Mayor Renner: New open house format grants more citizen access

Posted on October 8, 2017
Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner said appointment-only open houses on Friday’s before city council meetings enable him to give full attention to people who need his help. (Photo courtesy Facebook/Tari Renner)

By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – A format change in Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner’s twice-monthly open houses does not make the sessions any less open to the public, according to the mayor.

What used to be group sessions in the City Hall conference room known as the “Fishbowl” have evolved into one-on-one meetings with individual citizens.

They’re still held between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. on Fridays before city council meetings, but people meeting with Renner have to make an appointment.

“This whole idea of the open house was to give people more attention who have real problems, (and) need one-on-one attention with the mayor,” said Renner. “One of the problems that we sometimes had is people trying to monopolize the time.”

Renner said the “loudest shouters” sometimes wound up dominating the group sessions.

A news release from the city said people can sign up for five or ten minute meetings.

People wanting to meet with Renner for longer than 10 minutes should contact city staffers.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected].

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