Stop sign veto by Bloomington mayor stands, as council declines to consider an override vote

Dave Rollo, Bloomington city council member. (Oct. 4, 2023)

The effect of Hamilton’s veto is that the stop signs with asterisks (*) will not be reinstalled. The signs at the 7th-and-Dunn intersection will remain, based on a 180-day order from the city engineer.

Bloomington mayor John Hamilton at the Oct. 11, 2023 budget adoption meeting.

Remaining intact after Wednesday’s city council meeting was Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s veto of the council’s Oct. 4 decision to authorize reinstallation of stop signs at four intersections along 7th Street.

At its meeting on Wednesday night (Oct. 18), the council declined to consider an attempt to override the mayor’s veto of the ordinance, which it had enacted on Oct. 4. The vetoed ordinance authorized the reinstallation of four stop signs along 7th Street—at Morton, Washington, Lincoln, and Dunn streets.

The removal of five stop signs along the corridor accompanied the opening of the 7-Line protected bicycle lane in mid-November 2021. The removal of the stop signs, which had been approved by the city council, was intended to make the east-west corridor a more attractive transportation option for bicyclists.

The stop signs at the 7th-and-Dunn intersection, which had already been reinstalled based on a 180-day order from city engineer Andrew Cibor, will remain in place. The 7th-and-Dunn stop signs will be allowed to persist for another 180 days, based on a fresh 180-day order. Continue reading “Stop sign veto by Bloomington mayor stands, as council declines to consider an override vote” →

Column | Mayoral veto on stop signs: Bloomington’s city council should take a unanimous vote

Friday’s big local civic news was that Bloomington mayor John Hamilton had vetoed a city council ordinance that authorized reinstallation of stop signs at four intersections on 7th Street.

That means an item appears on the agenda for next Wednesday’s city council meeting, that makes it possible for the council to vote again on the same ordinance.

If the council votes again on the same ordinance, and it passes with a two-thirds majority, that would achieve an override of the mayor’s veto.

A two-thirds majority on the nine-member council is six. It was a narrow 5–4 vote that approved the ordinance on Oct. 4.

It seems unlikely that any of the four dissenters would join the majority, to give the council the one extra vote it would need to override the veto. There’s a certain futility that would be attached to the effort.

It’s worth noting that there is no requirement that the council even try to take a vote that could lead to a veto override. Continue reading “Column | Mayoral veto on stop signs: Bloomington’s city council should take a unanimous vote” →

Hamilton vetoes Bloomington city council decision to reinstall 7th Street stop signs

Dave Rollo, Bloomington city council member. (Oct. 4, 2023)

Bloomington city engineer Andrew Cibor.

Bloomington mayor John Hamilton at the Oct. 11, 2023 budget adoption meeting.

Mid-afternoon on Friday, Bloomington mayor John Hamilton released a statement vetoing the city council’s action taken last week, to approve reinstallation of stop signs at four intersections on 7th Street.

The stop signs that have already been reinstalled at the 7th-and-Dunn intersection will remain in place—through a new 180-day order issued by the city engineer.

The stop signs at Morton, Washington, and Lincoln Streets will not be reinstalled, unless the council votes to override the mayor’s veto.

It looks unlikely that the council would be able to achieve the two-thirds majority (6) that is needed to override a veto. Still, a possible vote on a veto override appears on next Wednesday’s (Oct. 18) meeting agenda for the city council. Continue reading “Hamilton vetoes Bloomington city council decision to reinstall 7th Street stop signs” →

5–4 Bloomington council vote: 3 more stops, not just Dunn, OK’d for reinstallation on 7-Line bicycle route

Dave Rollo, Bloomington city council member. (Oct. 4, 2023)

Steve Volan, , Bloomington city council member.

Jim Sims, Bloomington city council member.

From left: Isabel Piedmont Smith and Sue Sgambelluri, Bloomington city council members.

Bloomington city engineer Andrew Cibor.

“Wow. Just wow.”

That was how Bloomington city council president Sue Sgambelluri summarized the contentious debate that had just concluded on the question of reinstalling stop signs at three intersections, along the route of the 7-Line separated bicycle lane.

The intersections in question—Morton, Washington, and Lincoln—were not included in the ordinance that city engineer Andrew Cibor had asked the council to approve at its Wednesday meeting.

What Cibor had requested was enactment of an ordinance to make permanent just the stop signs that have already been reinstalled at 7th and Dunn streets, based on a 180-day order that he had issued.

