keep our community
- safe and believe there's too much potential for those in power to harm our community. This is informed
- by what we are seeing nationally in regards to Flock data being used against protesters, by ICE to harm
- community members, by a police officer to stalk a former partner,
- by police officers to track community members accessing reproductive health care in other states. And
- these are just a few documented examples. Considering the violent and oppressive nature of our current
- federal and state governments and the legislation we are seeing proposed, especially at the state level,
- the safest thing we can do locally in regards to Flock is to end the contract and remove Flock
- fully from our community. The risk of maintaining a contract is too high. I encourage all members of
- council to come together in this action as a means of preventing further harm in our community. Many,
- many folks are speaking out against FLOC. Please listen to your constituents, collaborate with and represent
- us. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. We have a second commenter online. Take it away.
- Hello, this is Dave Burnworth, and I'm wanting to address the concerns about the flock cameras too.
- I would encourage the City Council to strongly, strongly ask law enforcement how valuable they are in
- solving crime. It's ludicrous to be able to just take another tool off the street to reduce crime and
- solve crimes.
- There's crimes going on all over the place. You're probably not even aware of them. I would just strongly,
- strongly encourage you to talk to the police chief and other officers in BPD to get their feelings about
- this. Thanks. Thank you. Are there any other commenters online?
- Wonderful, let's move on then that ends our period of public comment. There will be another period of
- public comment toward the end of The meeting we'll move on to appointments to boards and commissions.
- Do we have any appointments? Councilman rattle Believe this is
- What my colleague is looking for right now? I'd like to move that for the Arts Commission. We recommend
- to re-empoint Gerard Pinochuk to seat c4 and a point Austin white to see seat c5 There's a motion in
- a second any discussion Seeing none all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed any abstaining I
- That motion carries nine zero. Congratulations to the appointments This is for I move that for the Commission
- on the status of children and youth to appoint Andrea Alvarez deceit c1 There's a motion in a second
- any discussion all those in favor signify by saying aye Any opposed
- Abstaining that also passes nine zero any other appointments I'm forgetting that's everyone. Okay Fantastic.
- This concludes appointments to boards and commissions That means that we're now at the time for legislation
- for first readings. Are there any motions? Introduced and read by the clerk by title and synopsis only
- There's a motion in a second any discussion
- Councilmember Stasberg, thank you ordinance twenty twenty six oh six submissions violated City Code
- section two point oh four point two seventy Submissions did not get to council office staff until well
- after the Monday February 9th deadline of ten days before This meeting and some arrived late on Friday,
- February 13th after the meeting packet needed to be prepared and
- This code is odd to interpret saying that the time frame may be extended by either the council as a
- body or the president But extended usually means making it longer not shorter I do think the president
- of council should have some discretion to be able to accept late submissions and urgent or emergency
- situations but that discretion needs to be approached with caution and with council staff as a partner and
- worked very deliberately and diligently last year as president enforcing that deadline with
- the administration and supporting our office staff in Insisting that city departments follow the policy
- and if they didn't then their legislation would not be on the agenda Because that is what the president
- controls is the agenda
- And this week our council president put the Hopewell PUD on our agenda for first reading, causing both
- council staff and multiple city staff members to scramble last week to get these materials submitted
- for the meeting tonight. I was left asking, what is the rush? And when I asked that question, the answer
- I got was essentially that the mayor wanted to get it done. And I agree. I want to get going on Hopewell,
- too. It's been way too long. We are in a housing crisis.
- I do not want to get it going at the expense of council or city staff I don't want to do it at the expense
- of considering a bad Document or at the expense of setting a precedent that the mayor has any control
- over the council agenda So tonight I am going to vote no on this introduction of the hopeful PUD for
- first reading Not because I don't think it's important not because I don't agree with the development
- concepts within the plan not because I don't want to talk about it with my colleagues and
- I'm voting no as a statement to President Asari that deadline policies matter and to not let outside
- pressure overrule council process and I'm voting no as a statement to the mayor and the larger community
- that it is council that sets the council agenda and that pressure from the administration for expediency
- will not overrule the need for due process and proper consideration and I Invite my colleagues to do
- the same. Thank you Thank you so much other comments a customer
- I have a point of order. I Wondered if our council turning could offer her opinion on the process Is
- it found lacking is there are we in maybe some sort of jeopardy in terms of process? As councilmember
- Stossberg mentioned section two dot zero four dot 270
- states that each ordinance or resolution and relevant documents must be filed at least 10 days before
- the meeting with with council's office. That same provision also states that the president approves
- the agenda and it has been the practice for the president to
- determine what matters are placed on the agenda for first and second readings. There have been situations
- where presidents have deviated from from this. I think that this BMC provision Bloomington Municipal
- Code provision and some of these deviations are factors for council members to consider.
- Deciding how to vote with respect to this matter tonight Did you want to continue councilmember I'm
- ruminating on Our council attorney just said I I don't know It seems like it is within the discretion
- or has been within the discretion of the president of the council But this is a practice that we should
- I mean, this is an important
- matter support an ordinance So I'm in a quandary here perhaps Council President do you have a response
- to councilmember Stasberg's? objection to introducing Not currently are there other comments Councilman
- Flaherty Thank you This is is interesting I think
- I don't have any specific knowledge, but it is a little bit concerning to hear my colleague council
- member Stossberg note that Some of the challenges coming from The the mayor's administration with respect
- to either having a document that was ready or or you know working to cure Okay, my apologies find it
- a bit concerning even though I'm specific knowledge about it that there were errors that need fixing
- that apparently haven't been fixed and there wasn't
- time to work on those. I also am concerned generally about our council staff and their ability to comply
- with new accessibility requirements, put together packets in time, have adequate time to balance all
- the work to work on research, legal research questions and legislation that council members are looking
- to develop, which sometimes does get delayed and sometimes significantly because the day-to-day demands
- and requirements on our staff are significant. We are quite small and lean.
- in that regard. So that is also, I think, weighing in favor of honoring what's in city code, which is
- a third factor here, which is BMC 2.0, 4.270. Strict reading of it, I would say actually the 10-day
- requirement is there. I read the word extended as you can go longer but not shorter, but I agree that
- past practice has not been completely consistent on that point. I'm not sure if that justifies deviating
- from code where it's been referenced and invoked as a
- Rationale, you know for for not Not introducing at this time. I think we could warrant a code change
- this could warrant a code change to give that flexibility more clearly if we want it and just one other
- note which is that I've pondered the the possibility of a code change that require a council member
- sponsor for all legislation and I think that could have helped in this situation and others we've had
- recently where probably I'm guessing things that come from the Planning Commission would presumably
- be sponsored by
- The council's appoint appointee to the Planning Commission typically and that might have helped us Resolve
- this so I think I'm also gonna vote no on introduction tonight, but I want to Echo what council members
- offers to us work said which is that? How we develop Hopewell matters, we will have this conversation
- and we'll have it soon but On balance, I think it can wait to follow the the appropriate process in code and
- You know with those other factors being considered. So that's it. Thank you Thank you so much councilmember
- Pema Smith Yeah, I Also Concerned about how this PUD proposal was rushed We did not have the full proposal
- until Monday and that was without any memo or analysis by the
- Our attorneys on the council attorneys because they did not have time to provide that And it's a very
- complex document it was very hard to parse and It's If I go back to the Plan Commission meeting When
- it was approved one of the conditions of approval as councilmember Stasberg said was
- that the staff and petitioner would work with her to clarify the points that were unclear and make the
- corrections. Why is that her job? I mean, it shouldn't be up to a plan commissioner and certainly not,
- I mean, any plan commissioner to fix errors that have come about because of the speed with which legislation
- or planning documents have been brought forward.
- I just I resent that this came through to the Planning Commission in a state that was really not fully
- baked. And I like Councilmember Stossberg I think it's a good project but I think we are not doing anybody
- a favor by rushing it. There might be legal implications. I don't even know if they can just say oh
- we're going to make corrections and that the Planning Commission can just
- blanket approve future corrections to a document that we then vote on. And in the case of PUDs, I'm
- not even clear if we're allowed to make amendments. I mean, there are a lot of legal questions here,
- and we could be in real trouble if we push this through without investigating them. And just to piggyback
- on something that Council Member Flaherty brought up, maybe I should
- separate this from what council member Flaherty said in case it's misinterpretation. But we do have
- a lot of legislative initiatives among the nine of us up here. There are initiatives that you know I've
- been investigating for two years and I have put them on the back burner because our staff do not have
- the bandwidth to help write those ordinances. And now suddenly the mayor is storming in saying we have
- to have this now even though it's not
- properly vetted and properly written. So I want to assert the council's authority here and say, look,
- we have our rules. This is a very complex piece of legislation, and you didn't meet the deadline.
- I really, having been president and then vice president the two prior years, I've seen the toll that
- the amount of work and the timeline stress puts on our staff. We have lost staff because of this. And
- I want to assert that we need to respect the deadlines and there are reasons for those deadlines so
- that staff can properly vet and present legislation and that we also have time to read the legislation
- and ask our questions and get our legal concerns answered.
- So, no, I don't think this is ready for first reading. Thank you so much. Other comments? Councilmember
- Rallo. Well, I appreciate this input. I think my colleagues make a compelling case that unless there
- is an equally compelling reason that we should introduce this this evening, it is a complicated ordinance.
- It doesn't need to be complicated in the process. And so I'll be voting against introduction And I appreciate
- the input from from everyone. Thanks Thank you so much councilmember Rosenberger I agree with almost
- everything my colleagues have said and I'd love the idea of having a sponsor because I think also it
- can be tricky to put all the decisions
- schedule on the president and I think that it helps Divide that out a little bit if there's a sponsor
- because you know, I don't I don't think it's like a blame situation or anything I just think like it's
- all very hard to manage. I really appreciate our staff Working on a process and procedures to make everything
- in the council office I think more efficient and not as chaotic like we're always scrambling for everything
- and so I think
- being able to follow that process is really huge for us and our staff. I agree too with council member
- Piedmont Smith. I have a list of legislation that I haven't been able to get done for one reason or
- another changing staff urgent needs, right? And I think there can be gray areas on this despite like
- the code saying 10 days, but in this case, we didn't even have materials ready for the packet. So we
- didn't get this until
- Monday and it is a very hefty piece of legislation. It would be different if this was something like
- a salary adjustment for an employee in in City Hall. Right. And I think there are or if it's an amendment
- to something that's very minor the day before a meeting I think those things can be different. But in
- this case it's publicly noted that this wasn't ready to even be a plan commission. And then to have
- it here I think is a very inefficient way to
- Do government so I will be voting no Any other comments Okay, will the clerk please read the role I
- guess I mean they've already said how they'll vote but please let's do a roll call If you will so kindly
- Councilmember Flaherty no
- Stossberg no Piedmont Smith Zulek. Yes, sorry. Yes daily Rallo no rough Rosenberger no That motion that
- fails 7-2 Thank you very much. Well, we'll now be moving on to legislation for second readings
- and resolutions. Are there any motions? I
- Be introduced and read by the clerk by title and synopsis only please There is a motion a second any
- discussion Seeing none all those in favor say aye All those opposed that motion carries nine. Oh Will
- the clerk kindly read?
