By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington aldermen plan to revise meeting minutes from a tension-filled city council meeting two weeks ago.

Minutes prepared by the city clerk did not reflect what aldermen said at the February 12 meeting, according to council member Kimberly Bray.

“I’d like us to have the opportunity to step away, and study what these aldermen comments are supposed to represent, which would be accurate statements about the exchange. I don’t find that they currently do that, so I’d like them to be pulled,” said Bray.

Aldermen will now have a chance to revise those minutes, which did not include the scolding some of them gave to Mayor Tari Renner.

They claimed Renner publicly berated members for seeking to remove from that meeting’s agenda a controversial “welcoming city” resolution aimed at protecting undocumented immigrants from deportation.

At that meeting, Alderman David Sage called Renner’s bullying tactics reprehensible.

Alderman Joni Painter shouted at Renner when the two argued whether council members can remove items from meeting agendas.

Alderman Karen Schmidt was particularly upset while confronting Renner for allegedly telling an ISU social justice conference that the five aldermen who sought to table the welcoming resolution were laughing about it and popping champagne. Nothing could be further from the truth, Schmidt said that at the time.

Renner claimed he could not remember what he said, and he made no comment as aldermen voted unanimously to correct the minutes.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected].