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From YouTube: Council Minute March 30
Description
Mayor Tim Busse explains changes to make public comment periods more engaging, thanks staff ahead of Public Health Week and talks about the new Bird scooters coming to the city.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
march
28th.
On
monday
night,
the
city
council
moved
forward
with
changes
to
how
we
conduct
the
public
comment
period
at
each
of
our
council
meetings.
We
had
a
good
discussion
over
the
course
of
a
couple
of
meetings
and
heard
feedback
from
residents
at
our
march
21st
meeting
the
council
took
those
discussions
and
comments
into
account
and
ultimately
voted
7-0
to
move
to
the
practice
of
council
listening
sessions
prior
to
each
of
our
council
meetings.
A
I
want
to
take
a
minute
today
to
talk
about
what
the
changes
will
mean
and
why
we
did
it
over
the
past
couple
of
years.
The
city
of
bloomington
and
the
city
council
have
put
significant
time
effort
and
resources
into
our
community
engagement
efforts.
We've
done
this
because,
a
few
years
ago
the
council
made
a
commitment
to
improve
the
transparency
and
engagement
in
the
work
that
we
do.
A
We've
made
good
progress
on
both
fronts.
From
a
transparency
perspective,
most
of
our
city
meetings
are
now
televised.
Our
city
website
includes
more
detailed
information
than
ever
before
on
all
topics.
I
do
these
weekly
videos
and
our
bloomington
briefing
continues
to
be
an
outstanding
resource.
More
information
is
available
and
there
are
more
ways
to
find
it.
A
Regarding
community
engagement,
I'm
very
impressed
at
how
successful
we've
been
over
the
past
two
years.
Despite
the
pandemic,
bloomington
has
an
official
community
outreach
engagement,
division
with
staff
members
whose
job
it
is
to
get
out
into
the
community
and
engage
and
connect
with
residents
and
to
build
important
connections
between
residents
and
our
city
staff.
A
They
have
made
deep
inroads
throughout
the
community,
they've
become
masters
at
the
art
of
virtual
meetings
and
online
engagement.
We
even
have
an
official
bloomington
engagement
vehicle.
It's
named
bev.
We
have
made
authentic
and
robust
community
engagement
a
priority
for
the
city
of
bloomington.
With
that
in
mind,
the
way
we
do
public
comment
period
at
city
council
meetings,
the
way
we
have
done
it
for
as
long
as
I
have
been
on,
the
council
does
not
reflect
authentic
and
robust
community
engagement.
A
A
We
can
do
better
in
addition
to
making
the
practice
more
welcoming
and
useful.
We
need
to
do
it
in
a
way
that
encourages
greater
participation
and
engagement.
I
looked
at
council
meeting
minutes
from
the
past
two
years
and
I
tracked
participation
in
the
public
comment
period.
60
meetings
from
march
of
2020
to
march
of
2022.
A
I
wanted
to
get
a
sense
of
how
well
we're
engaging
and
connecting
with
residents
through
public
comment.
Since
march,
20th
2020
we've
seen
183
interactions
as
part
of
public
comment
period,
that's
both
in
person
and
on
the
phone.
In
those
two
years,
eight
people
accounted
for
86
of
the
183
public
comment
period
interactions.
A
That's
almost
half
among
eight
people.
That's
not
good
public
engagement.
We
can
do
better.
It's
also
worth
noting
the
first
part
of
our
public
comment
period
is
an
opportunity
to
respond
to
the
public
comments
from
the
previous
meetings
to
answer,
questions
clarify
information
or
to
respond
in
some
way
in
those
16
meetings.
Since
march
of
2020
half
of
the
time
there
hasn't
been
anything
to
respond
to
so
half
of
the
time.
The
council
simply
sat
there
and
listened
to
someone
make
a
speech.
A
There
was
no
engagement,
no
interaction,
no
need
for
a
thoughtful
response
or
reply.
That's
not
good
public
engagement.
We
can
do
better.
So
on
monday
night
the
council
decided
to
try
a
different
path
through
discussion
and
with
input
from
residents
staff
developed
guidelines
that
will
form
how
we
do
council
listening
sessions.
A
A
The
second
significant
change
moving
the
listening
sessions
out
of
the
council
chambers
and
into
a
separate
conference
room
will
definitely
make
things
less
formal
and
less
intimidating
for
residents
some
additional
nuts
and
bolts
details.