- Go ahead. Yeah, sorry. Um, ordinance 2026-04 to amend title two of the Bloomington municipal code entitled
- administration and personnel to consolidate and amend boards and commissions provisions in chapters
- 2.02, 2.08 and 2.12. The synopsis is as follows. This
- Ordinance sponsored by councilmember Piedmont Smith consolidates title two provisions regarding boards
- Commissions and councils into a single chapter adds code of conduct provisions and renames the Bloomington
- Commission on sustainability to the Bloomington Commission on sustainability and resilience I feel Thank you
- I move that ordinance twenty twenty six dash oh four be adopted. Second. All right. Council member Pema
- Smith did you want to present on it. Yes. Thank you. Council staff. Could you show the document I shared
- earlier this afternoon.
- To clarify the changes, it was kind of difficult to see in the council packet because we moved so much
- text that it looked like we changed everything, but actually we were just moving some things. So while
- that gets up, I'll just walk you through it. So this ordinance seeks to accomplish the following goals.
- First of all, moving text from Bloomington Municipal Code 2.08.020 to 2.02
- Currently the provisions that apply to the city's volunteer boards and commissions are situated
- in Bloomington Municipal Code 2.08 executive branch although these bodies are not part of the executive
- branch. There are also currently two chapters of BMC Title 2 that are very similar. There's 2.02 called
- Boards and Commissions and then there's 2.12 called Boards Commissions and Councils.
- So this ordinance moves the general provisions from 2.08 in the executive branch to 2.02 under a new
- subheading called general provisions. And that was something that was approved by the committee on council
- processes. So we're just moving text out of the executive branch into this heading boards and commissions.
- And then addressing chapter 2.12.
- Okay so let me just go to the screen here. So in the general provision section that we're adding under
- the heading boards and commissions the only thing we're really changing is numbers three and four. We
- are referencing a code of conduct which deputy clerk Jennifer Crossley has been working on. And then
- as a removal for cause we are citing that code of conduct which is not
- The code itself is not going to be in our Bloomington Municipal Code, but the code of conduct will be
- something kept by the clerk's office and every appointee to a board or commission will be asked to sign
- it. So those are really the only two substantive changes as far as the text regarding general provisions
- for boards and commissions. So this ordinance also deletes
- BMC chapter 2.12 moves all of that under 2.02. So we don't have these two different areas that say board
- and commissions, we just have them all together. And then the last change is bringing forward a request
- from the Bloomington Commission on Sustainability to add resilience to the name of that entity.
- So they passed a resolution on November 18th recommending to the Common Council that the name be changed
- to Bloomington Commission on Sustainability and Resilience. And that does match the charge of that commission
- as we revised it recently that they do study and advise on the resilience of the community in the face
- of climate change and not just sustainability.
- So that is the last change that this ordinance would bring about I'm happy to answer any questions Are
- there any questions? All right seeing none question go ahead Stoss work. Thank you. I have a question
- about the code of conduct So I don't know if clerk Crosley might be the best one to answer that but
- how is that created? I guess and who gets to like
- that and make changes to it or and that kind of thing because if council is like Enforcing it like how
- is that going into effect? Is that through the clerk's office? Is that through cooperation with? Committee
- on council processes
- Deputy clerk crossly here. Um, so yes, so to kind of give a brief overview on how this has happened
- Actually to kind of give a brief history. I think councilmember Barallo when he was on the committee
- on council processes I brought this up and This was something that had been worked on since last year
- I also want to at Beaver missed if I didn't give a special special. Thank you to the legal department
- in particular Miss Anna Holmes
- and Miss Audrey Brennan ham for their work with me we've been doing this in tandem and so we looked
- at this because obviously there's a Need for it and it was brought up a while ago But this also was
- brought forth to the committee on council processes last year and in December I believe it was
- like talked about and discussed. And so this had been shown with the committee. And at the time, back
- in December of 25, the committee decided that that is something that's going to be in the clerk's office.
- And so it's presented to you all. But the committee also gave feedback on that as well. So there were
- a few suggestions, if you will,
- The code of conduct and so I took that back to legal we worked on it and then brought it forth again
- to the CCP meeting and There were no further objections back in December so That's kind of where we
- are with that and then the process in order to roll this out is to number one we are in the process
- of still trying to do a
- staff liaison training. So this is something that's gonna be implemented with staff that has any kind
- of hands related to boards and commissions. And then once we go through that staff training, hopefully
- here soon, then it will go to all board and commissioners. And this is gonna be something that is done
- annually. So if there is any discrepancies or anything that has been violated by way of code of conduct,
- everybody should be on the same page in a court to know that
- This is what you sign and if there has to be dismissals for any reason It allows it by the code of conduct
- Great. Thank you I just kind of wanted a summary of how that was working and so then in the future it
- would be like Considered to be modified like once a year or something like that if there was anything
- that needed to be changed or added and coordination with Committee on council processes and the clerk's
- office and legal well
- Right now it's so as Councilmember Piedmont Smith I mentioned this is just reference again. I just want
- to stress that again. This is referencing code and it won't be You know codified into code. It just
- references that this is happening. So we feel pretty confident that
- It's, you know, as it stands right now, it's pretty good. I'm sure if there is any other things that
- happen later on down the road that needs to be revisited, I think that's something that we could take
- to the CCP and bring forth of that. And I'm gonna look at the clerk because she just looked at me. The
- power of a look. I just wanna clarify that,
- The code of conduct falls underneath Deputy Clerk Crossley's role as being in charge of boards
- and commissions. And that was something that the council actually asked her to handle moving forward.
- This is a living document that lives in the clerk's office and is under the clerk's control as such.
- It's not something that would necessarily have to come to the council processes committee but we will
- always be open to input from any council members regardless of whether they're on the committee or not.
- Thank you. I was just curious about the process understood any other questions Seeing none Okay seen
- and there's amendment all its minds all passed to councilmember daily to chair the meeting Would you
- like to introduce your amendment councilmember sorry, yeah, do I have to motion to introduce it or okay,
- I'd like to move that we
- Introduce amendment one second. All right, we got a motion and a second. Do we vote on that? Okay, so
- so so super super simple this one and you know, I
- I don't feel particularly strongly about this, but I for some time had thought about the parallelism
- within our code that Mayoral appointments it says very clearly are they serve at the pleasure of the
- mayor and then we say but council appointments You know need to have some reason to not serve and so
- I thought that it would be nice to have that parallel structure and so the amendment simply changes the
- Statement that says that people can remove for cause and just replaces it with the same structure that
- code has for the mayor saying that People serve people appointed by council serve at the pleasure of
- council That's it All right. Thank you. Any questions councilmember Flaherty. Thank you. Thank you.
- Councilmember Stossberg president not Stossberg. Sorry. Sorry. That's true a lot of stories
- Thank you, Councilmember Daley, and thank you, President Asari. I had a question about the amendment,
- which is, so the text that's being struck out or proposed to be amended says, except for appointees
- who serve at the pleasure of the mayor. And I had always interpreted that slash thought that that only
- describes some mayoral appointees. In other words, there are other mayoral appointees
- who can only be removed for cause. And often that's specified in the state statute. Or not often. I
- think that's specified in the state statute in some cases. I recall a plan commission discussion around
- this at some point. I think my recollection is the CIB actually only has for cause removal. And so I
- guess I'm seeking clarification there.
- Is it true that all mayoral appointees serve at the pleasure of the mayor or is it just Some and the
- way that's constructed is only referring to those ones for removal Council attorney I do not know Offhand
- which mayoral appointments might have statutory implications however, the fact that this language is
- in the Bloomington Municipal Code wouldn't Trump in my opinion and
- Any state statute that required some type of for cause removal Thank you though as constructed now that
- except for appointees who serve at the pleasure of the mayor That's not saying I Guess the way it's
- constructed. It's not actually applying to all mayoral appointees. It's only it's saying it only applies
- to those that Legally serve at the pleasure of the mayor in other words if there's a statutory
- Reason that they can only remove her cause that that clause would not apply to those people. Does that
- make sense? Yes, I will add though also that the legal department reviewed this language and The the
- strikes and edits with respect to the mayoral Appointees were approved by the legal department the amendment.
- Yes Yes, but no, okay
- Great. Thank you. Any other questions on Amendment 1? Yes, Councilmember Piedmont-Smith. So do I understand
- this correctly that it would only take a majority of council members to remove any board or commission
- member that we have appointed for any reason? Yes.
- Questions Councilmember Flaherty Quickly googled it and it says for instance planning commission members
- under IC 36 7 4 to 18 Must be removed for cause by the appointing authority So I do it seems like there
- are instances in which we can't remove For any reason both the mayor and the council. I don't know offhand
- what all those are, but I'm a little worried about the construction of this implying or giving
- a future council member who reads it, the wrong impression about what's possible. Yeah, I think that's
- really fair. I think, yeah, because particularly things like, I imagine public safety falls under that
- category as well, right? So we can revisit this later, I think, is, I mean, I do think that it's worth
- us thinking about, in many ways, we're addressing the, partially addressing the pain point by introducing
- the rule book, the, what do you call it,
- Code of conduct, sorry. Like I said, I think there's some strangeness in the code that seems to suggest
- that the mayor has the ability to remove people, put people on. This conversation that we had recently
- about the BZA, this sort of thing about
- To what extent is council's will going to be enforced by the person who we appoint there and whether
- we want some strength in doing that or whether we say, well, we have a year, we need to wait until we
- reappoint or something like that. That's the mechanism here that I'm trying to get at that I do think
- that council should be able to say this is the thing that we want to see happen.
- you know, and have some teeth to appointments to the extent they want to. And then I think to the concern
- that is implied by what Councilmember Piedmont-Smith said, you know, my thinking, I did debate about
- whether or not you want it to be like unanimous or two-thirds or something like that to remove somebody.
- Certainly if we revisited, like if we voted this down and revisited, I think, you know, might be a good
- idea, but my sense is that, you know, to get a majority of council members to want to remove somebody,
- we would probably want to cause in the first place
- You know, I don't think we just I don't I don't like them, you know I didn't like what they were wearing
- or something like that, right? Like, you know, so so I think that there's a little bit of self-governance
- that will be there But I do think setting the setting the precedent that we appoint people and the people
- that we appoint serve at our pleasure Just sort of feel felt appropriate given how those certain appointments
- that the mayor makes them are dealt with All right, thank you for that any other questions before we
- move on to public comment
- on Amendment 1. All right. I don't see any. So do we have any members of the public who would like to
- make a comment on Amendment 1 for this ordinance, 2020604? I don't see anybody in the audience rushing
- to the microphone. Anybody online? No. No. OK. So no comments from the public on Amendment 1. Any last?
- comments from council before we move to a vote. Council Member Flaherty. Thank you. I appreciate that
- conversation. And what Council Member Sarri said in response in particular is an interesting question
- of to what degree should the council's priorities influence its appointees. I think it's actually a
- pretty tricky question at times. I think my hunch is that the statutory requirements that folks can
- only be removed for cause
- is to grant them a degree of independence. And the Board of Zoning Appeals, for instance, is a quasi-judicial
- body that has a set of responsibilities, and there's probably some risk of undue counsel influence in
- some cases. I'm also, though, intrigued by the notion of kind of a parallel approach to the mayor if
- there are counsel appointees that are not statutorily required to be removed by cause only.
- I would be open to the possibility of Essentially saying in those situations they might be different
- and we might want the ability for the council to Have a little bit more of a direct line and and with
- those appointees in the same way I think the mayor does with with Those appointees of hers that do serve
- at her pleasure So I think it's worthy of revisiting. I can't support the amendment tonight But thank
- you for bringing it Councilmember Piedmont Smith
- Yes, it makes me a little uneasy to say that the council can remove somebody without cause. I mean,
- cause is kind of a hazy term, but there is legal precedent to say what is just cause and what is not.
- I mean, we can say, we doubt that five of us would agree to remove somebody for some flippant reason,
- You never know, and you never know who's going to be sitting up here. I consider council appointees
- not really an extension of the council's will so much as an opportunity for people in the public who
- have certain interests and expertise to serve the community by their service on those commissions.
- Those so it does worry me that that we would be giving a blank check to counsel to remove somebody.
- I also don't like the fact that in some cases the mayor has a blank check to remove somebody. So just
- because I don't like that doesn't mean we should make the same mistake with counsel appointees. So I'll
- be voting no. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Councilmember Smith.
- Councilmember Zulek and then councilmember sorry. Yes. Thank you I will speak in favor of this amendment
- just as chair of one of the interview committees and having gotten a couple different opportunities
- to understand the Engagement between commissioners and staff liaisons. We have had multiple circumstances
- even in the past year of the way that our council representatives have been interacting with members
- of the public and staff is completely unacceptable and
- This would be one of the ways in which we could remove a commissioner for behavior that is just not
- what we would want to see represented by or in representation of the city council. So I will be. Yes
- we do have the code of conduct but I do still believe that this is unnecessary measure. So thank you.
- Thank you. And president sorry.
- Yeah, I was gonna say I actually think I agree with councilman Flaherty I think that I do think this
- may be something to revisit particularly again for the parallelism maybe we take the the same position
- that councilman Piedmont Smith is has put forward which is actually maybe taking out of code the fact
- that some folks serve at the pleasure of the mayor right I mean But I think it's an interesting conversation
- to continue to have
- I was going to say something about the code of conduct and like trying to understand. I mean, this sort
- of came out of a discussion with our staff and City Legal where the question of sort of
- this word is going to be too strong, but litigation around what for cause means here and whether or
- not we've created a strong enough document in the Code of Conduct, I think is sort of what we're trying
- to get at. Again, I don't think we have some rush to deal with this. We can revisit. So I'd be happy
- unless there seems like some overwhelming excitement to do this. Very happy to withdraw the amendment.
- Seeing no one a lot of trepidation so I Would I would be favorable if you withdrew it? I was gonna say
- if there was excitement excitement I'll withdraw I'll withdraw the amendment so that we don't have to
- take too much time here You are making a motion to withdraw your amendment
- Do I need to do that? No. You can just withdraw. I just say I withdraw. It's gone. I give this back
- to you. Well, thank you very much. Thank you. OK. We'll now go then to public comment on the proposal
- as was. Does anybody want to make public comment on this change to Title II around boards and commissions?
- From the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce. I'm agnostic that would be the Chamber's agnostic on this
- Particular ordinance, but I wanted to say that you know, but council processes the committee on We've
- been very supportive of that in that process and one of the things they were looking into Was
- the consolidation of boards and commissions the Novak report and that's one thing that this doesn't
- do and we're looking for some teeth in that that's been a priority of the chamber that we've had the
- last few years that we look forward to I know we've seen that with the Transportation Committee
- But that I think that was more staff driven than it was council processes driven. So I want to make
- sure that the council Committee on that is continuing to look into that and making sure that the boards
- and commissions are Serving its purpose. Are we getting something for those? It's not just lip gloss
- That we're doing that, you know, we're having some substantive Recommendations and getting something
- that this it's not an event planners its actual
- Recommendations from from the public. So just I always want to continue that work Appreciate your time
- tonight. Thank you Thank you. Are there any other comments in the room? Seeing none, are there any comments
- online? Yes, there is one wonderful. Take it away person online No, this is Jamie show I was on
- what's known as BCOS, the Bloomington Commission on Sustainability, and put forth the resolution for
- the name change to include resilience, because that is something that that commission does. Now, in
- the previous commenter, he'd mentioned to combine these commissions and to look into that. One of the
- things that had been suggested in that report
- was that the environmental commission and the commission on sustainability be combined. However, anyone
- who knows much of the history of the formation of BCOS would realize that they serve different purposes.
- One of the reasons I put forth the name change to include the word resilience was to help set the commission apart
- more clearly in the duties that it was to perform. I just wanted to make everyone aware of that because
- there are many commissioners that come onto these commissions that do not have the history and knowledge
- and some of the words and how things were phrased in the past do not always mesh with how things are
- seen in the future or like today.
- So I just wanted to put that out there and thank you all for looking into all the things for the commissions
- and have a good evening, thanks. Thank you. Are there any other commenters online? Wonderful, all right,
- we'll come back to council chambers. Are there any final comments before we put this to a vote? Please
- Council Member Pima-Smith. Yes, I just wanted to,
- Reply to what Mr. MG was saying about, you know, making sure we really incorporate the board and commission
- work into governance. And I think that the creation of council member liaisons that are assigned to
- certain boards and commissions will work towards that end to really incorporate the value of the commission work
- More closely into what we do overall as a city both Here on the council and also different commissions
- working together on common goals I think we've taken a good step in creating those councilmember liaisons
- I in the last month I've attended meetings of two commissions that I never attended before and I think
- you know just having those
- connections with council members will be a big improvement in Really making the best use of our commissions
- to work on common goals and of course as sponsor of this legislation, I hope to gain your support and
- This this is the result of work of the committee on council processes, which I continue to chair and I welcome
- You know councilmember is sorry or others who have input into maybe future amendments to these sections
- of our municipal code to reach out to me and and let the Committee on council processes perhaps vet
- those changes. Thank you Excellent. Thank you so much. Any other final comments at councilmember Rallo
- Yes, I first I'd like to thank my colleague councilmember be not people on Smith Smith for doing the
- work on this and
- and I also wanted to comment actually give credit to Jamie Scholl for her work on the name change for
- the Commission on sustainability to become the Commission on sustainability and resilience The resolution
- that was that that she crafted With some input from the Commission Justin vassal chair. It's on page
- Page 57 of our packet and it's very short and succinct Document and it speaks well to the necessity
- for that change mostly about If if we recognize we're on a sustainable trajectory and we have affected
- conditions for instance climate being one then it's incumbent on us to consider how we adapt and
- So this is about adaptation. And I think that this particular commission is very well suited to advise
- city government, council, mayor, departments, and the community at large on ways in which we can adapt.
- And there are examples given in that resolution. And by the way, the resolution was accepted. It was
- passed nine to zero. It was unanimous.
- Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much any other closing comments, please comes from Stasberg Thank
- you. I just wanted to say thank you to clerk Crosley in the clerk's office for Working on that code
- of conduct even even before I took office. There was kind of this question and some concerns about Removal
- for cause and that concept and so I feel like this has been kind of a long time coming and I'm glad
- that it sounds like that code of conduct isn't
- quite in final form yet, but it's in final form enough that we can add reference to it into our code
- and start going through that in action process. So thank you very much for all of that work.
- That's all. Thanks. Thank you so much. Any other comments?
- All right, well, I'll make one quick comment, which is to the people of Bloomington, there are open
- commission seats. Go to what's the website? Onboard something, something. If you just look on board
- Bloomington something, you will find it. And I hope you all apply. We want you all on our boards and
- commissions. Thank you very much. OK, with that being said, do we have to do a roll call vote, or can
- we do a voice vote?
- With us all here. It has to be a roll call in which case will the clerk please call the roll? Yes, and
- with your permission, I'll say it's bloomington.in.gov Thank you very much. Of course councilmember
- Stasper. Yes Piedmont Smith. Yes, Zulek. Yes. Sorry. Yes Rallo. Yes, rough Rosenberger. Yes clarity. Yes, I
- That motion passes nine zero, hooray. Now moving on to the next thing on our agenda. Are there any motions?
- I move that ordinance 2026-05 be introduced and read by the clerk by title and synopsis only. Second.
- There's a motion and a second. Any discussion? All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All against?
- That motion carries. Will the clerk please read?
- Ordinance 2026-05 to amend Title 2 of the Bloomington Municipal Code entitled Administration and Personnel
- to allow discussion at first readings of ordinances and to clarify the ordinance and resolution readings
- provisions in Chapter 2.04. Synopsis is as follows. This ordinance sponsored by Councilmember Zulek
- allows debate and amendment of ordinances at first readings. It also clarifies the readings and voting
- procedures for ordinances and resolutions. Thank you so much.
- 2005 be adopted All right. Um councilman, would you like to present on it? Yes. Thank you I believe
- there are several amendments that might drastically change the language So I will just give you all
- a brief overview of what this legislation is for under this Ordinance any ordinance may be debated or
- amended at first reading and subsequent meetings the big change being we do not currently debate and amend
- Ordinances at their first reading the only circumstances under which a final vote could be taken on
- first reading is if all present council members consent to proceed to a vote and two-thirds of council
- members vote in favor of the ordinance and Just so everyone is aware this change or an exception does
- not apply to zoning changes as dictated by state law Happy to answer any questions
- Members Lasberg I Have a few questions, but I'll start with what would the Procedure be for this because
- right now when we're when we need to discuss something We motion for it to be adopted So would we have
- to like would there be a motion for it to be adopted? In order to discuss it and if there's a motion
- to be adopted then How do we? Because because then you said
- That we couldn't actually take a vote unless everybody there wanted to take a vote So then would there
- have to be like an extra motion in there? To actually vote on the adoption like how does this work?
- So that that part of the code is per state law And which we can't supersede but I believe that it would
- be a simple motion of I move that we continue the discussion to this next Council meeting I believe
- is how we would handle that but
- Curious too. So there would be a motion to adopt then as well as a motion to introduce at first reading
- Yes, I believe that is correct. Does that sound correct attorney laner? As Robert's rules of order are
- referenced in the code there would need to be a motion to adopt a main motion in order to support the
- discussion there there was some and I don't want to speak on behalf of the the committee, but
- There was some support maybe for having a period of presentations from staff at first readings, potentially
- discussion or questions by council members during first readings too.
- There was a motion to adopt then I think there would need to be a motion to postpone the question unless
- it was voted on postponed to a date certain That brings up another question go ahead councilman Stasberg
- Have you checked in with the administration around staff time and staff presenting at first reading
- and how that impacts staff
- who might have to be present for late night meetings that are outside their normal working hours. We
- spoke about it in our scheduling meetings and nobody raised an issue. Let me back up. We spoke about
- this in our scheduling meetings with Deputy Mayor Knapp and legal and a couple other members from the
- mayor's administration. So I they are aware that this is going on.
