By Greg Halbleib

BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner said he does not want to inhibit public participation during council meetings, but would like to revisit rules to limit public comment that’s not pertinent to city business.

Renner tells WJBC’s Scott Laughlin that the people who use the microphone during public comment periods often stray from relevance.

“The situation isn’t getting any better,” Renner told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin. “This is supposed to be the city council’s business meeting.”

The public comment period during council meetings has featured topics ranging from the Civil War to Dr. Seuss. Renner said that’s allowed under the council’s current rules.

“We do not require in our ordinance, it’s very, very open and broad, that public comment has anything at all to do with what’s on the agenda,” Renner said. “We’ve tried to be as open as possible, but the difficulty of that is with freedom comes responsibility and many people clearly abuse that.”

Renner says many other communities, including Normal, require public comments to address items on the agenda.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].