OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Committee on Council Processes Meeting – July 24, 2026

City CouncilFriday, July 24, 2026
BodyBloomington, Indiana
SessionCity Council
DateFriday, July 24, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Well, I'll go ahead and call to order this meeting of the committee on council processes for Thursday, July 23rd.

0:09

Yeah, I'll just do uh introductions around the table, starting to moderate.

0:15

Uh Courtney Dalys, City Council.

0:18

Um, Isabel Piedmont Smith, Chair.

0:20

Uh Obi Stop's for Christ turn reading.

0:23

Uh Jennifer Crossley, Clerk's office.

0:26

All right, thank you.

0:28

Um we have uh our agenda today is that we'll first have any updates from committee members or the opposite clerk.

0:39

Then we will talk about legislation regarding enforcement conditions that council members has prepared uh regarding the transportation commission and the environmental commission.

0:50

We all have uh public comment on those items before we vote.

0:55

Um then we'll just touch base briefly on cent agendas, um, which we agreed last time that we were not addressed until later uh this year or next year.

1:10

Um and then uh we will use the remainder of the time to continue our review of title two, and we will have public comment on that as well.

1:21

Um concerns about the agenda anything to add.

1:28

Okay.

1:30

Well, then we can move on.

1:33

Um, are there any updates from members of the committee?

1:40

Claire Crossley, do you have any updates?

1:42

Um, since you all had your last meeting back in May, I believe.

1:47

Um we have gone through boards and commission training for both staff liaisons as well as the first round of training for uh members of various boards and commissions.

2:00

Um I was hoping that we would have a little bit more turnout for our members of board and commission training.

2:07

I think because of summertime.

2:09

We offered both uh a couple of dates, both in person and virtual options, and I don't think that a lot of people were able to attend.

2:17

So we are um trying to look at to see like if we some other dates that we can arrange after the school year has kicked off so we can get more people to attend.

2:30

Um so other than that, that's pretty much it.

2:33

Um I know after here I'm planning on going to the HBC um meeting uh to observe some of the things that have been happening there.

2:42

But other than that, that's it.

2:44

Okay, thank you very much.

2:46

You're welcome.

2:49

Okay, well then we can move on to um legislation in regard to a couple of our commissions.

2:58

Thank you.

2:59

Um, so I do want to make clear that this is a draft and it doesn't say draft on anywhere, but it also doesn't have a number on it.

3:06

So that's probably maybe assumed.

3:08

Um and so there are a couple things that I wanted to be sure to mention that are kind of like in the works.

3:15

Um I was hoping to actually have this for first reading um this last week, but uh well, first of all, I was told that we had more legislation that ended up happening um for our agenda last week, but also uh once they started sending this out to people for feedback, it was like, oh, I do have things to say about that.

3:33

Oh, I do have things to say about that all.

3:35

So it's um this is really technically like the third draft um of this at this point.

3:44

So uh the first thing that I wanted to recognize um is the last whereas clause that mentions the Novak report, and there's some stars there because I needed additional information and a link and citation because the lead of the city website to the Novak report was actually broken.

4:02

And so that is now uh like I have that link now, and I just haven't like updated all that.

4:07

So that just needs some slight amending.

4:10

Um thank you to Clerk Crossley for uh helping out with some of that feedback in terms of the Novract report of like addressing this issue.

4:19

And so I wanted to go to the original report itself to get the exact language that it says in there.

4:24

So that's gonna be that's for both commissioners.

4:28

No, that's for the environmental commission in terms of reducing seats that have long-standing vacancies.

4:33

So the Novak report recommends that.

4:36

Um, and so I was gonna kind of try to pull out exactly where the Novak report says that and put the link in to the November report and um like mirror whatever exact language.

4:47

The no brack report actually says in the where I's clause.

4:51

Um and so I have to look that up and do that.

4:54

Uh any questions about that one.

4:58

Okay.

5:00

Councilmember P.

5:01

Mont Smith, when she read the draft, uh noted, like in number four of the appointments that now I'm in section one, um, which I didn't change that number four, um, but Board of Public Works is not in capital.

5:15

Um, and so I was like, oh, do we want to change some of these?

5:20

Uh we could call it Stirb nurse type errors to fix capitals or not, because none of that stuff was changing before.

5:28

And so I guess that's kind of an outstanding question is do we want to to do that?

5:33

Was there a reason why we didn't do that?

5:35

Was it just like overlooked last time the Board of Public Works is usually capitalized?

5:47

I mean, I guess what I was thinking is I was looking elsewhere city code to see if these like plan commission public transportation corporations, which ones were capitalized and board public works is the one, the only one I found that it's capitalized elsewhere in the code.

6:02

Okay.

6:03

So we might as well fix it.

6:06

Okay, that was my view, but I don't think it's a big deal.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural████████████████████████████████████████████44%
Transportation Safety██████████████████████22%
Community Engagement███████████11%
Public Works██████████10%
Public Engagement██████6%
Environmental Protection█████5%
Technology and Innovation██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Committee on Council Processes Meeting – July 24, 2026

The Committee on Council Processes met on July 24, 2026, to discuss updates on board and commission training, proposed legislation modifying the Transportation Commission and Environmental Commission, a potential consent agenda tracking system, and continued review of Title Two of the municipal code. The meeting included public comment on several items and discussions on term staggering, commission size, and procedural changes. No formal votes were taken; the committee directed staff to refine drafts and revisit at a later meeting.

Updates from Clerk’s Office

  • Clerk Crossley reported that boards and commissions training for staff liaisons and first-round training for members had been completed, but turnout was lower than desired due to summer schedules. Additional training dates will be arranged after the school year begins.