- and no issues were raised to either of us that I'm aware of. This wasn't addressed to me, but can I
- also opine on it? I mean, I guess I can just by choice. But I think one of the benefits that staff sees
- in us being able to discuss things, well, two things first. In a second, I
- One of the questions that you ask, I think, is more clearly addressed in an amendment that I'm going
- to offer, which is important. But staff, from my perspective and from the conversations I have with
- them. Point of order right now, if I can, President Nasari? Yes. I was asking questions of the sponsor
- at the moment. Oh, OK. Fine. And I'm not sure that that's. Fantastic. I'll make a general comment later
- then. Does anybody else have a question? Attorney Lanier, go ahead.
- Council member Stossberg I wanted to add to to your question that attorney Anna Holmes from the legal
- department participated in some of the CCP committee on council processes meetings where this was discussed.
- So I think there's awareness on on the part of the legal department in the administration.
- Thank you so much attorney later. Are there others questions for the sponsor? All right seeing none
- There there is a handful of amendments. Do you have a question? Go ahead councilmember Stossberg would
- there be public comment allowed then as well as Tends to be the case we have and that was that was a
- question for the sponsor if we're having Discussion is first reading is their public comment allowed. Thank you
- This a little bit. I believe we did plan on doing public comment. There are a couple different ways
- that we could do it but I Think if someone takes the time to show up to a City Council meeting and it's
- on the agenda They should have the opportunity to speak on it Are there any other questions Councilman
- flirty I'm sort of channeling conversation that did happen in the committee
- of which I used to be a member, but I'm no longer a member. And I think it comes down mostly to how
- we operationalize this, not necessarily the code provisions, but I just did want to ask also about,
- have you all thought about ways to kind of signal to staff, to the public, maybe with time limits,
- or if, let's say, there's four things we're having on first reading that night, and maybe only two of
- them we actually intend to discuss,
- like noting that in the packet in some way. I'm just trying to think about giving enough. We're adding
- flexibility and that may come at the cost of certainty or clarity for folks and basically how to balance
- that. So any thoughts? One of the things that we get caught up in a lot is that when we do
- try to do an amendment at second reading where maybe not as prepared on the fly. And so one of the reasons
- that we wanted to discuss things at first reading is to give ourselves an opportunity to kind of extend
- that timeline, especially given all of the accessibility things that are coming up. And so we'd like
- to be able to address that. I think to answer your question, making very, very clear expectations on
- how long the presentation should be and, like,
- just clarifying this is how it's going to go, whether or not we say all presentations are five minutes,
- all presentations are 10 minutes. I think specifying our expectations would help a lot with that. Other
- questions? All right. Seeing none, there are two amendments.
- Councilmember Zulek has asked that I introduce mine first. So I'll pass over to councilmember Daley
- and Can I can I move that we introduce amendment to to the floor second Attorney Lane, are you able
- to put put that up by chance if you have it if if not amendment to
- does a couple of things. The first thing that it aims to do is change this, maybe don't need to characterize
- it, but antiquated, I don't know, position that we put the clerk in, that the clerk is to read things.
- So it allows for council members to read
- Things so and so I've included 2.04 280 as part of the considerations of what's of what we're changing
- Here and so striking the first that section that sort of talks about how the clerk Reads those things
- and making that a little clearer and then trying to address the question that councilmember Stossberg
- brought up
- I outline some clear procedures for sort of how a first reading goes. And then I've replaced section
- 2.04310 with the reference to Indiana code and sort of what
- what it would mean to adopt a resolution and what limits are placed on, I mean, I'm sorry, an ordinance
- on first reading and what limits are placed on that. So that is the goal of this amendment. It was,
- you'll note it's a reflection of something that Mr. Askins had sent around as a suggestion with some
- cleaned up
- elements of state code references And some Titan language to take out redundancies as well. So that
- is the proposal here Thank you for that any questions from council for amendment to Councilmember Piedmont
- Smith Yeah, I have a couple of questions first of all the
- I'm looking at attachment A that went along with the amendment. Why was section B of 2.04.280 deleted?
- The one that says the edited synopsis shall be read whenever legislation accompanies it is introduced,
- first to second reading, it will become part of the official record but not have legal effect of being
- part of legislation. Why was that?
- And just because of the ongoing reference to first and second reading, it's like we don't define what
- reading is. We state it in this one place. And so it just felt like a nice cleanup of code. OK. So has
- it removed any mention of readings? Yes.
- Another question I have, if I may or should I wait, is whether you have spoken with Clerk Bolden about
- this, since it does take away a duty of the clerk to read by title and synopsis? Yes. Can you elaborate
- as to what she said, or shall we just go to her directly? The clerk said thank you, but if the clerk
- would like to say that now, you're welcome to, or differ from what I say you said.
- As long as, I'm sorry, just as long as, is this question referred to the clerk at this point? I think
- the question's referred to you, so you can answer. Yes, thank you. As I said earlier, yes, I did say
- thank you. And from a personal perspective, yes, that's fine. I don't have any objection to not having
- to read some rather lengthy synopses that are not so plain language as they hope to be.
- I always worry about when we start removing duties from future clerks not so much from a personal perspective
- but I don't know that this is something that 50 years from now a city clerk is going to say darn at
- all. Why am I not reading the synopsis for this piece of legislation like they used to do 60 years ago.
- So that's where I am and I will note that
- Striking this doesn't mean that we couldn't ask the clerk to read I mean we could make a motion that
- the clerk read the clerk could read I mean, there's nothing precluding that it's just saying that we're
- not going to require by code That that the clerk be the person who reads and to that I again say thank
- you Okay, so there's nothing in state code that says the clerk is supposed to have that function no
- No, sorry. I didn't understand. That was what you were asking before I
- Just want to make sure it's a follow-up question. Okay. Thank you. Mm-hmm Any other questions for president
- sorry on amendment to councilmember Stossberg? Thank you. I I feel like there's this implication here
- under your a during the meeting when an ordinance or resolution is reached on the City Council agenda
- the presiding officer shall announce the item and read aloud its title and synopsis and after it's been
- announced as spelled out which is be
- then it's before the council for consideration. That reads as to eliminate a vote for first reading.
- And I want to note tonight that we actually voted no on something for first reading tonight. So does
- this in fact eliminate a vote for first reading? No. Well, two things. One, I mean, maybe it's a moot
- point, but you can dispose of things all the same. Any type of procedural motion
- is, would be valid at this point. So after it's read, you could say, actually, we don't ever want to
- read this, and we could push it off. One could motion that we vote for it that night, and then there's
- the procedures to do that. So this just opens it up to real procedure, and not creating this, like,
- reflection of Bloomington custom. This is actually reflective of Robert's rules. We're just sort of saying,
- Once it's read it's before us and then we do what we want to do with it But tonight we didn't even want
- it read well, I mean So you're eliminating a vote that council would normally take to introduce an item.
- Well, I don't know. I don't know if it kind of
- It kind of was read, because I read it in the synopsis. And in past councils, when you would read, you
- would just go down and read the thing. You would read the thing by title. So this notion of reading
- doesn't really mean all that much. What we're talking about is whether or not it's considered. And so
- when it's before us, you can dispose it. So tonight, you could have said, if this passed, I would have
- read this thing about Hopewell, whatever, and then
- you would have said, hey, I motion that we table this until our March 4th meeting. That's what would
- have happened. Nothing else would have changed. But then at March 4th, then it would have been at second
- reading. And on the second reading, you could say, I move that we table this to the 17th of January.
- There's no constraint here on your action or your ability to postpone something, if that's what you
- want to do.
- We could you could postpone it for three meetings like it. This is not precluding you from this.
- In fact, it's empowering you to do it so If you're a member of the public right now, and you're coming
- to a meeting You don't know at this point whether or not it's going to be discussed or considered or
- eliminated or anything because
- Everything is on the table. So if you're a member of the public now you're having to Pay attention to
- twice as many things now. We're having different. How is that different than now? I might ask Well right
- now it's that people coming know that on first reading we're not going to discuss it Okay, and so they
- know that there's the stability of like, okay, it's up for first reading I I'm not gonna worry about
- this meeting I'm gonna worry about the next one if they want to make a comment on it
- But if this goes through, there would be no certainty. Is that correct? I feel like we discussed a thing
- today that was on our agenda for first reading.
- And people if they came to hear us do that first reading I think that more people would engage I think
- that you would get more comments from from council members. I think that you'd be able to think more
- actively about amendments I think that we'd be able to get feedback from the public more actively.
- so that we don't have situations where when we come to second reading, it's like, oh, this is the first
- time that we're really thinking about this. We get a lot of opportunities to engage. And importantly,
- it gives the public more opportunity to engage with things. And my theory of change is that the more
- time that we have to deliberate on things, the better outcomes we'll see.
- No more questions on amendment to all right anybody in chambers Would anybody like to make a comment
- on amendment to We have one approaching the podium, thank you, please remember to sign in Paul Rousseau
- My understanding is well my understanding is
- I'm sorry if this is wrong, but my understanding is that the council is empowered to Change its agenda
- at the beginning of a meeting and Now you are proposing to allow you to pass an ordinance on first reading
- So maybe I have that wrong, but my understanding is that you could change the agenda and
- Introduce an ordinance and pass it and the public would never know in advance So if I'm wrong,
- that's good, but that's my impression right now and I'm Expressing concern about transparency and I
- suppose what I'm saying is similar to what councilmember Stasburg just said Thank you Any further public comment
- I see one approaching the podium. Good evening, Councillor Dave Askins with the B Square Bulletin.
- I think Mr. Rousseau is exactly right. You could do that now. So this legislation does not change that.
- You could absolutely add an item to your agenda at the start, and then that item could be an ordinance
- that you then decide unanimously to consider, and then to pass on a two-thirds vote
- the same day at the same meeting. So I think it's a legitimate point, but you could do that already.
- Thanks. Thank you very much. Anybody else in chambers who would like to make a comment on Amendment
- 2 for Ordinance 2026-05? I don't see anybody in chambers running to the podium. Any online? Yes,
- there is one. All right. Wonderful. Thank you. Please go ahead whenever you're ready. Yes. My name is
- Kevin Keough.
- I'm a Bloomington resident and I'm speaking in support of allowing discussion and debate along with
- public comment at the first reading. Last May 7th, 2025, during the first reading of a $10 million transfer
- from the Food and Beverage Tax Fund to the CIB, I believed incorrectly that there would be discussion
- at that first reading. That was frustrating enough, but what made it even worse was that the former
- controller
- ultimately pulled the resolution from the May 21st, 2025 meeting. So not only was there confusion about
- debate, there was no debate at all. At that time, the fiscal impact statement showed a $19.9 million
- fund balance and $10 million appropriation alongside bond proceeds issued going along the monthly tax.
