Good evening everyone. It's 5:45. I will call this Bloomington City Council listening session to order. We have two speakers this evening who are signed up Jonathan Minx and Trina Sletto. And what we'll do with two speakers with everybody gets 5 minutes and there might be back and forth with the council. You've been here before. I think you know the drill. So Jonathan, why don't we start with you? Good evening. Welcome. My name is Jonathan Minx. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight council and city staff. I wanted to talk about something that goes beyond one vote or one appointment. I want to talk about the difference between disrespect and what looks a lot like punishment. When council member Victor Revas was not appointed to the HRA, it raised real concerns not about experience but about consistency. Because he had more relevant relevant experience than another council member who was appointed to that same board. Instead, the reasoning we heard focused on something else. That he voted no and that he referred to the HRA as a rubber stamp. So we have to ask, is this really about qualifications or is this about a disagreement? Because voting no is not misconduct. Voting no is literally part of the job. You cannot say you value perspectives different perspectives and then penalize someone for having one. Now let's talk about the word disrespect because that was used. Council member Revas has referred to the HRA as a rubber stamping. That may have not been liked but it wasn't said in a vacuum. >> [clears throat] >> At a community connect meeting at the end of 2025 something very important happened but it wasn't residents speaking. It was board members and commission members themselves who voiced a consistent concern. They said they felt left out. They said they feel like decisions are already made. And they said their role is reduced to yes rubber stamping. And here's [clears throat] the problem. Much of the city leadership that was present at the start of that meeting left within just a few minutes. Which means they were not there to hear what was arguably the most important feedback of the entire session. So when that same concern is later expressed by a council member, it should be treated it shouldn't be treated as disrespect. It should be treated as feedback even if it's uncomfortable. What was disrespectful however was how it was handled publicly. Calling out a fellow council member in that setting instead of having a direct conversation offline doesn't build trust, it erodes it. Talking over someone, dismissing their questions or implying incompetence especially when they're asking about something as important as how public funds are being vetted that sends the wrong message to the public. Because let's be clear. Asking how money is distributed is not disruption, that is responsibility. And we have a real example of why that accountability matters. When the $400,000 was allocated to VEEP, council member Revas asked straightforward questions. How would those funds be vetted and distributed? And the response from Mayor Busse was essentially, you can go down there yourself and check. That's not the tone the public expects in this setting. And more importantly, it doesn't answer the question. So we followed up with VEEP and contacted them directly. And we were told that there was no formal vetting process. That checks would simply be written to landlords. That's exactly the concern. This isn't about criticism for the sake of it. This is about ensuring public dollars are allocated properly with integrity and fiscally responsible way. And in that moment the question that was dismissed actually proved to be valid. And from the outside looking in, this starts to feel >> [clears throat] >> less like accountability and more like control. Because when certain voices are consistently challenged, dismissed or excluded whether from boards, conversations or tone what you create isn't collaboration, you create group think. And when boards and commissions are filled in the way that reflects only one perspective then the concern raised at the connect meeting becomes reality. So I'll end with this. If we truly value different voices then we have to make space for them even when they challenge us. If we truly value respect then it has to go both ways not just when someone agrees. And if this decision was truly about qualifications then apply that standard consistently. But if disagreement played any role in that then let's be honest about that because the public can tell the difference. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Minx. Council, any questions, comments? I recall the council's discussion regarding council member Revas. Council member Revas suggested that the HRA shouldn't exist. That it should be disbanded. And in the same way that I wouldn't apply a flat earther to the sustainability commission I don't think someone who speaks in favor of eliminating a board or commission should be appointed to that board or commission. Whether or not it was rubber stamp or not I thought we made it the correct decision based on some of his past comments. So thank you. If I may Mr. Mayor. Council member Revas. Just for a second. You're good. You're good. Can you hear me? Yeah. Um I don't have a recollection I've ever said to eliminate the HRA. Although when it comes to this particular issue is water under the bridge for me personally. Um you know, although uh anybody can come in here and express their concerns about what they whatever they want to express them. But I can say from my from my part I you know, I even voted for her. I suggested Nelson to vote for her also. Even though they wanted to support me. Um I you know, I you know, I didn't want to make any big deal out of it. At the time I had a disagreement. Once it took place, it's done and over. I just want to make that clear but I do I'm almost certain that I never suggested to get rid of the The one thing that I I can categorically say that I wanted to get rid of was the DEI part. Uh but not the HRA. I might disagree on how we do things but I do believe that we there are people out there that need support and you know, if the city has the means to do so uh and everybody agrees with it so be it. I have nothing against that but I can I want to make it clear that I never suggested to eliminate the HRA. I simply questioned the process. I do recall that. That's it. Thank you council member. Thank you Mr. Minx. Uh Trina. Good evening. And if you could identify yourself so we have you on the record officially. I am Trina Sletto. Um I was not going to talk tonight but I just figured I should give everybody an update. Um so ICE may still be here in smaller numbers. It may look different and our neighbors may be feeling comfortable to come back into community but I want to share some of the impact that their occupation has had on our city and its residents that hasn't disappeared yet. Um since December mutual aid efforts by Bloomington residents have continuously fed up to 300 Bloomington families in the hardest weeks and have provided more than $600,000 in rental assistance. All of these families were in need because of the impact ICE had. They weren't families who had already had previous rent or food assistant needs. Um More than $800,000 has been raised at this point to continue supporting these families as they get back on their feet at least financially. Of course the mental health impact will be a much longer process. So tonight I'm not here to ask for anything. I'm only here to share how the community of Bloomington has shown up and continued to show up for our neighbors and it has truly been individuals doing all of this work. Thank you much. Council questions, comments? Thanks for coming. We had a couple other folks come in a little bit later. We don't have anybody else scheduled to speak. Is there anybody who wishes to speak tonight? Anyone come on up. Uh hello council. Danny Thorson, 54 year resident of Bloomington. I just wanted to talk to you guys a little bit about um know this is spring here. Um a lot of the sidewalks get not the sidewalks I should say the grass next to the sidewalks gets pretty torn up. I know that the the route drivers probably have like a lot of unfamiliar route drivers to the uh to their routes I should say, right? So sometimes the the snow plows go off the off the tracks, right? So I did a little bit of research cuz I teach auto mechanics, you know, and there's a lot of driver assist systems, you know, and I think I don't know if the city's aware of this, but I I was just kind of poking around the internet and I found there's a company called Tracknology and Tracknology up comes the city I I I went on the website and I'm like, "Oh, cool. There's a city's snow plow equipment, you know, on the website, you know." So I thought, "Well, I'll get a hold of them, you know, it sounds like you guys have one piece of equipment equipped with an auto steer system right now." So it actually if a they can learn it with GPS, you know? So the idea is that you go in there but from what I my understanding is that that they have to learn this machine like over the summer, you know, to kind of get get it learning. But this is implemented probably like a year or two ago and the machine like broke or something like that, you know, the actual machine broke. So I just wanted to ask the council if you guys are considering adding this technology to say it's going to cost money up front like any technology, you know, but now now the people who are brand new to a route can actually pick up the sidewalk and kind of run with it. And I think you guys know that the sidewalks get full of snow from the wings of the blades, you know, and so it's really hard to tell where the sidewalks are at. So I guess I'm here in favor of seeing more of the sidewalk machines kind of being implemented with an auto steer, you know, from a from a from a a standpoint of technology and I think it's maybe around five or eight it's it's not cheap, but certainly So you're you're talking sidewalk plowing at the street sidewalk plowing. Yeah, yeah. Actually, I would love to see it on street plowing, too, but I know they could clear curb to curb more I know there's technology that they can implement in the blades of the snow plows, too. But I know you guys spend a lot of money like fixing people get pissed off. I hear it every year, you know, people are like, "Oh, my my