City of Bloomington, MN Council Minute 2020, 24 Jun 2020

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From YouTube: June 22 Council Minute

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Mayor Tim Busse brings us a rundown of the Council Meeting held on June 22. Discussions around policies and practices of the Bloomington Police Department continue, an update on summer recreation and events, plus a program to help small businesses struggling through the pandemic.

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Hello bloomington,, I'm mayor tim busse, and this is the council minute for the.

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Week of june 22nd., the city council spent two hours on monday night talking with.

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Chief jeff potts about the policies and practices of the bloomington police.

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Department., of course, this conversation comes in the wake of the killing of mr.

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George floyd four weeks ago and the demands being heard around the country.

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For a police, accountability and reform for our council members, we've all been.

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Hearing from community members about how this moment is affecting them, our staff.

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Members have been talking with members of bloomington's black indigenous and.

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People of color, or bipoc community about their experiences with the police.

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And their concerns about different standards based on race.

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We need to continue listening to those concerns and we will take action to.

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Respond. the council needed to understand the inner workings of the police.

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Department, when it comes to issues like use of force, accountability and.

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Community engagement and relationship building with communities of color in.

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Bloomington., here are a couple of things that chief potts shared with us and we.

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Want you to know about. first,, earlier this year a state working group led by.

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Attorney general keith, ellison and public safety. Commissioner john.

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Harrington released recommendations related to police involved, shootings and.

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Use of force. chief potts shared with us that bloomington pd already had in.

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Policy and in practice 14 of the 15 recommendations. From that working group.-.

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Second, bloomington police officers go through a lot of training each and every.

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Year., our annual training of officers is twice and sometimes three times the.

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Amount of training required by the state of minnesota.

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third,, the bloomington police department, works with a group of community members.

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Called the multicultural advisory committee to improve our relationship.

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With bipoc community members and our staff has a community liaison position.

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To coordinate this work for that least departments page on the city's website,.

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Has a link to submit a complaint and right below the link for complaints.

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There is now a link to review the police department's policies, so the public can.

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See it. and finally, one of the challenges of police work is the number of people.

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Our officers encounter who are in mental health crisis. The city has been.

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Partnering with hennepin county over the past year and a half to have a social.

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Worker skilled, at working with people in crisis, to help deescalate.

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Situations and make sure people in crisis get the resources they need. and we.

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Learned that a lot of the information that people are most interested in.

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Whether there are disparities and police work for things like traffic stops or.

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Arrests or use of force, whether there's a difference in how officers respond to.

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White people and bipoc people- that's information that is not consistently.

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Collected. race is not tracked on much of our data, so we have some work to do on.

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That. now,, I won't speak for other council members, but I will tell you where I.

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Think we stand right, now. friends, we have a lot of work to do. We need much more.

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Information about our police practices and our public safety outcomes, so we can.

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All agree on where our priorities should be directed when we talk about changes.

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That may be necessary., we are not having a conversation about defunding or.

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Dismantling the police department, but we need to be clear with community members.

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About what we are going to do and when. we have one of the best trained and most.

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Professional police departments in the state of minnesota, but not everyone in.

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Bloomington has the same experience interacting with police officers in the.

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Criminal justice system., the city council- needs to look at our.

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Role in setting expectations being champions for justice and making sure.

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That our members of our community can be confident that the police department is.

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Serving them fairly and equitably and frankly, we need to work harder to build.

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Relationships in this community trust is earned, it's not given freely and for too.

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Many people in our community there have been reasons not to trust.. We have a lot.

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Of work to do and I am encouraged there are so many.

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People in this community and on the city council and in the police department who.

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Are willing to do that? Work., of course, we're still managing our way through the covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the community here in bloomington.. This.

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Week, our team in parks and recreations had to make some tough decisions about.

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Summer programming- and I think the biggest bummer for me is that summer.

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Fete for 2020 will be canceled.. We had been holding out hope that we could.

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Delay it until september,, but it just isn't possible. we draw about 40,000.

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People that summer fete each year and there just isn't a way to do it safely,.

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This year. in that same vein, we've also canceled our arts in the park summer.

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Music programs and we're also canceling adult summer sports, because.

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We were too late in the season to get our leagues started: up. however, there is.

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Some good news we are preparing for youth games and practices this summer.

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Our fields are being prepped so that youth athletic associations can begin.

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Playing games after july 6th and all hope is not lost for adult sports. This.

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Fall. we're planning to have adult sports set for this fall season so long as the.

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State of minnesota provides guidance on how to do it. Safely., let's hope our.

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Statewide trend of coronavirus cases continues to decline and remember we are.

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All in this together and it's up to all of us to stay vigilant..

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The city council also took action on monday night on two programs: small business assistance and.

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Rental assistance that will help members of the bloomington community, who are.

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Having a tough time because of the covid-19 pandemic, the city council approved a.

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New small business emergency assistance loan program, small businesses that are.

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Based in bloomington will be eligible for forgivable loans up to $7,500 for.

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The program small business enterprises are those that have up to 20 employees.

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And no more than two million dollars in annual revenue. there's also funding for.

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Loans up to three thousand dollars for self-employed sole proprietor businesses.

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The program will be available starting in mid-july. and to help residents unable.

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To pay rent the city council agreed to direct more money to our partners at.

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Veap to provide rental assistance and help renters, who may otherwise face.

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Eviction., the city of bloomington, received 270 thousand dollars of federal.

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Money from a program called the community development block grant to.

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Fund the rental assistance., the council has also discussed mortgage foreclosures.

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And how we may provide assistance for homeowners unable to make ends meet that.

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May become more clear in the next few months, but for now the council chose to.

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First address the urgent need for renters.. Well, that's a wrap on the.

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Council miinute for the week of june 22nd thanks for tuning in this week, we'll see.

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You next time on the council minute stay safe, bloomington.