Bloomington City Council Committee Meeting on Code of Conduct, City Code Changes, First Reading Discussion, and Consent Agenda – December 12, 2025
Bloomington City Council Committee Meeting on Code of Conduct, City Code Changes, First Reading Discussion, and Consent Agenda – December 12, 2025
The committee met to discuss several proposed changes to rules and procedures for city boards, commissions, and council operations. Items included a new code of conduct for board and commission members, revisions to city code general provisions, allowing discussion and amendments at first reading of ordinances, establishing a consent agenda, and requiring council member sponsorship for legislation. No public comments were received during any of the public comment periods.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke during the public comment periods for any agenda item.
Discussion Items
- Code of Conduct for Boards and Commissions: A staff member (with Anna Holmes from Legal) presented a draft code of conduct intended to clarify expectations for board and commission members regarding attendance, conflict of interest, political involvement, and general conduct. The draft was inspired by the city's HR policy handbook. Council members provided feedback, including: changing the term ‘citizen’ to ‘resident’; clarifying that conflict of interest should be defined as a financial interest, mirroring state law; and refining the political involvement section to allow members to identify their civic service without representing the city or endorsing candidates. The presenter noted that the goal is to have all members sign the code and complete training by the first quarter of 2026. The committee discussed whether the code should be codified in city code or maintained administratively, with a preference for council approval of the document.
- Changes to City Code (Title 2) Regarding General Provisions: Attorney Bennett prepared draft language moving most general provisions from section 2.08.020 to a new section 2.12.010, covering terms, residency, removal, vacancies, voting, parliamentary procedure, officers, meetings, and office space. Council members discussed adding the code of conduct under removal for cause and whether to include a provision on intentional display of firearms (which already exists in the council's section). The committee also noted that budget provisions would remain in the executive branch. Staff will incorporate feedback and present a refined draft.
- Allowing Discussion and Amendments at First Reading of Ordinances: Draft language was presented to remove the prohibition on discussion at first reading, allow amendments, and permit subsequent readings after second reading. The proposal also clarifies that a two-thirds vote is required to adopt an ordinance at first reading, and that zoning ordinances are exempt. Council members expressed concerns about public uncertainty regarding when to attend meetings but noted that the consent agenda could signal routine items. They agreed to wait for a formal resolution or ordinance before voting.
- Consent Agenda: A broad draft consent agenda was presented, including categories for minutes, reports, appointments, first readings, and letters. Council members discussed the potential confusion of including first readings, with members Sydney and others favoring removing that category initially. The committee agreed to proceed without first readings on the consent agenda and to prepare a formal draft for future consideration.
- Requiring Council Member Sponsorship for Legislation: A proposal was introduced to require that all legislation have a council member sponsor before being introduced. Council members expressed support, noting it could encourage earlier communication and filter out premature items. They requested staff to prepare questions and a rationale statement for further discussion at the next meeting.
Key Outcomes
- Staff will revise the code of conduct based on council feedback, including changing ‘citizen’ to ‘resident’, clarifying conflict of interest, and refining political involvement language, then bring it back for formal approval.
- Staff will incorporate feedback on the city code changes (display of firearms, code of conduct placement) and present a refined draft in the next meeting.
- The committee will wait for a formal resolution or ordinance to vote on the first reading discussion and consent agenda proposals.
- The sponsorship requirement will remain on the agenda for further exploration, with staff to prepare questions and a rationale statement from a council member.
Meeting Transcript
Okay. So okay. Okay. So again, this is this is actually something that the CCP meeting or the committee actually wanted to have last year. And so it was worked on in the summer. And I had been working with this with Anna Holmes from Legal. And the intent was to have a better streamline process to understand or have a better understanding for board members and commissioners of expectations as they are serving through the city of Bloomington. And so we I actually kind of mirrored something of this to the city's HR policy handbook. So the main concerns were just trying to figure out what's expected of them in terms of attendance, uh how to act as or how to address of themselves as they are. So they're literally it's just let me rewind and stand. All right, good evening. So essentially what we are doing here is just to have some an expectation of all board members and commissioners throughout the city, and the intent is for new members and existing members, they are to sign this so that if there is any behavioral issues or any things that come or that are violated, we can bring this up. And this gives the council a better streamlined process to remove board members and commissioners if they need to. So again, um this just kind of goes over the code of conduct and how to interact, um, representing the commission, basically just trying to make sure that they're not folks aren't going rogue and and you know saying things outside of the commission and speaking on behalf of the commission, especially if they don't have approval or authority. Definitely highlighting the conflict of interest because uh several of the boards and commissions have people that have had some conflicts and having to accuse themselves, um, or should be recusing themselves. So just kind of goes over and highlights this information. Um we are very active and engaged community, and so political involvement, just making sure that they are not representing themselves as the member of the board or commission that they're serving as they are um involved in political activities, not saying that people cannot, because democracy looks well and people are um involved, however, you just cannot represent the city and your capacity as a commissioner or board member uh at these events, and then again the biggest thing is highlighting and outlining um attendance as well and knowing what is expected and what happens when they miss consecutive meetings or regular scheduled meetings in any 12-month period, and then this just has them sign it, and uh it is on file with us, and then this also will go into hand-on with training. So we are in the process right now of trying to um finalize the training for staff liaisons right now, but also the part two to this is to have board members and commissioners also go forth in training in terms of you know expectations kind of going over this in detail with as well and having them sign it. So that my goal is to have all of this as it is approved to be done within the first quarter of 2026, and I apologize that it's taken so long to get to you all, but we have it. Um, and the only thing that I was gonna say in terms of uh feedback is um as we brought up several times instead of citizen and making sure that we put resident. Um that is a huge thing uh that I wanted to highlight that's kind of clear that I want to change that as well. Um and that's all any questions. All right, so any questions. Thank you. Any questions? Yes, small professional. Thank you. On the um the conflict of interest piece. I heard from someone on the board of, I think it was the board of housing quality appeals. There are certain circumstances where um people have had to recuse themselves and that um compromised quorum. So I'm I'm just wondering how often does that happen and what are uh the mechanisms that we could potentially put in place to prevent that from happening. That is a good question. I think it also might be well, number one, I think the quorum issue is now ceased because they are now full. And so that was the biggest thing is they were working with a little tiny body, and those that were there um had to recuse themselves. I do believe that was an issue with the mayoral appointment, and as a result, um I think the person ended up having to um resign because it was just too many conflicts that were happening there. So that person ended up resigning early on in the summer. So hopefully we don't run into that as an issue because quorum will or quorum won't be an issue. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Um items, one also on conflict of interest. I think it's kind of implicit there, but I wonder if we actually want to say uh to financially gain. Um like his personal gain is like an ambiguous concept. Like if we vote on like a bike lane, I bike in the city, I get I have been under that. You know, like also as statutorily defined, like I'm fighting council members. I'm pretty sure like it's defined as like a financial interest and all the disclosure requirements there around that, including the family members, I guess, as direct director here. But that might be helpful to like I've just found in my time on council that people don't have a good, like there's not a good kind of understanding of what a conflict of interest is or means, and it actually does have like definition as applied to us anyway through the state law and mirroring that as a financial conflict might be helpful. Um one other thing, rather feedback. Um second is um public involvement piece, um reflecting on that. I mean uh speaking in my own uh beginnings in politics in Blue Tin when I was running for office in 2019, like I I told people that I served on the commission on sustainability.
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