my grass is all torn up." And people love their grass and when we come, you know, so but I'm just I'm just here in favor of and I don't know if I don't know if you guys approve that through the public works, but I'd love to see the auto I'd love to see that any driver that hops in behind the sidewalk machine has some GPS almost be like the Tesla taking you to the store. I know right now the Tesla can pick you up right at the front front if you if you wanted to, it can just auto steer right to the right to the grocery store right to the front. And I was I was laughing up to talk to a couple people that do that right now, so but you guys kind of know what I'm saying, you know, you get a lot of people that don't know where the sidewalks are, probably a lot of new people in the city and so I'd love to see some auto steer be implemented in the sidewalk equipment. I'd say the sidewalk equipment first, but it's going to cost some money, you know, so And and we'll we'll share that with our our public works director. Yeah, sorry. I do know our our sidewalk clearing equipment a lot of it is custom made because we have different widths of sidewalks and so they've had to go in there and custom make some of the stuff. Some of it's too wide, yeah. Some of it's too wide, exactly. And so to to to retrofit them with GPS and with AI it might be a trick, but I mean we can certainly mention it and of course anything's done with half money, So they know we have at least one machine, possibly two with the technology already in place and right now is the time to learn it. Ice and snow is off the sidewalk, so I'm hoping full to see the city city kind of move forward with some some auto steer for its sidewalk equipment. It also tells me something that if we have it already and it's broken down It wasn't the It wasn't the equipment. It wasn't the GPS equipment. It was actually the machine that was down, but but it wasn't the auto steer. This stuff is actually pretty reliable, but it's a kit that can be implemented into your existing equipment. So they can put a motor on there. They can make the steering shaft. Might even save injuries cuz if they're steering these things and trying to move the snow chute at the same time I can see them better being able to manipulate the the snow chute, you know? If you don't have to steer it, you can actually Now you can direct the snow and not hit people's fences and stuff and wreck other stuff. We're headed into our budget discussion, so we'll Bring it into the budget, so that's I'm just talking in favor of that. And and yes and and Kathy just reminded me of course we we replace grass if it's chewed up. We get out there and replace the grass. I bet it gets busy. So it does. Councilman Belomy, you got a quick question? Well, just more of a comment uh and maybe it's more so directed to you, Mayor. You know, I I I love the idea and the concept. I think it's a great idea, but just you know, as we're thinking about this I know that we have had just as a council some concern about you know, the the longevity of that program, so I'd be concerned uh that we may be you know, investing or putting money into something that we may not necessarily have it as as it is today uh moving forward. So I just want to you know, in full transparency, that's one of my concerns and I know Sean's not here, so I figured I'd make that comment on his behalf. >> And I I think our conversation was if we are going to continue doing it, we're going to invest in the equipment that makes it so we don't injure our our employees and that they can do a good job. And so I mean if that's the route we want to go with, that would be a conversation we have to have. I'm going to say something to that in regards to the fact that just to his comments uh adding more chances to the fact that, you know, the city was very considering eliminating that and we all paid that I would rather even pay for fixing the damaged grass. I I would rather pay for fixing the damaged grass than doing anything that it doesn't take much. I I would rather not have the city talk about On the other hand, it is it's damaged, but it's not the end of the world. I mean it's just a small spot maybe it's less sometimes. Uh so you know, I know the technology you're talking about. I I I saw it in the council and they wanted but you know, I know it's the uh I know it's the conference. Uh but the reality is very expensive. I'm trying to keep these services for our residents. We might just as well just plow the snow and even ask for grass restoration just to be real honest. So that's my opinion. I mean it's a great technology. Thank you. Dri- driverless plows coming to a city near you soon, so it's It's said it's crazy about the changes in technology. Just want to bring the city you guys to know about auto steer. Driverless cars are on the way, so Absolutely. Things are things are changing quick, so All right. Thanks. Nobody else? All right, Council, nobody coming forward. I look for a motion to adjourn and head downstairs. Second. Motion by Council member D'Alessandro, second by Council member Rivas to adjourn. All in favor, please signify by saying I. Opposed, motion carries 5-0. We are adjourned. We will see you downstairs.