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The Indiana Daily Student

Parking commission approved despite mayor's veto

ciparking

The Bloomington City Council has elected to create a parking commission to create and review a comprehensive parking plan in Bloomington.

In a seven-to-one vote, the city council approved the creation of the parking commission Nov. 2. However, the matter was sent back to the council after Mayor John Hamilton vetoed the proposal.

Hamilton said the issue of parking in Bloomington is of vital interest to the city, but said he would prefer to combine existing committees and commissions.

“I appreciate and agree that this issue merits attention and additional study and review,” Hamilton said in a letter to the council. “I would encourage a joint effort in reviewing the values of these bodies prior to adding a thirty-eighth to the list.”

Bloomington has more than 30 boards, committees and commissions. Each of these groups require at least some administrative support, and Hamilton, in a letter to the council, said he is not sure if the creation of a wholly new board would be feasible.

“While adding one more commission may not itself seem a significant drain on staff resources, collectively the total number of hours committed to staffing these groups is very substantial,” Hamilton said in his letter.

Bloomington City Council member Steve Volan proposed the creation of the parking commission at the Nov. 2 meeting and said parking in Bloomington has no organized or comprehensive plan, according to notes taken from a previous City Council meeting.

“Parking has no obvious point person,” Volan said. “There is no one person tasked with parking, no parking ‘czar.’”

The main goal of the Parking Commission would be to form a comprehensive plan for the parking situation in Bloomington and to do so in the most effective manner possible, Volan said at the meeting.

“Without this new commission, we as a city will continue to make parking decisions arbitrarily, in fits and starts, and without coherent rationale,” Volan said according to the Nov. 2 minutes.

The parking commission would also be able to recommend parking meter rates and where funds from those meters would go, but would not necessarily have the final say. The rates and the funds from parking meters would not be set by the new commission, rather the group would act in an advisory mode for the city administration and for the mayor, Volan said.

After Hamilton’s veto, the proposal was kicked back to the City Council, who reapproved the commission once more.

The City Council reapproved the proposal Nov. 16 with a vote of nine in favor of the motion and none against. The parking commission is now seeking members to fill vacancies on its board.

Bloomington is looking to fill those spots with a diverse group of Bloomington residents, Deputy City Clerk Stephen Lucas said in a press release announcing the creation of the parking commission. Interested parties can go to bloomington.in.gov/onboard and apply.

“Seven seats are open to Bloomington residents, with varying membership requirements for each seat,” Lucas said in the press release.

Lucas said the City Council is hoping to form the committee from various people, businesses and residential groups.

While Hamilton said he was unsure if adding another committee was the answer, Ryan Cobine, a member of the Traffic Commission who was present at the meeting, said the commission was a “straightforward remedy” to a problem facing Bloomington, according to council minutes.

“This is a great opportunity for City residents to be more involved in local government,” Lucas said.

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