- Many of us struggled to reconcile the timing and the structure of this transfer. Meanwhile,
- A reporting that was in late April and early May of 2025 showed the Redevelopment Commission authorizing
- due diligence on the Bunger and Robertson property as the host hotel site. Fast forward, and now February
- 2026, no land, no deal. But when $10 million in public funds is being transferred and the key elements
- like land control, project coordinations are unresolved,
- Early and transparent discussion is critical when resolutions are not properly vetted. Agenda items
- are kept silent or resolutions are pulled. It creates confusion and erodes public trust. Allowing discussion
- at first reading strengthens governance. It allows questions to be raised on the record early before
- misunderstandings grow. For that reason, I support this resolution. Thank you.
- Thank you very much. Are there any other commenters online? No, all right. No more zoom commenters.
- No more in chambers any Comments here in council. Yes councilmember Rallo May ask a question It's an
- interesting discussion So I agree with mr. Kehoe that just commented and
- That there's a there's a real benefit and utility in having discussion at first reading We used to have
- a long long time ago In the archaeological record of the council we had such a thing as the regularly
- scheduled committee the whole which would allow discussion With no risk of adoption but all this has
- changed now and
- And I'm in agreement with Mr. Askins that we already have the power potentially to adopt in first reading.
- So this doesn't fundamentally change that much. However, you know, it is a good point that Mr. Rousseau
- brings up that, and that my council colleague Stasberg brings up that this power could
- exclude the public from having Notice I suppose that they're going to have to be attentive to what's
- on the schedule for first reading in any case Is that my I meant to ask a question council attorney
- is that am I? Have I stated it correctly? Thank you Piedmont Smith
- I also have a question So with this amendment With this amendment there is no Am I understanding correctly
- that there's no assumption that every ordinance shall be given two readings because that language is
- deleted No, I don't think that's correct because really
- The only thing that we're addressing here is removing the explicit prohibition within Bloomington code
- to allow us to discuss the thing. In terms of whether we can pass it, nothing changed. That's already
- a clear state law, right? We can today pass something on first reading by the rules that
- have been outlined, I think, a little bit more clearly here than at the very bottom, if you could, than
- we have currently in Bloomington Municipal Code. Oh, okay, it went away. And so really the only thing
- that we're trying to structure is, are we allowed to talk about things during the first reading? And
- the answer, we want to be, yes. And so I'm just trying,
- With the amendment just to give a little bit more Expectations for maybe how that might go to deal with
- the very first question that councilmember Stasberg asked on when when councilmember Zulek made made
- their presentation It's This is empowering. It's I mean there's it gives people an opportunity to comment
- earlier in the process again to address what councilmember Rallo was saying as well and
- I think that currently, we could have something on our agenda for second reading, ask no questions,
- have no debate, and still pass it. This does give an opportunity for people to contribute to the process
- earlier on. Again, for us to have discussions, both with staff, with each other, so we all can live
- in the same reality. It's, I think, really useful and do more of our work in the open.
- Councilmember Flaherty I'm Broadly supportive of the ordinance and discussing things at first reading
- and all that the question is specifically to the amendment I'm still wrapping my head around a process
- point a little bit, which is that? No motion is made When we get to the things and read them,
- is that right? So no motion has been made me just sort of right or into right so from a Roberts perspective
- I'm like not an understanding like
- You can't move to table an item or postpone to a date certain if there's not a main motion upon which
- to make that subsidiary motion. So you can't move to postpone something to the next regular session
- if it hasn't been introduced in the first place. So that's the piece I'm struggling with understanding,
- I guess. And maybe a weakness, but I think the assumption that I make is that
- When it is it's here on our agenda. It's it's already I mean it's before us to be considered and then
- whether what we want to do is dispose of it fine we want to move it like it's already like the the additional
- sense of Let this now be before us like once it was on our agenda. It is before us hmm Okay, yes, so
- a question for me from like a procedural legitimacy standpoint of that
- But I do understand what you're saying. Thank you Any other comments or last questions councilmember
- Stossberg I have a I have a comment Once again speaking trying to narrow this just to the amendment
- itself which as councilmember Flaherty
- Just stated it it eliminates that need for emotion as I asked earlier it eliminates that need for emotion
- or introduction what councilmember sorry just said is that Like he's starting with the assumption of
- going well if it's on the agenda then it's been introduced and I'm gonna go back to something I said
- earlier, which is that the president Fixes the agenda that's like one of the responsibilities of the
- president to set the agenda and if then the president is also introducing something
- then I think that that yields too much power, essentially, to one person, the president, to add it to
- the agenda and then to introduce it and say it's going to be considered. Because lots of other places
- in our code, it gives power to the body as a whole, whether or not we're going to consider something.
- To have the president put it on the agenda and then to have the president read it aloud introducing
- it without any kind of motion on council of council I Dislike that from a procedural standpoint from
- the fact that like as a body I mean the president is the president but they don't have any more power
- really more than any other council member does we each should have a
- You know, we're all an equal vote but doing it this way. I think it gives the president kind of Additional
- power in a way that makes me kind of deeply uncomfortable and especially given tonight where where you
- know, the majority of us said no We're not gonna gonna introduce this thing because of a procedure for
- how it was placed onto the agenda in the first place and that part of code which specifically says like
- council as a body and
- Can can change something about that that deadline for submissions? And so what we did as a body tonight
- was change something about that deadline for submissions Like I mean really we enforced what was in
- code about it But you know, we called it out and we said that's problematic And so I think as a body
- we should still be able to call out things like that So I will be voting against this amendment this
- evening. Thank you Councilmember sorry, I don't think that again
- that something is read in this room doesn't have any significance that it's when we make some type of
- an action for that thing that thing has significance. And so the sort of idea that the president, I mean,
- I don't really care who reads the thing, but I do have issues with the clerk reading it because
- of colonialism. But the idea that it being read now suddenly, we're now forced to do something that
- we weren't forced to do before, I just don't understand because we have the opportunity to do anything
- that you would have done anyways with this. The main thing is that
- it gets us quicker to the discussion, so that we're not having to spend all this time in procedure.
- Which again, I mean, if you all like, it's fine, but it's like, that's the main thing. I don't see the
- weight in saying that, okay, now here's this thing, what do you all wanna do with it? The person who
- said what do you all wanna do with it does not have more power than the people who get to do something
- with it. So, just saying that.
- Thank you councilmember Piedmont Smith Allow me to ask a question, you know, we're actually in comments,
- but yes, go ahead Sorry, this is a very different way for my old brain to think about this after 15
- years of doing it one way so After the item has been announced and read by the presiding officer it
- says in the
- amendment the ordinance or resolution is before the council for consideration. But under Roberts don't
- you need a motion to adopt before something is before a body for consideration. Does you know the answer.
- Yes or maybe our attorney knows the answer. Yes I believe there would need to be a motion to adopt first.
- So is this.
- So I question the language here that it's before the council for consideration just after having been
- read. I'm sorry. So so right now when when we do first readings we make a motion that it be read by
- title and synopsis right. That does nothing.
- That's so at the beginning at the beginning of a meeting now if I were to during summation of our schedule
- Read the thing by title and has it been read? Is it being considered what's happening to to that thing?
- I'm just saying it's on it's on the agenda, right? the motion to adopt is Customarily what we do here
- to signal that we can now discuss whether or not we're going to adopt it and
- Here, we're just saying that once it's here, we have an opportunity that we can choose to act on or
- not to discuss it if we want to. That's what we're saying. We're just getting to the point of where
- council can take some type of an action
- just a little bit faster. That's really the thing. They're removing a little bit of the ceremony of
- this to get to the meat of the action is what we're trying to do. Thank you. Thank you for the question.
- Any other comments or questions? Councilmember Ruff?
- Councilmember sorry's recent comments Made councilmember Stossberg feel any different about This legislation
- but specifically when when councilman Stossberg gave the example what we did earlier tonight where seven
- to vote and not adopt China's reduce would still happen
- I was just wondering if his customer Stossberg wanted to elaborate or to follow up Anything councilmember,
- sorry, I said has changed my mind well If it if it made you feel any Maybe not necessarily all the way
- change your mind made you feel a little differently or a little better about Or a little less like this
- is a little less risky No, honestly, I mean
- I think that there's some real, I have real concerns with, like, generally speaking, amending code in
- haphazard ways. And, I mean, I recall several discussions where there were comments about how long our
- meetings are and our meetings are too long. Well, this is gonna make meetings a whole lot longer, honestly,
- because there's,
- Give the amendment. I mean, I'm trying to stick with the amendment But like there there'll be this this
- whole unknown about well the president read it the presiding officer read it now What do we do? And
- I paused there long for a reason because I can just imagine what okay now what do we do and and yeah,
- like maybe you could have like a whole new routine but I mean and and if and if It is not spelled out in here
- Don't think in the amendment anywhere about two readings for ordinances But I think that that is something
- that's generally spelled out in state code, right? And so simply reading it is introducing it for the
- first time Then in a night like tonight, even if we didn't want to dispose of it, you know, like like it
- It just necessitates a whole lot more steps. I don't think that it makes it simpler. I think it makes
- it more complicated I think that it takes away power from the body in a way that makes me uncomfortable
- and I I also Have some of those same concerns that councilmember Flaherty brought up in terms of you
- know Is that before for consideration and in terms of the clerk not reading it? I don't see anywhere
- where code actually says the clerk has to read it we motioned for the clerk to read it and
- But I think that we could motion for anybody to read it. I Mean pointed out to me if it says somewhere
- in code that it does say in code somewhere that the clerk has to read it 2.04 point three zero zero
- be at the reading of an ordinance the synopsis shall be read and the clerk shall read the ordinance
- by title only provided there's unanimous consent, but that is still crossed off in the regular in the
- ordinance itself, not just in this amendment, right and
- is it I'm having to switch between way too many screens to go between the amendment and Yeah, so even
- in the original ordinance not just in the amendment that is taken out. Oh No, there it is. The city
- clerk shall read it. Okay, I Still think that there's another way to do that if that is a concern and
- I I just I know Short answer. I think councilmember Ruff is that no it hasn't changed my mind or alleviated
- my concerns. I
- Councilman brazilic comment or question, please. Thank you Well, I guess I have a comment and then a
- is that correct counsel attorney later that kind of question my understanding of this legislation is
- that when we get to a portion of the agenda the president would then read that line item and the synopsis
- out and then we would still be under obligation for the
- Mentor and or whoever to motion to adopt and we would still need a second counsel attorney liner. Is
- that correct? Yeah, I think that's something to to be determined right now there's also the motion Really
- to introduce and read as well. I don't know that that's any place in the Bloomington Municipal Code and
- It's not an Indiana state law either. So you know maybe this is part of a practice that that council
- would want to continue as a part of this. Understood. I will conclude my comment by saying I will support
- this amendment. Thank you. Thank you. Any council member Flaherty. Yes.
- Going on this bit so back to the point about procedural kind of like Legitimacy around like having a
- main motion with which to then do something with postponed to a later date indefinitely, etc The main
- motion could maybe be the motion to adopt rather than the motion to introduce and are we saying? That
- will read the thing and to move any farther than like just reading it Requires a motion to adopt like
- we cannot have a staff presentation without a motion to adopt. We cannot have a
- discussion debate questions public comment without a motion to adopt is that consistent with Both our
- attorneys understanding as well as what the sponsors and the sponsor and the amendment of the amendment
- intends I Defer to councilmember Asari on on this type of procedural question Because he drafted the
- amendment so I don't know that these are purely legal questions. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's fair. Thank you. I
- I wouldn't. So the second part of your question about whether or not we require a motion to adopt in
- order to move on to all of the things that we would usually do. No, I don't think so. I think that
- That and that that does actually that disconnecting of those two things is useful that it's like we
- can discuss a thing without having any intention to adopt a thing And but again, it's not it's it's
- not assuming that anything will take place other than The thing gets read. That's all the only assumption
- now. I take councilmember Stossberg's point I mean we could amend this amendment and actually just say
- that there has to be a motion for it to be read I mean, I think that that
- You know adds again unnecessary element of but it's a small element. I mean the the the point here is
- that the only assumption that is made about what council is going to do is that the things on the agenda
- will be read and that's it. And then we will do what we want to do with it thereafter. Any other comments.
- Councilmember Rosenberger.
- That's wrapping my mind around it. Where I am, I know this about the amendment, okay. I like the ordinance.
- I think though, I know this has been kind of asked, but how would tonight's meeting happened with the
- PUD if we don't vote on introduction? That's a question for you too. Thank you.
- I think the way that it would go would have been like this. We would have got to it and I would have
- said now we have ordinance 2026 to amend the city of Bloomington zoning maps by rezoning a six point
- three acre property from residential urban lot and residential multifamily. And then I would have said
- is there any motion and then you all would have gone. We moved to for example postpone.
- And then we would have said there's a motion, is there a second? Somebody would have gone second. Then
- we said discussion, and then you all would have been like, I hate council members, sorry. And I would
- have been like, ah, I'm sorry. And then after all that, the same thing would have taken place. You all
- would have voted, and then we would have moved on. So nothing would have changed, except for we would
- have got to that point just a little bit faster, just a little.
- I think a little bit of my hesitancy in this amendment is that I think this council already has like
- kind of predetermined that we're going to introduce for the most part. Right. Like twice in this term
- has something not been introduced. Right. And I think it is a very effective tool for the council as
- a whole to use for legislation that isn't ready. I mean because the beauty two people thought it was
- ready seven thought it was not.
- I think it feels harder to I guess I think it feels a little harder for someone to make the move to
- say like I don't want to motion to adopt this. But probably you might say to me it's the same as saying
- I don't want to introduce it. Is that. Yes.
- I guess I just want to make sure I just feel like actually I actually have a question that for counsel
- attorney Lainer that might clarify a little bit of this tension if is there is there a procedure by
- which let's let's say that something was on our agenda and we don't necessarily want to vote it down,
- but we want to
- We don't want to vote on the thing. We want it to be reintroduced. So with a PUD as an example, we say,
- look, we're not going to vote for this as it is on us. Can we send it back to someone before it comes
- back to us? Is that an action that we can take, or does that trigger some type of inability to make
- amendments, as an example? So in your scenario,
- Or using today's scenario, right? Does us not introducing the thing fundamentally change how we can
- interact with it between now and March 4th? Is that thing going to be different the next time that it
- gets scheduled? I think as president, you would have the ability to put the matter on the agenda again
- at an upcoming meeting.
- Do the same process and do the same process, right? But so but but does that give does that give us
- as a body any new? Abilities that we wouldn't have had like it was is that indistinguishable? From had
- we had we have just said we don't want to do second reading because we could have motion to say let's
- reschedule second reading to the time when we'll have second reading and assume and presumably You know
- the end of March Could does what we did today have any?
- different impact than, for example, just rescheduling a thing? Postponing a second reading? Yes. No,
- I think that they're similar. So that's my argument, Councilmember Rosenberger, is that it's symbolic.
- Like, it's great. Like, yay. But it didn't actually do. There was no difference from, well, let me say
- it this way.
- We could have taken a lot of other procedural motions that would have done the exact same thing given
- us more time Pushed it off. Whatever we wanted to do, you know Said things about councilmember. Sorry,
- whatever all of that would have been the same and this preserves our ability to that in fact, I think
- Puts that in the forefront so we don't just go through it's like yes, we read or we don't read Okay, so
- how I was talking about, like, I think, you know, this body tends to say, like, well, the people are
- here, so we wanna hear from everybody. So then, if people are here at first reading, and we want to
- table something, but we're like, well, staff is here, and 10 people are here, then I think it's much
- less likely that we will vote not to introduce or not to adopt than we would if we were, like, because
- tonight, nobody was here,
- Left because they knew that we weren't talking about it So I do also just want to be clear that like
- I think this is a good idea But the motion to introduce feels important to me Councilmember Stossberg
- and then councilmember Piedmont Smith If I could because I think that there really is a difference and
- I think that it does change it and one of the ways that it changes it is that once something is introduced and
- It cannot be changed except by an amendment what we did tonight by not introducing it means that it
- could potentially come back differently and I think that there is potentially a legal question out there
- that Does it need to be presented exactly the way it was presented a plan commission like mess-ups and
- all? Because I've been wondering that over the last week You know and I and our staff has not even I
- don't think had the time to
- to, like, I have not wanted to engage them in that question because it's a legal research question that
- I knew that they did not have the time for because of how it was pushed through. So it does fundamentally
- change it because once you've introduced it, you are stuck with it exactly like that unless you actually
- have an amendment. And then you have to go through the whole amendment process, which is a process.
- And secondly, it changes it because it's had the first reading, which means that the next time it's
- read, it could be second reading.
- and it could just get barreled on through. And that is exactly what I wanted to prevent tonight, was
- something getting pushed on through with the speed of lightning. So I think that it is a substantive
- change and difference. I have a question. Sorry to keep on with the questions, but this is a question
- for somebody who has a good understanding of Robert's rules.
- So council member sorry council president sorry said we don't have to have a motion to adopt an item
- of legislation in order to discuss that item of legislation. Is that correct. Because I thought we did
- have to have such a motion. I think there would need to be a motion to adopt some type of main motion
- then that would support the discussion. OK. So once something
- if this amendment and then the ordinance is passed, if both are passed, so something is on the agenda,
- the presiding officer reads it, there would have to be some kind of motion, either a motion to adopt,
- a motion to postpone, motion to table indefinitely, something before we could proceed to do anything
- else. Is that correct? Yes, I believe that's true.
- Well, then so I'll have a question then Would would it be possible to then say motion to discuss would
- that be? Doable I Mean we're not you know, it feels like we're coming down to semantics right here.
- Like we're arguing about Finding a different word for the same exact thing. I think we're getting stuck
- on a this issue So anyway, my suggestion would be motion to discuss. I don't know if that's allowed
- Yeah, and as a suggestion, maybe it would help to lay Amendment 2 on the table and discuss Amendment
- 1. Amendments 1 and 2 are mutually exclusive, so I think there's the option of adopting Amendment 2
- or Amendment 1 or
- or none of them. But you might want to discuss Amendment 1 before making a decision with respect to
- Amendment 2. Just a suggestion. We can discuss Amendment 1 but in terms of that language and the right.
- But I'm just putting it out there that like it will be the same.
- that specific portion that we're talking about is the same in my amendment. So I would, yeah. I mean,
- the substance is slightly different, but that is pretty similar. All right. Any comments, questions, motions?
- I think we've reached the end of the conversation on this one. So with that being said Would the clerk
- please call the roll on amendment 2 for ordinance? 2026-05 I believe this one is no because of colonialism
- I was joking Councilmember Piedmont Smith no Zulek Sorry, yes
- Yes, Rallo. Yes rough Yes Rosenberger no clarity no Stossberg Sorry, no Something So did that yes five
- four passed five four. Okay. Thank you. I got turned around which one it is and it was with
- Thank you, okay that amendment carries five four we are now back to public comment for the For what's
- the what is the number here? 2026 oh five as amended We'll now go to a time of public comment if anybody
- would like to make comment on the Most on the ordinance as amended you now have Time to do so you have
- three minutes as before
- Write your name say your name and We will recognize you moving to count in chambers first I see two
- here and then we'll go online Good evening Dave Askins with the Beescar Bulletin I just wanted to address
- what I think is a legitimate concern about say what could have happened tonight to have done the will
- of the council and I think the will of the council was twofold
- Well is to send a message to two people one to the mayor and two to the council president We didn't
- want this on the agenda. So how do you send that message if this? Passes and I think the way you do
- it is you recognize that there's many main motions That can come after it's announced and one of those
- motions could be or could have been tonight I Move that we not consider
- this legislation to have been introduced. So you've declared this has not been introduced, which means
- that it can't be adopted to meetings after its next actual introduction, right? So just, I mean, the
- fact that you've considered it tonight, or this is hypothetical, if it had come before you and you'd
- said, okay, we don't like this, but that still counts
- as an introduction, because it was read. I think any reasonable person would say, well, yeah, that's
- how you guys do that. But if you explicitly say, we move to consider this not having been introduced,
- well then, even if it's on the agenda the next time, and then the time, well, I think I've made the
- point. I think you have the flexibility to have made the point that you want to make tonight, even in
- this new scheme. Thanks.
- Hey, I'm Greg Alexander. I just wanted to say I'm appreciative of this effort and thank you for all
- having it I do see steady stream of people standing where I'm standing confused by this issue and I
- think it'll really move things along. Thank you All right, anyone else in council chambers See one person
- coming people online. You can get ready if you have a comment Mr. So take it away If I think I'm of
- Reasonable intelligence so if I'm confused or probably other people confused it seems to me that the
- way if this passes and Then the situation that occurred tonight happened Two people could simultaneously
- raise their hands quickly one person wants to Make a motion to have not considered the other one wants
- to make a motion that has considered and who would be the person recognizing the hand first
- It would be the president. It's not a good look. Thanks. Anyone online? Wonderful. Good evening. Jamie
- Scholl here again. I've been started attending council meetings about
- 15 years ago and I've seen the discussion or heard the discussions and sometimes was in the room there
- when they took place of changing things and it's again talking about changing. There's been a lot of
- this is just a stepping back and looking because I don't attend every meeting live. There's a lot of
- time spent on figuring out processes.
- And it seems like there's a lot more time spent now than there was when there was committee of the whole.
- And as a member of the public who has been involved in advocacy for quite a long time, I find this very
- confusing and do miss the conversations that did happen previously. Granted, I'm in the public. I don't
- know what goes on behind the scenes and how difficult that is for staff and for council members.
- But I just thought I would put that out there giving some perspective from the public. Thanks. Thank
- you so much. Second person online. Yeah, this is Kevin Keough again. I just want to reiterate what I
- talked about earlier that May 2025, May 7th, that resolution was not ready.