By the end of the meeting, the reinstallation of stop signs at a total of four intersections had been approved by the city council. Continue reading “5–4 Bloomington council vote: 3 more stops, not just Dunn, OK’d for reinstallation on 7-Line bicycle route” →

Column | On Bloomington city council appointments to boards: Stop, in the name of gov…think it over

A special committee on city council processes is set to meet at 3 p.m. on Monday in the McCloskey Room of Bloomington’s city hall.

The committee will be continuing its deliberations on a recommendation to the full council about how to proceed with councilmember Dave Rollo’s motion, made at the council’s Feb. 1 meeting, to remove Greg Alexander from the city’s traffic commission.

Rollo wants to remove Alexander for the cause of “posting obscene and inappropriate statements” on Twitter.

Positions on the traffic commission are unpaid. The city’s traffic commission is an advisory board that, among other things, recommends to the city council and other city officials ways to improve traffic conditions and the enforcement of traffic regulations.

It might seem like a subtle point, but the question of Alexander’s removal is actually extra work the council has created for itself. Continue reading “Column | On Bloomington city council appointments to boards: Stop, in the name of gov…think it over” →

Talk deemed off-topic, ill-tempered: Backdrop for Bloomington’s resolution on embargo against Cuba

Bloomington city councilmember Susan Sandberg (Jan. 18, 2023)

Bloomington city councilmember Dave Rollo (Jan. 18, 2023)

Bess Lee, CUBAmistad.

Frank Marshalek, CUBAmistad.

Dareal Ruble, Bloomington resident.

Outline of Bloomington in blue, superimposed (to scale) on map with Santa Clara, Cuba.

“Who the hell do you people think you are? You’re not the White House!”

That was Dareal Ruble speaking from the public mic at last Wednesday’s meeting of the city council.

He was reacting to a resolution on the meeting agenda that called for an immediate end to the US economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba.

The resolution was not controversial for councilmembers—it passed unanimously.

The vote came almost an hour after the resolution was introduced by Dave Rollo, who co-sponsored it with Susan Sandberg.

Rubel was interrupted twice during his allotted five minutes by council president Sue Sgambelluri, who admonished him—for speaking off the topic of the resolution, not for any particular choice of words.

But questions about the kind of tone and demeanor that councilmembers consider acceptable were swimming just under the surface of Wednesday’s meeting—in connection with an earlier agenda item.

Neither Rollo nor Sandberg supported a raft of resident re-appointments to boards and commissions that were approved early on the agenda.

After Wednesday’s meeting, Rollo confirmed to The B Square that he voted no, because the list included Greg Alexander’s reappointment to the city’s traffic commission.

Based on Alexander’s social media interactions, which Rollo described as “aggressive,” Rollo said he think’s Alexander’s temperament is “ill-suited” to serving on a city board or commission.

Continue reading “Talk deemed off-topic, ill-tempered: Backdrop for Bloomington’s resolution on embargo against Cuba” →

Column: Let’s put a stop sign on the road to divisive debate club points, greenlight more ped infra money

2007 Google Street View: Henderson and Allen streets looking north.

2019 Google Street View: Henderson and Allen streets looking north.

Last Wednesday, a divided Bloomington city council approved new stop signs on Maxwell Lane at Sheridan Drive, making the intersection an all-way stop.

The council’s deliberations were on brand—mired in meaningless debate club theater. The desire to score debate points distracted from a fundamental challenge—the need to identify more funding for infrastructure that benefits pedestrians.

But there’s an upcoming venue where a need for additional funding pedestrian infrastructure could get aired. Sometime in the next few weeks, the four-member city council sidewalk committee will be conducting its annual review of requests for new sidewalk construction.

The committee will be making recommendations on how to divvy up $336,000, which is the same amount as last year. But based on 2019 costs, there’s $17 million worth of requests on list for additional sidewalks, which will take a half century to build at the current pace.

I hope the sidewalk committee members take some of their meeting time to start talking about concrete steps the council could take, working with the mayor, to inject more money into pedestrian infrastructure.

Here’s some ideas that could be explored: annually issue $3 million in general obligation bonds targeted for pedestrian infrastructure; tap a portion of the $16 million in CRED (Community Revitalization Enhancement District) fund balances; or use tax increment finance (TIF) revenue, which is overseen by the redevelopment commission. Continue reading “Column: Let’s put a stop sign on the road to divisive debate club points, greenlight more ped infra money” →

Stop signs OK’d by Bloomington city council over dissent from two members

Bloomington city council (Nov. 2, 2022)

City of Bloomington engineer Andrew Cibor (Nov. 2, 2022).

