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From YouTube: Council Minute February 9
Description
Mayor Tim Busse provides a recap of Monday’s City Council meeting including the passing of two ordinances: one that regulates targeted residential picketing and another regarding the City’s Time of Sale Inspection process.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
busse,
and
this
is
your
council
minute
for
the
week
of
february
7th.
On
monday
night
bloomington
joined
more
than
30
cities
across
minnesota,
bypassing
an
ordinance
regulating
targeted
residential
picketing.
In
the
past
couple
of
years,
we've
seen
an
increasing
number
of
community
protests
and
demonstrations
that
occur
in
residential
neighborhoods
in
front
of
the
homes
of
public
officials,
public
employees
and
community
leaders.
A
The
main
difference
is
that
under
state
law,
targeted
residential
picketing
is
part
of
the
definition
of
harassment,
and
it
is
a
long
and
involved
process
for
the
victim,
the
person
being
harassed
to
get
a
restraining
order
to
stop
the
picketing.
This
ordinance
is
much
more
immediate.
The
ordinance
makes
findings
or
statements
that
this
community
believes
to
be
true
things
that
I
think
we
can
all
agree
on.
A
A
It's
not
hard
to
envision
countless
scenarios
where
a
homeowner,
a
protester
and
a
police
officer
called
to
mediate.
A
situation
could
see
the
gathering
from
their
own
perspectives.
Police
chief
mike
hartley,
described
some
of
the
challenges
last
monday
night
and
I
understand
those
challenges
completely.
Enforcement
will
require
good
police
work
by
our
bloomington
police
department.
Balancing
these
competing
constitutional
rights
is
always
complex.
A
The
courts
have
found
these
ordinances.
Legal
and
bloomington's
ordinance
is
similar
to
state
law
and
to
what
other
cities
have
already
adopted.
It
sets
specific
standards
and
it
provides
a
bit
of
structure
for
both
homeowners
and
for
protesters.
There
is
a
lot
of
council
discussion
on
this
and
ultimately,
it
passed
on
a
five
to
two
vote,
so
there
wasn't
complete
unanimity
on
this.
Speaking
for
myself,
as
someone
who
voted
in
favor
of
the
ordinance,
I
think
passing
this
makes
an
important
statement,
while
the
right
to
protest
is
essential
to
democracy.
A
Even
if
you
think
that
community
leaders
are
fair
game,
I
don't
believe
that
their
families
and
neighbors
should
have
to
put
up
with
that.
I
also
believe
that
this
type
of
protesting
has
a
chilling
effect
on
individuals,
considering
a
run
for
public
office
or
accepting
a
government
job
or
taking
a
leadership
role
in
a
community
organization.
A
The
right
to
protest
is
essential
toward
democracy,
but
reasonable
limits
are
necessary.
Even
the
u.s
supreme
court
has
held
that
the
government
may
impose
reasonable
restrictions
on
the
time
place
and
manner
of
speech.
The
city
council
passed
an
ordinance
that
is
legal
and
reasonable
and
everyone
I've
spoken
to
about
this
agrees
that
balance
and
discretion
are
absolutely
necessary.
A
They
also
agree
that
protests
in
front
of
private
homes
is
not
in
alignment
with
bloomington's
values.
There
are
certainly
other
options
for
protesters
to
make
their
views
known
in
ways
that
don't
threaten
the
safety,
security
and
privacy
of
our
families
and
neighbors.
Since
1995
bloomington
has
required
a
time
of
sale,
inspection
on
all
single
family
and
two
family
homes
being
sold
in
the
city.
The
official
goal
is
to
enhance
the
supply
of
safe
sanitary
and
adequate
housing
and
to
prevent
the
deterioration
of
the
overall
housing
stock
in
the
city.
A
A
A
The
time
of
sale
inspection
program
provides
potential
home
buyers
with
information
about
the
condition
of
a
home
and
requires
the
seller
to
correct
immediate
hazards.
Those
hazards
include
things
like
an
unsafe
furnace
or
water
heater,
an
overloaded
or
damaged
electrical
system
or
issues
with
the
structure
like
walls,
windows
or
the
foundation,
or
even
something
as
basic
as
a
lack
of
smoke,
detectors
now
an
important
related
item.
Here.
A
In
october
of
last
year,
the
city
council
adopted
a
time
of
sale,
energy
disclosure,
it's
kind
of
a
supplement
to
the
time
of
sale
inspection,
but
it
focuses
specifically
on
energy
related
items
like
the
efficiency
of
a
furnace
or
air
conditioner
or
how
well
insulated
a
home
is.
It
doesn't
require
any
work
to
be
done,
but
the
inspection
and
report
gives
potential
home
buyers
even
more
information
about
a
home
that
they
may
be
buying
from
an
energy
perspective,
and
it
helps
move
forward.
A
The
council's
priority
for
reducing
our
carbon
footprint,
the
time
of
sale,
energy
disclosure
report
requirement,
goes
into
effect
on
april
1st
of
this
year.
So
when
staff
looked
at
existing
data
of
the
current
time
of
sale
program
and
then
also
considered
the
implementation
of
the
new
energy
inspection
program,
they
came
to
the
conclusion
that
the
most
effective
and
efficient
approach
would
be
to
bring
the
entire
inspection
program
in-house
within
the
city
of
bloomington
building
and
inspections
division,
while
continuing
to
use
private
inspectors
as
needed.
A
A
This
change
will
also
improve
internal
efficiencies,
because
city
staff
will
spend
less
time
reviewing
independent
inspector
reports,
thereby
saving
time
for
the
sellers
and
the
buyers.
Now
I
mentioned
that
the
council
first
heard
this
item
back
in
january,
we
held
it
over
until
this
week
and
asked
staff
to
provide
more
information
to
the
groups
that
will
be
directly
affected
by
this,
particularly
realtors
and
private
building
inspectors.
A
Staff
set
up
a
let's
talk,
bloomington
project,
page
and
loaded
up
all
the
documents
and
links
that
included
all
council
presentations
on
the
issue,
the
draft
of
the
ordinance
and
a
very
good
faq
section
in
just
two
weeks.
The
let's
talk
page
had
almost
300
visits,
staff
also
created
a
survey
for
the
residents
inspectors
and
realtors
and
76
people
chimed
in
with
their
opinion.
A
I
really
appreciate
the
constructive
feedback
that
people
offered
on
concerns
like
the
number
of
inspectors,
who
will
do
the
work,
the
lack
of
an
online
or
after
hour
scheduling
system
and
an
extra
fee
for
inspections
scheduled
after
regular
business
hours.
I
also
appreciate
that
staff
took
that
feedback
and
made
changes
to
the
proposed
program.
There
was
a
lot
of
good
council
discussion
on
this,
and,
once
again,
there
wasn't
unanimity
on
whether
we
should
do
it.