Legislation Regarding Commissions

  • Transportation Commission: Councilmember presented a draft shifting one council-appointed seat to a designated MCCSC seat (appointed by the mayor upon recommendation from MCCSC superintendent). Discussion included: whether to expand the commission from 9 to 11 members (the chair of the Transportation Commission, Steve Vollmer, expressed support for 11 to ensure diverse viewpoints and to avoid quorum issues) and whether to stagger term expiration dates. The mayor’s office opposed expansion, citing difficulty filling seats. The committee leaned toward keeping 9 members and staggering terms. No vote was taken; further amendments will be drafted.
  • Environmental Commission: Proposal to reduce the commission from 12 to 9 members (5 appointed by council, 4 by mayor) due to chronic vacancies. The mayor preferred an 8-member even split, but the committee opposed eliminating current council appointees. Discussion included specifying which seats to eliminate (currently M1 and C4 are vacant). The committee agreed to maintain a 5–4 split and an odd number for voting. Further drafting needed.

Consent Agenda Tracking

  • The committee revisited a previous decision to postpone consent agenda legislation until next year. Members discussed tracking legislative items that could be candidates for a consent agenda. Clerk Crossley suggested using a Google form to collect individual member assessments, with responses compiled into a read-only document to avoid deliberation concerns. Public comment supported the concept, noting that items like JAG grants are ideal for consent. No action was taken; the committee will develop the tracking tool.

Title Two Review (Common Council Code)

  • Continued article-by-article review of Title Two. Key discussion points:
    • Conflict of Interest: Decided to retain in code rather than move to rules of procedure.
    • Expulsion of Members: Retained current language requiring two-thirds vote.
    • Investigatory Powers: Kept in code.
    • Committee Appointments: Debate on whether “presiding officer” or “council president” should appoint committee members. After discussion, the committee decided to keep “presiding officer” to allow the vice president to act in the president’s absence. Staff will adjust language accordingly.
    • Standing Committees: Proposed adding term limits for committee membership (one year default) and clarifying president’s responsibility to appoint. Consideration of adding term limits for committee members.
  • Public comment from Steve Volmer criticized the use of the Committee of the Whole and urged its elimination. No decision taken; review will continue at next meeting.

Public Comments (General)

  • Paul (last name unclear): Mentioned a potential capstone project via O'Neill School to study boards and commissions; encouraged committee interest. Also noted a health equity report from the Monroe County Health Equity Council and urged the council to consider filling the vacant Public Data Director position.

Next Meeting

  • Tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, August 18, 2026, from 4:00–5:30 PM, pending room and staff availability. The committee will confirm and circulate notice.

Meeting Transcript

Well, I'll go ahead and call to order this meeting of the committee on council processes for Thursday, July 23rd. Yeah, I'll just do uh introductions around the table, starting to moderate. Uh Courtney Dalys, City Council. Um, Isabel Piedmont Smith, Chair. Uh Obi Stop's for Christ turn reading. Uh Jennifer Crossley, Clerk's office. All right, thank you. Um we have uh our agenda today is that we'll first have any updates from committee members or the opposite clerk. Then we will talk about legislation regarding enforcement conditions that council members has prepared uh regarding the transportation commission and the environmental commission. We all have uh public comment on those items before we vote. Um then we'll just touch base briefly on cent agendas, um, which we agreed last time that we were not addressed until later uh this year or next year. Um and then uh we will use the remainder of the time to continue our review of title two, and we will have public comment on that as well. Um concerns about the agenda anything to add. Okay. Well, then we can move on. Um, are there any updates from members of the committee? Claire Crossley, do you have any updates? Um, since you all had your last meeting back in May, I believe. Um we have gone through boards and commission training for both staff liaisons as well as the first round of training for uh members of various boards and commissions. Um I was hoping that we would have a little bit more turnout for our members of board and commission training. I think because of summertime. We offered both uh a couple of dates, both in person and virtual options, and I don't think that a lot of people were able to attend. So we are um trying to look at to see like if we some other dates that we can arrange after the school year has kicked off so we can get more people to attend. Um so other than that, that's pretty much it. Um I know after here I'm planning on going to the HBC um meeting uh to observe some of the things that have been happening there. But other than that, that's it. Okay, thank you very much. You're welcome. Okay, well then we can move on to um legislation in regard to a couple of our commissions. Thank you. Um, so I do want to make clear that this is a draft and it doesn't say draft on anywhere, but it also doesn't have a number on it. So that's probably maybe assumed. Um and so there are a couple things that I wanted to be sure to mention that are kind of like in the works. Um I was hoping to actually have this for first reading um this last week, but uh well, first of all, I was told that we had more legislation that ended up happening um for our agenda last week, but also uh once they started sending this out to people for feedback, it was like, oh, I do have things to say about that. Oh, I do have things to say about that all. So it's um this is really technically like the third draft um of this at this point. So uh the first thing that I wanted to recognize um is the last whereas clause that mentions the Novak report, and there's some stars there because I needed additional information and a link and citation because the lead of the city website to the Novak report was actually broken. And so that is now uh like I have that link now, and I just haven't like updated all that. So that just needs some slight amending. Um thank you to Clerk Crossley for uh helping out with some of that feedback in terms of the Novract report of like addressing this issue. And so I wanted to go to the original report itself to get the exact language that it says in there. So that's gonna be that's for both commissioners. No, that's for the environmental commission in terms of reducing seats that have long-standing vacancies. So the Novak report recommends that. Um, and so I was gonna kind of try to pull out exactly where the Novak report says that and put the link in to the November report and um like mirror whatever exact language. The no brack report actually says in the where I's clause. Um and so I have to look that up and do that. Uh any questions about that one. Okay. Councilmember P.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com