City Council Proposing to Change Public Comment Period at Council Meetings
March 25, 2022
CONTEXT
At the March 21, 2022, City Council meeting, the Council took Public Comment and discussed its plan to remove the Public Comment period from during regular Council meetings (see page 145 of the March 21 City Council Agenda Packet - Item 8.2 Council Rules of Procedure Amendment).
The recommendation is that a new meeting be established before each Monday meeting of the Council — as a listening session in a room separate from the Chambers — wherein members of the community will have an opportunity to address the Mayor and Council in a more conversational and less formal setting.
The recommendation is that a new meeting be established before each Monday meeting of the Council — as a listening session in a room separate from the Chambers — wherein members of the community will have an opportunity to address the Mayor and Council in a more conversational and less formal setting.
This proposed “informal and conversational” meeting should be recorded over video, which is the current standard for Public Comment. It is not clear at this point if that will be the case for the new procedures. We will learn more at the March 28th Council meeting (this coming Monday). Bloomington residents deserve MORE transparency in the municipal process, not less. Publicly petitioning elected officials is a cornerstone of our First Amendment.
This move to change public comment notably occurs after Mayor Busse already chastised public commentators who disagreed with some of the Council’s recent decisions and initiatives in August of 2021.
As we have previously reported, see Section 4.1 Response to Prior Meeting’s Public Comments (2:19 - 3:45) of the August 30, 2021 Council Meeting. After chiding concerned residents for their “bad behavior” and warning future commentators to be on their “best behavior”, at the 3:32 mark, Busse stated, “I will also say, Council, if we’re not able to achieve that over the next few meetings, I would like to open up the discussion about how we can achieve that through our Rules of Procedure.”
ACT TODAY!
CONTACT our Council and voice your displeasure at this attempt to limit public input. Be sure to have your email noted as part of the public record by writing to the Council Secretary (see below). Emails to individual Council members may be deleted by them and not retained as part of the public record).
Email: councilsecretary@bloomingtonmn.gov
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