Bloomington City Council Committee Meeting on October 7, 2025
Bloomington City Council Committee Meeting on October 7, 2025
The committee met to discuss several operational and policy items, including an electronic public sign-in system for meetings, updates to deliberation session planning forms, a revision to the municipal code clarifying which offices can submit reports, and a detailed review of city residency requirements for service on boards and commissions. The committee also received an overview of council staff processes and began a discussion on allowing debate of legislation at first reading. The meeting included a public comment period on residency requirements, during which no one spoke.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public offered comment on the topic of city residency requirements for service on boards and commissions, nor on any other items during the final public comment period.
Discussion Items
- Electronic Public Sign-In Update: Council staff presented a new electronic sign-in form for public commenters, to be used via iPad with a tiny URL (replacing a QR code due to security concerns). Staff recommended testing the system on October 22. A council member volunteered to manage the sign-in queue during meetings. No objections were raised; a test run with appropriate staff was planned.
- Proposal for Planning and Scheduling Deliberation Sessions: Staff revised a form to include required fields such as the legislative stage, meeting type, public engagement format (e.g., breakout groups), and whether facilitators are needed. The form was deemed ready for distribution to all council members.
- Revision of Code to Clarify Reports Not Only from City Offices: Staff prepared an ordinance (with redline) adding the city clerk and city boards and commissions to the list of reporting entities. Committee members expressed support; the ordinance will be introduced at a regular meeting as a first reading.
- City Residency Requirement for Service on Boards and Commissions: Council staff presented extensive research on all city boards and commissions (approximately 40). Findings showed that many bodies already allow county representation via county commissioner appointments or state statute. For those restricted to city residents (often due to city funding or state law), a uniform approach was deemed unworkable. The committee discussed creating advisory (non‑voting) seats for county residents, citing examples from the Historic Preservation Commission and the Commission on Hispanic and Latina Affairs. The mayor’s legislative affairs specialist stated the mayor does not blanketly oppose county residency but prefers a case‑by‑case approach. The committee agreed to identify 3–4 commissions where an advisory seat might be appropriate, then solicit input from those bodies before making a decision. Staff also noted the residency requirement is currently located in an obscure section of the municipal code (executive branch general provisions) and recommended moving it to the boards and commissions chapter. This topic will continue at the next meeting.
- Council Staff Process Overview: Staff provided a three‑page list of steps required to organize a meeting, emphasizing increased transparency and upcoming accessibility requirements (effective April 2026). No action was requested; accessibility will be on the next meeting’s agenda. Staff also mentioned internal efforts to create templates and improve efficiency.
- Order of Business at Regular Sessions: Allowing Discussion at First Reading: The committee reviewed a proposed revision to Title 2.04 to permit debate and amendment of ordinances at first reading. Two versions were presented (a staff version and a council member version). Discussion touched on the meaning of unanimous consent for title‑and‑synopsis readings and the interplay with consent agendas. The committee decided to defer further consideration until the next meeting, when research on consent agendas will also be presented.
Key Outcomes
- The electronic sign‑in system will be tested on October 22, with a council member designated to manage the queue.
- The revised deliberation session planning form will be circulated to all council members.
- The ordinance clarifying report sources will be introduced at first reading at a future regular council meeting.
- A list of 3–4 commissions potentially suited for advisory county‑resident seats will be prepared, and those commissions will be contacted for feedback before the next committee meeting.
- Discussion of allowing debate at first reading was postponed to the next meeting (scheduled for November 10, 2025, at 12:15 p.m. in the same room).
- No votes were taken; all items were discussion or informational only.
Meeting Transcript
Are there any uh proposed remissions to the agenda? Um, I just want to add after items three A, we'll have a report um on legal ramifications of allowing um making statutes to the city residency requirement for more commissions. Um that's just an oversight, like part B should be discussion of possible changes to allow people from outside the city and then public comment. Okay, so um we will go on with them the update section. And I don't know who from the clerk's office can give an update about public comment, like electronic sign is a blog. I can do that. Um so we have created the form, shown it to I think most council members, and there was uh a little concern about using the QR code from ITS. So we've tried to meet with them a couple of times and that has not worked out, but with the recent cyber security training that we had, I wonder if a QR code is just not ideal, we should just use a tiny URL. They're just getting had more, yeah. And so everything is ready to go in terms of using an iPad. Um, I think that's probably ideal. Um, not quite sure looking at the calendar if this Wednesday is ideal to use to test it out. So we let alone oh, yes. I think my recommendation would be the 22nd. Um but I guess it's really up to you all that we can discuss and answer any questions. I could probably pull the phone up too if we want. So um you would uh be ready to move forward on the 22nd. We're ready now, but I think there still needs to be some discussion on who is going to be managing calling on the people. Yes. It's ideally we can set it up, and then the chair or president would be the one kind of cueing up the public commenters. Um we did that a little bit you might remember during COVID when we first went hybrid, or actually all virtual. Um that tended to work out okay. So basically, someone would just need to be able to filter that spreadsheet. Is the public commenter wanting to speak on something on the agenda? If so, then they would wait until that section. If it's not, then they would have the opportunity to speak at the first public comment period or the second. So we've just seen managing that side of it. And we can have, I think longer discussions on that too. I also did ask um facilities or public works if they had an iPad stand, which would be kind of nice because then that removes people from lining up at the podium and taking a lot of time to sign in. Um it's secure, it would be locked. So that's another plus. But before we buy one, we want to make sure that we're going to use this process and not continue with like paper. So that's kind of where we are. I am okay with not going down the QR code. So if you all are, I think it makes no sense. Um, and then we would populate the tiny URL in the chat and really anywhere else we want to. It would just for those folks who don't want to type it in, they would just come up to the iPad or computer. Great. Um say there are two iPads yes available. So the larger ones, so I think that they would be ideal. We also have a uh computer that could be used. So as far as placing that in council chambers, do you think at the end? I don't know. Those are details to be kind of ironed out. Ideal see this is why I think the stand would be nice because you could put it kind of like a way so it wouldn't necessarily be where the people were speaking, it could be over by our desk by the media desk. There's a lot of options, but until we get some sort of stand or secure way and a little hesitant to just put an iPad a city output logged in, you know, it's tied to the clerk account, so I don't want someone to walk off it. But so we're trying to see if we can borrow an IPass stand up lots, basically. That's kind of a retail. That would be my best way, but we're welcoming any feedback. I think it would make sense to wait until the 22nd.
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