Bloomington resident and former city councilmember Jeff Richardson (Nov. 2, 2022).

Bloomington resident Greg Alexander addressing city council on Nov. 2, 2022. (B Square file photo)

Bloomington resident Kerry Thomson (Nov. 2, 2022).

Bloomington resident and former mayor Tomi Allison (Nov. 2, 2022)

Bloomington resident Stephanie Hatton (Nov. 2, 2022).

The aerial image is from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s online property lookup system.

Looking south at Sheridan and Maxwell.

Stop signs requiring traffic on Maxwell Lane to halt at Sheridan Drive have been approved by Bloomington’s city council on a 6–2 vote with one abstention.

The additional stop signs make the intersection at Maxwell Lane and Sheridan Drive an all-way stop. Currently it’s a two-way stop, which requires traffic on Sheridan to stop at Maxwell.

The two councilmembers who voted against the stop signs were Matt Flaherty and Kate Rosenbarger. They both cited the recommendation from the city’s engineering department when the proposal was in front of the city’s traffic commission, which was against making the intersection an all-way stop.

From the city engineering report: “[T]his intersection does not meet the MUTCD [Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices] guidelines for all-way stop control, and staff has concerns with the potential of establishing a pattern of installing all-way stop control at locations that do not meet the guidelines.”

Those who voted for the stop sign pointed to a different part of the engineer’s recommendation, which stated, “Staff acknowledges the unique traffic pattern at this intersection and does not have significant concerns if an all-way stop is installed.”

Abstaining from the vote was Steve Volan, who said, “I don’t disagree with the neighbors. I also don’t agree with them. I can’t vote for this. But I don’t want to vote against it…” Continue reading “Stop signs OK’d by Bloomington city council over dissent from two members” →

Traffic notebook: Added stops at Maxwell-Sheridan to be weighed by Bloomington city council

Sheridan at Maxwell looking north with traffic coming down the hill from the west.

The aerial image is from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s online property lookup system.

Probably at its regular meeting next week (Oct. 19), Bloomington’s city council will give a first reading to an ordinance that would make the intersection at Maxwell Lane and Sheridan Drive an all-way stop.

Currently it’s a two-way stop, which requires traffic on Sheridan to stop at Maxwell. The added stop signs would also require Maxwell traffic to stop at Sheridan.

The impetus to add the all-way stop comes from neighbors who find that they have to “scurry” across Maxwell, because traffic coming from the uphill side of the road, that is from the west, is not visible until it’s close to the intersection. Continue reading “Traffic notebook: Added stops at Maxwell-Sheridan to be weighed by Bloomington city council” →

Stopping not slowing: Bloomington neighborhood pushes for all-way stop, traffic commission says no

Sheridan at Maxwell looking south with traffic coming down the hill from the west.

Maxwell at Sheridan looking east as traffic rounds the bend heading north on Sheridan.

Sheridan at Maxwell looking north with traffic coming down the hill from the west.

The aerial image is from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s online property lookup system.

Residents who live near the intersection of Maxwell Lane and Sheridan Drive, which is located in a central Bloomington neighborhood, want to be able to walk across Maxwell, without “scurrying” to the other side.

As Stephanie Hatton put it, when she addressed Bloomington’s traffic commission on Wednesday night, “We feel that the only way to make this intersection truly safe for all is to legally require vehicles to cease—not just slow down or be calmed.”

Hatton added, “An all-way stop ensures pedestrians of all ages and abilities have the time and right-of-way to cross safely.”

Neighbor and former city clerk Regina Moore called Hatton’s presentation to the commission at its Wednesday meeting “one of the most extensive and well-presented citizen presentations that I’ve witnessed in my over 30 years of attending city meetings.”

Despite Hatton’s presentation, if the requested all-way stop is installed, it won’t be with the support of the city’s traffic commission.

On a 5-2 vote the commission instead supported the engineering department’s staff written recommendation, which stated: that “[T]his intersection does not meet the MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices) guidelines for all-way stop control…”

The added stop signs would require Maxwell Lane traffic to stop at Sheridan Drive. Continue reading “Stopping not slowing: Bloomington neighborhood pushes for all-way stop, traffic commission says no” →