Councilman honored on last night of service

A special session of the Bloomington City Council was called Wednesday night to pay tribute to retiring councilman Jason Banach, R-District II, on his last night as a public servant.\nMayor Mark Kruzan began the tribute tongue-in-cheek by presenting Banach with an oversized trash tag with the councilman's smiling face planted on it, alluding to Banach's tireless crusade against the tags.\nAfter calling Banach the "Don Quixote of trash tag opposition," Kruzan went into a more personal and serious commemoration of Banach's nearly 11 years of service on the council.\n"Jason's departure is a loss to the district of which I belong and to the community at large," Kruzan said. "You have been the epitome of what the loyal opposition should be, someone engaged in constructive criticism and being an advocate for achieving the common goals of this community without fail."\nCouncilman Andy Ruff commended Banach's temperament as a legislator.\n"His criticism was always constructive and useful," Ruff said. "He never fell into political grandstanding, and I appreciated that."\nBanach ended the session by thanking his fellow council members and those in attendance.\n"It has been a true pleasure to work with everyone here and everyone from past councils," Banach said. "In all the years I've done this, there hasn't been one person who has served that had malicious intent. Everyone feels that what they're doing is best for Bloomington, and we just have different ideas as how to reach that utopia."\nBanach announced his retirement Sept. 6, citing an increase in his duties as assistant director of real estate for IU\nA Republican Party caucus is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday to select a successor for Banach.