- It was a lot of questions about just the math. And the thing is, it was out there. And the fact that
- you couldn't even talk about it at that first reading. And even tonight, the whole beginning of this
- meeting, the discussion about the PUD, obviously it could be done better. My hope is that there would
- be debate about
- what the substantive issues are and what we are trying to accomplish. That issue a year ago, it's still
- festering because it's specifically about that host hotel and the negotiations about how to get that
- host hotel going and how are they gonna finance that whole project. And it's a year later and it's still
- not resolved. A lot of good discussion could have happened
- than a year ago. And now we're in the situation with this PUD, something that needs to be efficiently
- and effectively dealt with. At the same time, it needs to be transparent. And that's the other problem
- I'm seeing. The public needs to be aware of these complex issues and how they're being addressed and
- how they're being planned out. And so anyway, that's my point and yeah,
- I know you guys are frustrated. I just want to say that the public shares in your frustration.
- Thank you. Thank you so much. Are there any other commenters online? No. Thank you so much. Anybody
- else in the room? Seeing none, we'll come back to council for any comments or further questions.
- Councilmember Stosberg. Now I'm certainly opposed to the ordinance as a whole.
- I think that we've potentially talked about it enough, but I think that there are some real potential
- procedural gaps. I think that there's some real problems with the fact that we just eliminated first readings.
- Just something is going to be read into the record without any vote or consideration of whether or not
- it should be read into the record and then we are stuck with it that way unless it gets formally amended
- even if it's a problematic piece of legislation and I'll just go back to that and say I think that that's
- incredibly problematic. I think that it makes it much more confusing for the public in terms of what
- Procedure it is that they're going to follow because the way this is spelled out right now is there's
- no actual guarantee that the public would be able to have public comment during this period because
- it all depends on what motion it is that some councilmember decides to do and so it does not add consistency
- for the public it adds incredible inconsistency to the public it this does not feel well planned or
- organized at this point and I I
- Once again, if we're gonna change procedure like fine, but we actually have to change to something as
- opposed to just going Oh anything will go We can just do whatever because then whatever might not actually
- be particularly inclusive at all and it might actually End up being being less transparent less clear
- and People might not know what on earth they're doing. So I will be a no vote on this tonight. Thank you
- Thank you so much. Are there other comments? Councilmember Rosenberger. I am bummed about the losing
- the motion to introduce. I think we would still be talking about the PUD tonight. I mean without it
- now it looks like we could move into a staff presentation without anyone in council saying otherwise.
- I would like to I guess just urge you as president to
- Please follow the procedures with the 10-day documents to our staff before a meeting Thank you so much
- other comments, please councilmember people Smith I Think that increased flexibility for the council
- means increased confusion for the public Thank you
- Any other comments councilmember? Well My primary interest in this was to allow some discussion debate
- in the first reading which formerly happened in the committee of the whole process which was a anathema
- to certain members of the council and in terms of its legitimacy, I suppose and
- I think if I was reading it correctly, however it it did provide a discussion without risk of adoption
- I suppose a lot of the Trepidation on the part of my colleagues notably councilmember Stasberg is an
- abuse of this So I'm I'm sort of on the fence in right right now and this just simply because I
- I would like this council not to be divided in its proceed in its discussion or its determination of
- procedure and There's a deep divide in this right now, you know so If anyone has anything else to illuminate
- Please Proceed thanks Councilmember Zulek and then councilmember flirty. Yes. Thank you. Um, I
- I'm plan on supporting this. All I will say is I think there is a line between open dialogue and being
- disrespectful and I just encourage everyone to Remember that like we're all doing what we think is best
- for the city of Bloomington and sometimes that looks different But we are still all doing our best.
- So thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Flaherty Thanks, I think I will support the ordinance because
- I support the concept of
- The ordinance as a whole I am concerned about what follows from the amendment the past I believe
- councilmember sorry did did say that no no motion to adopt would be required to move into presentation
- from staff etc So I think tonight we would have heard a presentation on the PUD. I think that's what
- would have happened I don't think it would have been in order for someone to Make a motion to postpone
- because that's a subsidiary motion to a main motion and there is no main motion and
- Anticipated now to move into substantive discussion of the ordinance. Yeah So I'm just legitimately
- still confused from a procedural perspective of like how this will function like how Is it just we're
- gonna discuss it for a while and then when the council president says it's over it's over and we'll
- Do it again another time when there's a motion to adopt or are we actually gonna make that motion to
- adopt every single time? if we are like including a first reading then
- Kind of there's there's no way to Accomplish what we did tonight because a vote a no vote on that motion
- to adopt would mean that it is that it fails So it's I do feel like we've lost something with the with
- the loss of a motion to introduce Still sorting it out. I mean, I'm like pretty from a procedural
- perspective. That's it Like I said, I'm gonna vote for the ordinance. We're gonna try it out We can
- make adjustments in the future if we need to I want to do some more reading of Rosa procedure to dig
- further into some of those questions also
- Thank you. Um, I see a couple comments. Um, uh, so we'll first go did council at the end council member
- rosemary. Do you have a hand up or are you? Okay, sorry council member Thank you, I just want to say
- I I am excited to vote for this I have I think many of you have heard me long Bemoan the fact that we
- don't have a longer runway for discussion on a lot of these topics And I I think that this can only
- be helpful
- and be more enlightening and greater opportunity to draw the public into the conversations.
- So this is, in my opinion, a good move and all it's doing is just giving us greater runway for learning
- about these, sometimes the thornier topics and having a better understanding and grasp of them. Thank
- you so much. Council Member Rosenbacher.
- question and it might not be relevant but it's about when can we bring a vote back like tonight like
- I just I mean I don't know if anyone would even want to but you know how sometimes you can say I want
- to I miss voted and I want to vote a free vote you know
- There's a so there's a provision in title two that says that I am and clerk can correct me or attorney
- later can correct me that says that Votes can be revisited or something. It says something to that extent
- But I can't remember if it people who had voted no or people who voted yes who can initiate it or something
- to that extent It's one of the yes, it's something like that. I think it's entitled to somewhere but
- I do just we can well that's getting looked up I do plan to support this as
- It is because I feel like I started this term saying I'm up for trying new things, you know? And I do
- want to be supportive of that. But I agree with a lot of people up here that not having a motion to
- introduce is getting us into sticky situations. And one public commenter said, we can do it a different
- way. Just do this, do that. But that is incredibly hard, like I talked about before, especially if we
- roll right into presentations that everyone here thinks
- It's just anticipating that that is going to be what we're doing. Yeah. Other comments? I was going
- to make a couple of comments. I think first off, I agree with most of the things said, particularly
- the concerns first off around the president reading it. I'll be completely honest. When I was writing
- that, I wasn't thinking about the fact that I am president. But it does become, I think, a little
- interesting, right? And I think Mr. Rousseau raised an interesting point about if I then get to decide
- who gets to talk next and know who's for it. I do think that's something we should maybe address here
- in the future. I also think that that overlaps with the question of doing council sponsors, for example.
- So I think what we might do is if there's interest, I mean, it's something we could think about doing
- is introduce those Title II changes to
- require that everything has a council sponsor. And here you could say the council sponsor would be the
- person to read it. Secondly, I think I've talked a lot, wrote legislation last year to this extent that
- was never put on the agenda, but around removing a lot of the procedural things that we've put in code
- and making a rule book for ourselves. And one of the ways that we could address some of the concerns
- here is by coming up with some norms. We could say, for example, that we don't want
- to have presentations the first day or that there's some mechanism that we could use to call for when
- we're gonna have presentations and when not. I also think that we should come up with some rules about
- how we do public comment in first session. Is it just gonna be general public comment? Is there a particular
- way that we'd like public comment to be done during the first time that something is discussed in council?
- Again, though, I think that
- This is taking a step in order to be able to start to address those things. I mean, yeah. So I'll just
- say that I do think that it puts, again, an opportunity for us to bring some other things forward,
- I think, to fix it. And I will also say, to Councilman Rosenberger's point, I do think one of the things
- also that's been illustrated in this conversation is why maybe past councils, we should ask,
- councilmember Rallo if you remember but why past councils have Outlined what motions are appropriate
- at certain times right so that we don't spend all of this time discussing whether or not Can we do that
- motion is that allowed is this the type of thing? So, you know, we'll be able to you know, see see how
- this goes But assuming that it passes but with that if there's no other comments Okay councilmember
- Rallo then councilmember Stasberg like to make a motion
- I would like as a as a vote in the majority for amendment to I'd like to move reconsideration of amendment
- to Is this is this how it works come council attorney MC right now and this is in section two zero four dot
- 460 motion to reconsider when any question has been decided in the affirmative or negative any member
- voting with the majority May move a reconsideration of the vote before adjournment Concurrence of a
- majority of the members present shall be sufficient to order reconsideration of a vote If a motion to
- reconsider is defeated it shall not again be entertained I
- Okay, so councilmember Rallo We need to establish concurrence of a majority of members, I believe right
- it's more than just a second that's required correct. Yes There's a motion so are people in favor of
- a reconsideration of the vote to adopt amendment to to ordinance 20 2605 All those in favor say aye aye
- All those opposed, say aye. Aye. So that motion carries 7-2. So we will now reconsider it. Now, in terms
- of unusual things, this is fun. Yes. Bolden is shaking her head about the vote. It was a voice vote.
- Oh, should we do a? The ayes have it. OK, fantastic. Oh, the ayes have it. Sorry, yeah.
- Question now procedurally do we now get to what do we do? We we just revote or is it just open again
- for discussion attorney later? I would recon go through the process of reconsidering and discussing
- it So so we're back on it. If anybody has a comment you can make it now. Otherwise, we'll reconsider
- the vote Councilmember Zulek and then I'm sorry clerk Bolden. Go ahead. I
- Request a brief recess a brief recess. Yes, please. Okay, there's been a request for a recess. Is there
- anybody opposed? Okay, we'll take a five-minute recess sufficient. Okay, we'll take a five-minute recess
- back at 920 Daily No Rough no Rosenberger
- Stossberg no and Piedmont Smith All right, the noes have it so now we're back to the main issue the
- main Ordinance 20 2605 that has not been amended Would we like to go to publish would anybody like to
- make a public comment on ordinance 20 2605 I
- Is there anyone online who'd like to make a public comment on 2026 oh five All right, no there's no
- no fantastic we're back to we're back to council would anyone like to make final comments Councilmember
- Stossberg, thank you I do think that this is much better without the amendment on it, but I still am
- Concerned that it is You know, I asked questions about things like are we gonna allow public comment?
- How is that gonna work? Are we gonna have staff presentations? How is that gonna work and You know,
- once again, I'm also like I'm okay with the with the idea of changing things But I feel like it's putting
- the cart a little before the horse council members already mentioned title to stuff that he had put
- together last year that never got put on the agenda and to be clear about that that was
- I really don't think that you can just cross things out without also saying what you're gonna do instead
- like you need to have a plan of what is going to happen if you're going to get rid of what used to happen
- and That was that issue last year. It's like, okay, like yeah I think that we could maybe move some
- of these rules out of title to you and put them into some kind of administrative manual but then you
- have to write the administrative manual and I think that that administrative manual needs to be written
- before and
- Get rid of the things in title two. So this is one of those situations It's like yeah, am I am I generally
- okay with the idea of having discussion at first reading? Yeah, do I think that there's the possibility
- that it could make meetings last a whole lot longer also? Yeah Because I think that there's this, you
- know and having been on Plan Commission, you know when we have two hearings for something that might
- be particularly controversial and then it might get sent to council and
- And what you have is you have the same people giving public comment at both of the planned Commission
- hearings and then coming to council and now we're having a fourth meeting and I'm not trying to eliminate
- public comment at all, but you get the same comments over and over from the same people and that just
- ends up being tedious and not Helpful necessarily when you have that kind of repetition. So do I have
- a problem having public comment at first reading? No
- But I have a concern about having too much duplicative public comment that isn't a good use of anybody's
- time, including the person who's coming to comment. Because as council members, I listen the first time
- you say it. I don't need to hear it three or four times. I hear it the first time. I promise.
- Okay, doesn't mean I agree with you, but I hear it and I listen and I consider it. So I have a concern
- about that. I similarly have a concern about having lengthy debates like we had tonight more than once.
- And I think that without some kind of procedure in place, I think that this is a little bit bulky. So
- I feel like I could support it if some of those other questions were already answered, or if it had
- something in it like
- It's going to you know we're going to give ourselves a few months to figure those things out because
- I'll tell you it's going to take some time to figure those things out next regular scheduled meeting
- is in two weeks if we pass this then at that meeting in two weeks we're going to have to we're going
- to have to have some of these things sorted out and we just went through a whole
- Kind of discussion about how busy our council staff are how busy we are as council members So if those
- questions aren't fleshed out already are those gonna be fleshed out in the next two weeks So that that's
- why I'm gonna be voting no on it Even though I do think that it's better as it is and I'm overall generally
- like okay with this idea of like discussing at first readings But I don't think that there's enough
- clarity I also I'll come back to the clarity for the public as well in terms of what they're walking into and
- And I do think that it's better because at least it does say right up front, you know, we're going to
- be given these two readings still for the public. So hopefully they realize like, okay, they might talk
- about it the first reading, but they're not going to act on it at the first reading unless something
- really unusual happens. But I think that it does give the public less certainty and more confusion.
- So that's why I'm not going to be supporting this tonight. Thanks. Awesome. Thank you. Are there any
- other comments?
- Council Member Rosenberger. Hey, thank you. I just wanted to say thank you to council leadership for
- bringing this ordinance. It feels like it did take a while to get it ready. A lot of nuts and bolts
- in there. I am excited to try it and president sorry what you said a few minutes ago about we could
- do this or we could do that or you know those were exciting to me about we could say presentations or
- no presentations or only questions or you know I like all of that possibility. So I'm excited. Thank you.
- Thank you so much councilmember Piedmont Smith Yeah, I'm in favor of this legislation this is something
- that we talked about on the committee and council processes and We didn't delve too deeply into the
- logistics of you know, would we have time limits would we have public comment? We did you know acknowledge
- that those things would have to be worked out, but we did not make any firm recommendations on them
- I think that those are questions that do need to be worked out and we don't need to create an administrative
- manual that has everything we need in it right away. We could start with this and say, okay,
- chapter one, how do we handle legislation at first reading and how is that different from second reading?
- That's something that leadership could work on. That's something that the committee for council processes
- could work on. I do agree with council member Stossberg that it's important to for all of us and the
- public to have an understanding on how first readings will be run so that people know how to participate
- and that so that city staff know what to prepare so that we don't sit here until midnight for first
- reading and second reading.
- But I I think that we can work those things out and I'm happy to Help work those things out as well.
- Thank you. Thank you so much. Are there any other comments? Councilmember Allah Just to say Case in
- point I appreciate the deliberation discussions evening or else I would not have reversed my vote on
- amendment to I think that this idea of a discussion on first reading is
- can have a real benefit, because it is a way to get acquainted with matters that you might not, you
- might be assured that you understand, but perhaps you don't. But it is, in that sense, very much like
- the old way we used to do it. So I think that this is,
- will be a better likelihood of being a benefit than having an adverse outcome. So I'll be supporting
- it. Thank you so much. Are there any other comments? All right, seeing none. Clerk, will you please
- call the roll? Yes. Councilmember Asari. Yes. Daly. Yes.
- Rallo. Yes rough. Yes Rosenberger. Yes Flaherty. Yes Stasberg no Piedmont Smith. Yes Zulek. Yes Fantastic
- that motion carries eight one. Thank you so much that concludes the time of legislation for second readings
- We now move to the second best part, which is the second best time of public comment. Thank you all
- for being here this long. If you have another public, not another, you can only comment once. But if
- you have public comment and you did not make a public comment during the first session of public comment,
- now is your chance. You have three minutes. If you could kindly sign in and state your name for the
- record or an alias, that seems great. And folks online, same thing. We'll acknowledge you next. People
- in the room, go ahead.
- Hello, my name is Greg Alexander. I'm gonna go a little bit off of my usual beat I usually come to you
- and talk about transportation policy and how urgent that is and how Ineffective the processes that happen
- in this room are Today, I'm gonna try to confront one of the challenges you face in getting anything
- done I'm just gonna put the punchline at the top You need to debate disband economic and sustainable
- development. I know It's nothing about the people there
- I've had people that I liked and people I didn't like and it's been the exact same behavior across two
- administrations It's just structurally a bad department. You all know my beef. It's a pro car department
- in City Hall Of course, I'm opposed they think of cars as a fundamental tool for economic development
- You know, that's not what the planners say, but that's what they say. They cheerlead for parking garages
- deep down they don't believe that cyclists and pedestrians spend money and
- They think that I'm less of a human being than other people, and I can tell that. I assume you guys
- can tell that, but I don't like it because of that, so that's just me. I think you ought to care about
- why they act that way. I'm just gonna be very direct. This is the Department of Mayoral misconduct.
- The mayor meets with a stakeholder behind closed doors and works out a deal, and then uses the staff
- at ESD to sell that deal to you guys. This is, they've run this game, I've watched it happen 10 times.
- It's always ground zero if the,
- the administration is going to ignore or violate the law, you're gonna see ESD there, I'm sorry. This
- is a department with no clear directive. They have no area where they have actual authority or expertise.
- It always overlaps with other departments inexorably because of how it's designed, but it's insular.
- They don't talk to other departments. They don't talk to subject matter experts, and they don't honor
- the planning documents that you all pass.
- They also ignore the ordinances that this body passes. We all saw that two weeks ago. It's a department
- that we don't need. So I know how I sound. You're not going to cancel a million dollar department. It's
- a big business. It's a number of staff members just because I said so. I mean, right? Obviously. I'm
- here to ask you to do something I hope you can do. Next time standing at this podium, it's going to
- be the director of ESD and one of their sidekicks.
- Ask yourself, should I be hearing from another department head? Should I be hearing from a subject matter
- expert? Is there somebody else that should also be here? Use your own judgment. Just think about it
- for yourself. But you have to be paying attention to this. Every time they're here, it should be somebody
- else. Thank you. Go ahead. My name is Matt Gleason.
- I came to discuss the Hopewell South rezone and I didn't realize that first readings meant no Council
- discussion and no public comment So I was gonna just end up listening but the discussion about how readings
- happen and so on Are you gonna are you going to comment on Hopewell weekend? Can you stop this time
- just for a second because because if it's about hopeful it was on our agenda, so They'll be upset if
- you if you talk about it Okay
- Discussion of things on the agenda at general public comment There's a motion in a second to allow for
- this comment or to comment on the hopeful PUD is is Councilmember Stasberg has a comment General public
- Items on the agenda, but councilmember is sorry just rephrase that to say specifically this commenter.
- Oh, yeah Is that is that was people all times or just now? I Will withdraw my motion and make a more
- specific motion that we suspend the rules to allow public comment for items that were on the agenda,
- but not discussed Or introduced if you will this evening There's a motion in a second
- Any other comments? All right, all those in favor of the motion, say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Okay,
- sir, please take it away. Comment on whatever you'd like. Okay, thanks. Please, if you could restart
- their time at three minutes, I'm sorry to have interrupted. Well, thanks. So, I wanted to generally
- voice my support for
- Up zoning if you will will South to provide space for more dense more affordable housing And I know
- it wasn't read but I want to voice my hope that the new iteration of the zoning code has less architectural
- requirements that Add a cost burden to specifically multifamily units that the previous Code for hope
- will does include those architectural cost burdens only on multifamily units. So that is something I've been
- Want to see kind of moved away from But talking about the procedural thing. I do think there is a lot
- of value in Discussion, you know public comment and city discussion on a first reading because there's
- the sort of life cycle of an ordinance Where we have a first reading and it enters consciousness, but
- it's not discussed and we have a second reading where it can simultaneously be discussed for the first
- time and voted on so
- Having the first reading maybe not have a vote or maybe only a two-thirds vote gives a period of time
- where public comment can be integrated at a low opportunity cost to time to pass or implement whatever
- legislation and Besides that I would love to hear about future plans for the rest of Hopewell as well
- as the various city corridors and studies that have been done and kind of not
- Happened to anything. I know that isn't a City Council role, but Thanks Thank you so much. Mr. Gleason
- any other commenters in the room. I think everyone's commented at this point Anyone online? Thank you
- Thank you so much. Okay, we move to matters of council schedule Are there any things that people would
- like to announce about upcoming council schedule? Please councilmember Piedmont Smith
- Councilmember Stossberg should go first because I have to confirm my okay councilmember Stossberg Okay,
- I just wanted to announce because this is the last regular session before it happens Friday February
- 27th at 830 there will be a fiscal meeting
- Special Fiscal Committee meeting and the Fiscal Committee decided at least for the next few meetings
- We're gonna have them every other Friday So there's also one scheduled for the 13th of March also at
- 830 in the morning So those are gonna be every other Friday at 830 I'm assuming that that continues
- to be the best time for all members present. Thank you so much any others with notes, please
- Council processes will also meet on Friday, February 27th at 12 o'clock to 1 30 in the awesome conference
- room Okay, thank you councillors task for
- To make sure Council members on behalf of the fiscal committee I sent you an email about survey to finish
- the deliberation session stuff that we started in December Thank You council members who look you did
- fill it out a couple of you filled it out Most of you haven't filled it out, but I need that data for
- the meeting that we're having next Friday So if you could fill that out ASAP, that would be great So
- then I can get you the second form that is needed for that process
- Thank you. Thank you councilmember Flaherty I Think the deadline was today, but it might have been oh
- it was tomorrow great but as soon as possible would be great so that then I
- Thank you so much. Thank you. Also just as a reminder The city is holding its second meeting Negotiate
- of the round of negotiations with the police union One councilmember can attend as anybody want to attend
- That's I'm sorry the Wednesday. I'm sorry Tuesday 24th from 2 to 5 p.m
- No one? Okay, thank you. Yeah, two to five if you're able to. Okay, the only other thing, just a reminder
- that we have a form if you're interested in scheduling a deliberation session. So just fill that out.
- Also Council Member Daley will be following up if anybody has ideas about deliberation sessions. Does
- that seem like everything? Seemed like everything? Okay, fantastic, we did it. See you guys later, adjourned.