In the last four years, one of the more controversial decisions by Bloomington’s city council was the enactment of an ordinance to reinstall stop signs on 7th Street.
A measure of that controversy was Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s veto of the decision. Of the three pieces of the legislation that have been vetoed by the mayor in the last eight years, the stop sign veto is the only one that was not overridden by the council.
The stop sign ordinance was a nice illustration of how the balance of power works, between the legislative and executive branches in local government.
But the ordinance was also a case study in the dysfunction that has plagued the internal workings of Bloomington’s city council for nearly the last four years—almost its entire term.
Just like better road design can lead to fewer collisions between vehicles, better city council meeting design might lead to fewer, and less damaging political collisions. Continue reading “Column: A better blueprint for Bloomington city council meetings”
