Bloomington City Council Flops Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

03/26/2020

It’s the year 2020, right? We are in the midst of the 21^st century, but you wouldn’t know it if you were watching the Bloomington city Council Meeting Monday, March 23^rd. No, you’d probably be forgiven for mistaking the year for 1995. The meeting was much anticipated since Governer J.B. Pritzker announced a stay-at-home order across Illinois halting all non-essential business. Only Mayor Renner, Alderperson Donna Boelen (Ward 2), the City Clerk, City Manager, and a handful of bureaucrats filled the room. The rest of city council remained at home obeying the Stay-at-home order, and called in to the meeting. Yet, despite us all living in 2020, the council could barely discuss anything because of technological incompetence. Most of the council could barely hear what was being said, and were left confused when Mayor Renner performed his Lost in Translation routine.

The whole thing was an abject failure. After barely an hour of discussing what the Bloomington Township might be able to do in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, continuing technological difficulties made discussion and debate nearly impossible and the meeting was abruptly closed with a new meeting not scheduled till Thursday. I was on a video chat with my family the other day, which included my two technology challenged octogenarian Grandparents, and we were all able to hear & see each other perfectly. Yet, apparently such amazing technological feats defy the comprehension of Bloomington City Hall.

Some might object they had to do the meeting this way, because of the Open Meetings Act which requires transparency in government. But, we’re literally in the middle of the worst pandemic in modern history, with multiple governors and the president declaring national emergencies and using extraordinary measures in a vain attempt to stop the spread of the disease. If necessary, have the meeting over a private video chat (maybe even let some journalists listen in on the call to prevent any shenanigans), record the whole thing, and publish it online afterwards. The governor isn’t going to stop you from doing this. The only person petty enough to challenge you in court over it is local conspiracy theorist and ice queen Diane Benjamin (whose writing is best read with glass shards in your eyes), and I’m sure any judge would throw it out because we’re in a pandemic.

Hell, I just got off a call with local activists addressing this issue and surprise surprise, I could hear and see everything, and it was being recorded. Seriously Bloomington City Council: get your act together before it’s too late. This kind of incompetence is the last thing we need amidst a viral epidemic.