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From YouTube: Council Minute August 10
Description
In this week’s Council Minute, Mayor Tim Busse provides an update on the ranked choice voting petition, crime stats in the city and a townhome development proposal at 86th and Penn.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
august
8th
on
monday
night,
the
city
council
rejected
a
petition
brought
forward
by
a
group
of
residents
that
would
have
placed
the
question
of
ranked
choice
voting
on
the
ballot
this
november.
The
petition
was
rejected
because
its
language
was
unconstitutional
and
inconsistent
with
both
the
minnesota
constitution
and
minnesota
statutes.
As
you
all
know,
in
november
of
2020,
bloomington
residents
approved
a
ballot
initiative
regarding
the
use
of
rank
choice.
A
Voting
voters
changed
the
city
charter,
which
is
basically
the
city's
constitution
and
said
they
wanted
to
use
rank
choice,
voting
in
elections
for
council
members
and
the
mayor
ranked
choice.
Voting
was
used
for
the
first
time
in
november
of
2021
in
three
city
council
races.
In
june
of
this
year,
the
city
received
a
petition
from
a
group
of
residents
who
are
opposed
to
rank
choice.
Voting
the
petition
requested
that
the
question
of
ranked
choice
voting
be
placed
back
on
the
ballot
again.
A
While
the
petition
met
the
requirements
regarding
number
of
signatures
and
formatting
and
so
on,
it
was
the
two-thirds
issue
that
caused
the
city
council
to
reject
the
petition
minnesota
state
law
states
very
specifically,
that
ballot
questions
that
would
change.
A
city's
charter
must
receive
51
percent
voter
approval.
No
city
is
allowed
to
overrule
state
law
and
require
two
thirds
or
67
voter
approval.
That's
not
just
bloomington's
opinion.
That's
the
opinion
of
the
state
attorney
general's
office.
A
Our
legal
team
reached
out
to
the
ag's
office
for
help
in
sorting
this
out
and
the
ag's
office
cited
relevant
and
applicable
case
law
from
minneapolis
and
chisholm.
It
would
have
been
irresponsible
and
probably
illegal
if
the
city
had
ignored
legal
precedence
and
moved
forward
with
the
petition
as
written
and
to
clear
up
any
misunderstanding,
the
city
couldn't
simply
change
or
clean
up
the
language
of
the
petition
to
make
it
legal
people
signed
that
petition.
According
to
the
language
they
saw
and
there's
no
guarantee,
they
would
agree
with
changes
that
would
be
made.
A
Nothing.
The
council
did
on
monday
night
prevents
opponents
from
ranked
choice,
voting
from
submitting
another
petition
in
the
future,
but
the
language
in
the
current
petition
means
it
will
not
be
placed
on
the
ballot.
This
november.
You've
certainly
heard
by
now
that
on
thursday
august
4th
there
was
an
incident
at
mall
of
america,
where
a
fight
between
two
groups
led
to
a
man
firing
three
shots
into
a
crowded
store.
A
Thankfully
no
one
was
hurt,
but
the
mall
was
on
lockdown
for
two
hours
and
the
event
was
undoubtedly
terrifying
for
guests
and
employees
in
the
mall,
as
well
as
their
loved
ones.
Who
were
worried
about
them.
The
two
primary
suspects
are
still
at
large,
but
I
have
complete
confidence
in
our
bloomington
police
investigators
and
have
no
doubt
it's
only
a
matter
of
time
before
the
suspects
are
in
custody.
A
Earlier
this
week,
bloomington
police
arrested
three
people
who
were
not
directly
involved
in
the
incident,
but
who
did
help
the
two
primary
suspects
escape
as
police
chief
booker
hodges
said
at
a
press
conference
on
monday.
You
cannot
come
and
shoot
up
a
mall
and
think
you're
going
to
get
away
with
it.
We're
not
going
to
allow
that
to
happen.
A
A
On
behalf
of
everyone,
I
want
to
thank
chief
hodges
for
his
leadership,
and
I
certainly
want
to
thank
the
bloomington
police
investigators
and
all
bloomington
police
officers
who
have
worked
this
case
tirelessly
since
thursday.
I'm
very
appreciative
of
your
hard
work,
your
skills
and
your
obvious
dedication
to
bloomington.
I'm
also
appreciative
of
the
strong
partnership
between
bloomington
police
and
the
entire
team
at
mall
of
america.
A
I'm
happy
to
report
your
concerns
have
been
heard
over
the
past
several
months.
Bloomington
police
have
concentrated
their
efforts
on
traffic
and
have
emphasized
proactive
patrols.
This
past
june
bloomington
police
made
1173
traffic
stops
that's
46
percent
more
than
the
804
traffic
stops
they
made
in
june
of
2021..
Those
stops
resulted
in
858
citations,
which
is
a
39
increase
over
the
number
of
citations
written
in
the
same
period.
A
Last
year,
this
proactive
work
being
seen
in
the
community
being
out
and
about
it's
all
part
of
chief
hodge's
commitment
to
service
to
the
community,
that's
based
on
mutual
respect
and
we're
seeing
results
beyond
traffic.
Despite
concerns
that
this
might
be
a
busy
summer
on
the
public
safety
front,
crime
in
bloomington
continues
to
decrease.
A
We
saw
crime,
reporting
numbers
come
down
in
the
first
five
months
of
this
year,
compared
to
last
year
and
from
may
to
june
of
this
year
we
saw
a
six
percent
drop
in
those
numbers,
and
while
the
numbers
are
still
being
collected
for
july,
we
expect
to
see
a
continued
drop
once
again
hats
off
to
everyone
in
our
police
department.
Thank
you
for
your
work
and
for
your
commitment
to
keeping
bloomington
safe.
A
Finally,
today
back
in
may
of
2021,
the
city
council
denied
a
change
in
condition:
application
for
a
15-unit
townhome
development
at
86th
and
penn.
The
developer
had
received
permission
from
the
city
to
rezone.
What
had
once
been
two
single-family
residential
lots
to
allow
the
townhome
community.
However,
the
council
denied
the
project
because
of
concerns
about
the
final
design,
especially
the
lack
of
a
second
full
access
along
penn
avenue.
A
The
developer
asked
for
a
condition
that
allowed
for
an
emergency
only
access
the
council
denied
that
request
and
ultimately,
the
developers
sued,
the
city,
the
lawsuit,
was
decided
recently
by
hennepin
county
district
court
in
favor
of
the
developer.
The
court
ordered
the
city
to
approve
the
change
in
condition
and
allow
an
emergency
only
access
this
past
monday,
the
council
followed
the
court
order
and
passed
a
resolution
approving
the
change
in
condition.