
By Patrick Baron
BLOOMINGTON – The McLean County Board has decided to keep its current meeting time, as opposed to moving its meetings to the evening.
The 12-7 decision came after a lengthy discussion about keeping openness and transparency for the public. With ongoing advancements in technology, board member Carlo Robustelli explained board meetings could be streamed online for public viewing.
“Could we stream our meetings? That could be a nice way for residents, as their leisure, to be able to watch video and see the McLean County Board and their public body in action,” said Robustelli. “So I think that’s one step that we could look for to look towards the future.”
Robustelli, who voted to move the meeting time, said he was pleased at the amount of discussion the board and public held about the issue. Board member Paul Segobiano expressed his belief that residents will become involved with the board if there are issues present that they care about.
“It’s the issue that drives attendance, and that’s been true in my 44 years,” said Segobiano. “If there’s an issue that really concerns a citizen, whether they’re from District 8 or one of the other districts or all ten districts in the county, they will show and they will voice their concern.”
Board members expressed interest in continuing discussions on how they can increase public involvement at meetings.
Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].