►
From YouTube: Jamie Verbrugge Settles in as City Manager
Description
City Manager Jamie Verbrugge was in the studio to talk about how things are going, what he’s looking forward to and highlights from the State of the City Address.
A
B
Everybody
has
been
extremely
welcoming
which
I
didn't
expect
anything
different,
but
it's
still
reassuring
coming
into
a
new
environment.
The
staff
at
the
city
of
Bloomington
has
just
been
great.
The
community
members
have
been
willing
to
embrace
me
with
open
arms
so
that
reception
has
made
it
a
lot
easier
going
into
a
new
environment
because,
as
I'm
sure
you
know
and
a
lot
of
people
in
the
community
know.
This
is
a
big
community
and
there
are
a
lot
of
issues
going
on.
A
B
I
I
laid
out
three
goals
coming
in
the
first
was
in
the
first
year,
really
working
hard
to
develop
a
strong
working
relationship
with
our
city
council
to
make
sure
that
their
needs
are
being
met
as
elected
officials
and
as
policy
makers
for
the
community
and
so
make
sure
that
we
get
sort
of
a
good
working
relationship
going.
So
we
understand
each
other
styles.
That's
been
going
well
they're,
a
very
good
group
to
work
with.
B
The
second
was
to
develop
a
good
working
relationship
with
our
executive
team
members,
the
directors
and
the
direct
reports
for
the
city
manager.
So
that's
going
smoothly
and
then
the
third
was
to
get
out
and
start
meeting
the
key
partners
in
the
community
out
the
superintendent
and
our
chamber
director
and
a
number
of
other
people
and
those
folks
have
been
just
great
to
work
with
as
well.
It's.
A
Been
going
pretty
smoothly,
then
I
know
we
had
this
data
city
address
in
March
you
had
only
been
with
the
city
for
a
little
over
a
month,
so
I
know
the
mayor
kind
of
took
over
a
lot
of
that,
but
you
spoke
to
I
guess
what
are
some
of
the
highlights
or
what
are
some
topics?
You
really
think
residents
should
be
aware
of
from
that
address.
Well,.
B
Your
streets
are
plowed
right,
so
all
of
those
things
that
make
people's
lives
easier,
that
that
provide
for
quality
of
life
here
in
Bloomington,
that's
done
at
a
very,
very
reasonable
price.
So,
first
and
foremost,
that's
the
thing
that
I
think
people
should
know
the
financial
strength
of
this
community
is
exceptional
and
then
the
other
thing
that
I've
discovered
is
there
are
there
are
a
number
of
what
we
call
hometown
heroes
here.
B
So
we
talk
about
all
of
the
heroes
that
we
know
who
have
come
from
the
community
or
the
Kent
Hrbek
some
of
the
world
and
I
was
a
big
Kent
Hrbek
fan.
But
more
importantly,
we
have
everyday
heroes
here.
We're
living
here
in
Bloomington,
and
so
part
of
the
fun
of
the
state
of
the
city
is
getting
to
highlight
those
individuals
and
the
great
thing
that
they
do
to
volunteer
within
the
community
and
to
serve
our
community.
B
So
that
was
a
lot
of
fun
and
it
was
also
just
a
really
nice
opportunity
to
be
able
to
address
the
business
community
and
to
let
them
know
that
I'm
excited
to
be
a
working
partner
with
them
to
make
sure
that
the
city
is
being
responsive
to
their
needs
and
that
we're
trying
to
create
a
really
good
business
environment
here
in
the
city
of
Bloomington,
because
it's
not
just
about
having
residential
neighborhoods
that
are
strong.
We
need
to
have
a
business
community,
that's
strong
to
have
a
really
totally
fine
and.
A
B
Let
me
flip
that
question
around
and
say:
what's
the
role
of
government
in
community
and
I
really
feel
strongly
that
our
role
is
to
act
as
a
facilitator
and
to
act
as
a
connector
right,
and
so
there
are
individual
elements
of
our
community
that
can
be
very
successful
on
their
own,
but
they
can
leverage
their
own
success
and
be
even
more
successful
when
they
have
relationships
with
other
sectors.
So
North
Hennepin
community
college
can
be
very
successful
on
its
own.
B
But
when
you
learn
when
you,
when
you
get
them
working
with
the
chamber
and
you
get
them
working
with
Bloomington
schools
and
you
get
them
working
with
our
nonprofits,
that
just
increases
the
the
extent
of
their
reach,
and
so,
if
you
take
that
example
and
then
you
apply
it
to
any
business
or
you
apply
it
to
a
non-profit,
you
start
to
see
that,
as
you
make
these
connections
in
the
community,
you
weave
a
web
right.
It's
almost
like
it's
almost
like
a
net
right
and
so
I
hate
to
say
a
safety
net.
A
B
For
the
for
the
city,
the
goals
are
really
what
the
council
has
identified
as
priorities,
and
so
we
have
a
couple
of
really
important
issues
right
away.
One
is
the
Business
Survey,
that's
going
out
so
I've
mentioned
a
couple
times
the
importance
of
working
with
our
business
community
and
with
our
Chamber
members.
So
there's
a
survey
in
the
field
that
will
be
looking
to
the
business
community
to
give
their
perceptions
of
Bloomington
and
try
to
understand
what
their
needs
are
to
be
more
successful
and
how
we
can
serve
them
better.
B
We
have
an
initiative
right
now
regarding
organized
collection
and
so
in
the
next
couple
months.
I
think
that
residents
will
see
a
lot
more
information
about
that,
and
the
idea
here
is
that
we
would
potentially
be
able
to
negotiate
a
better
price
on
solid
waste,
hauling
for
all
of
the
residents
of
Bloomington.
Now
I
know
there
are
some
people
in
Bloomington
who.
A
B
B
Not
everybody
likes
to
do
that,
and
so
what
we
have
is
a
pretty
wide
disparity
among
our
residents
in
terms
of
what
they
pay
for
trash
hauling,
and
so
what
the
council
is
investigating
is
whether
we
can
use
the
tremendous
buying
power
of
26,000
residential
properties
in
Bloomington
to
try
and
drive
really
good
value
in
the
pricing
for
solid
waste.
So
that's
coming
an
organized
collection
and
then
we
have
a
number
of
other
issues
that
are
I
wouldn't
say
super
important.
B
But
there
are
things
that
you
know
it's
just
the
standard
list
of
the
mill
right,
long-term
I
think
that
continuing
to
develop
a
strong
working
relationship
with
the
Bloomington
schools
is
going
to
be
really
important,
and
so
just
had
breakfast
with
the
superintendent
again
this
morning
and
the
board
and
the
council
will
be
getting
together
for
another
joint
meeting
and
so
we're
going
to
continue
to
talk
about
what
are
those
interests
that
are
in
common
for
all
of
us
and
figure
out
how
we
can
continue
to
make
a
difference.
All.