The
listening
sessions
will
run
from
5
45
to
6
15,
with
council
meetings.
Now
starting
at
6
30
pm.
A
Finally,
the
city
council
agreed
that
it's
important
to
review
how
well
the
changes
work
we'll
reevaluate
the
listening
sessions
no
later
than
this
december.
To
determine
if
they're
helping
improve
public
engagement,
also,
on
monday
night,
the
council
approved
a
memorandum
of
understanding
with
bird
rides
incorporated
that
will
allow
bird
to
launch
their
e-scooter
sharing
service
in
the
city
of
bloomington.
A
So
what
is
a
bird
scooter?
Bird
scooters
are
two-wheeled
electric
scooters
that
people
can
rent
and
ride
they're,
pretty
common
in
downtown
areas,
around
campuses
and
in
tourist
or
destination
areas
like
along
the
lakefront
in
duluth
or
along
the
river
in
hastings.
The
idea
is
that
the
scooters
can
be
rented
for
pleasure
or
for
transportation,
think
uber
or
lyft,
but
as
a
scooter.
A
The
memorandum
of
understanding
allows
for
up
to
250
scooters
to
be
deployed
in
bloomington
and
allows
the
use
of
the
scooters
and
city
rights
of
way.
It
also
provides
specific
details
on
items
like
where
they
can
be
parked
safety
requirements
and
steps
that
will
be
followed
if
there
are
parking
complaints.
A
This
is
the
first
shared
mobility
arrangement
in
bloomington,
and
the
use
of
the
scooters
will
be
limited
to
the
three
districts
that
I
described
earlier
and
yes,
they
will
be
limited
geo.
Fencing
technology
will
make
sure
that
the
scooters
will
not
physically
work
outside
of
the
prescribed
areas,
so
they
won't
be
zipping
through
most
neighborhoods
bird
hopes
to
have
the
scooters
out
in
the
field
by
mid-april.
A
Hopefully
it
will
be
spring
by
then
and
finally,
on
monday
night,
I
was
proud
to
read
a
proclamation
declaring
the
week
of
april
4th
through
the
10th
as
public
health
week
in
the
city
of
bloomington.
The
theme
for
public
health
week
is
public.
Health
is
where
you
are,
which
calls
out
the
fact
that
a
person's
health
status
in
bloomington
can
differ
drastically
by
zip
code.
This
is
because
of
differences
in
the
built
environment,
environmental
quality,
access
to
healthy
food,
affordability
of
housing
and
access
to
education
and
health
care.
A
After
all,
the
remarkable
work
our
public
health
staff
has
done
over
the
past
two
years.
It
honestly
feels
like
we
should
declare
a
public
health
month
rather
than
just
a
week
at
last
week's
state
of
the
city
event.
We
recognized
and
thanked
our
public
health
staff
for
their
outstanding
efforts.
I'd
like
to
share
with
you
now
a
brief
video
highlighting
the
work
of
the
bloomington
public
health
division
over
the
past
two
years.
B
They
always
found
a
way
to
overcome.
They
always
found
a
way
to
make
things
happen,
to
rally
to
pull
together
to
do
something.
A
pandemic
comes
along
and
you
have
to
pivot.
You
have
to
shift
and
you're
now
changing
some
of
the
ways
you
do
your
work,
but
it's
still
driven
by
that
same
drive
of
you
got
into
public
health,
to
help
people
and
to
improve
the
health
and
well-being
of
the
community.
You
serve.
C
D
C
Thrown
curveballs
at
us
this
entire
time,
I
feel,
like
I'm,
a
better
public
health
professional.
After
all
of
this,
it's
been
stressful,
it's
been
heartbreaking,
it's
been
emotionally
and
mentally
draining.
We've
had
a
little
winds
here
and
there
and
they
always
seem
to
come
at
the
perfect
time.
We.
B
E
B
Was
not
uncommon
for
people
to
cry
at
our
clinic
and
just
that
that
sheer
emotion
of
I
just
got
something
that's
going
to
protect
me
when
things
happened,
they
did
their
regular
work
and
they
did
this
doing.
Events
to
build
well-being
and
connections
in
communities
that
were
isolated,
whether
it
was
our
some
of
our
older
adults
or
some
of
our
families
with
young
kids.