Bloomington City Council — Transcript
Monday, January 19, 2026
Periodic Review of the City Charter
Charter Chapters 7 & 8 Updates
Charter Chapter 12 Review (Miscellaneous & Transitory Provisions)
Charter Chapter 5 Petition Requirements
Charter Amendment Process
Notable Quotes (8)
I wanted to give you an update that the finance department has been doing some research and and still working on the wording. They've reached out to several other charter cities to see how they're handling this because a lot of times the language is very very similar in other charters and so they reached out. They're still working on it and they plan to bring an amendment in April or bring amendment in April.
The other thing with regard to the briefing is that the cadence it's a monthly publication and the sunur is weekly and so that makes a really big difference to us with regard to the timing of notices.
what is important for you to know is that there's state law on vacation as well and that the state law has just a majority requirement when it's petitioned by property owners and no petition it's a four fifths requirement. So and then the other thing is that state law requires a resolution and we require an ordinance. So we have a higher level of procedure required and and in some cases a higher vote requirement.
it's because you're giving away rights that the city has. When you often see this in the law, when the city is giving away something that it that it has, the right to... the legal test, the finding that you have to have is that it's in the public interest.
So, we try to tackle what those are. And then I will just offer that if we're seeing repeating violations... we flag those... and they're systematically analyzing whether our code requirements are out of step with the times.
You know the what I what I'm wondering if the commission is interested in is if we just adjust that for inflation or is there something above that that prevents that from getting bigger?
our sample petition says print name print your name and the rules say first middle and last so there's a potential you know ability for somebody to not comply with this because they didn't put their middle name. Um, similarly, we have address and we don't say city and county, right?
Remove the boxes and then amend the these three sections of the charter that refer to the petition these sample petitions and direct the city clerk to provide essentially a model um and maintain the roles.
Ordinances & Resolutions (29)
The foundational document of the local government undergoing periodic review and potential amendment.
Chapter of the City Charter discussed for updates related to finance and debt.
Section of City Charter on negotiable instruments, PE cards, electronic funds transfer, and credit cards.
Section of City Charter on net debt.
Chapter of the City Charter titled 'Miscellaneous and Transitory Provisions', reviewed in detail.
Section of City Charter regarding the designation of an official newspaper.
Section of City Charter regarding oaths of office for city officials.
Section of City Charter concerning conflicts of interest for city officers.
Section of City Charter pertaining to official bonds for city officers.
Section of City Charter outlining procedures for the sale of real property by the city.
Section of City Charter specifying requirements for the vacation of streets, alleys, and other public ways.
Section of City Charter concerning the relationship between general state laws, the charter, and city ordinances.
Section of City Charter stating that the council must make regulations by ordinance.
Section of City Charter addressing fines and penalties, their payment into the treasury, and associated procedures.
Section of City Charter granting authority for civil penalties and property assessments for ordinance violations.
Specific, unnamed charter amendment resulting from past litigation, requiring voter approval.
Chapter of the City Charter containing sample petition requirements.
Section of City Charter referring to petition requirements.
Section of City Charter referring to petition requirements.
Section of City Charter referring to petition requirements.
Local laws enacted by the City Council; required for sales of real property and vacation of streets/alleys; also the form through which the City Council would adopt charter amendments.
Action taken by the council to designate proceeds from property sales or for the commission to recommend charter amendments.
Broader laws applicable to all cities, which the city charter must consider and sometimes align with or exceed.
Administrative code that interprets state law and details specific requirements for petitions.
The compilation of local laws (ordinances) and procedures for civil penalties.
Document outlining council procedures, including aspects of conflicts of interest.
The city's officially designated newspaper for public notices and ordinances.
The city's monthly publication, considered but deemed unsuitable as the official newspaper due to cadence and distribution.
Presentation material used during the charter review.