Buragas was one of five council members sworn in Friday night. (Photo Courtesy of Andy Dahn)
By Andy Dahn
BLOOMINGTON – The City of Bloomington is facing a large budget deficit and several other issues this year, and council members who were sworn in Friday night are ready for the challenge.
Ward Two Alderman David Sage said the city’s budget is priority number one.
“We’re going to have to ask some hard questions about the city services that we provide,” Sage said. “Basically a couple of fundamental questions. Is it a service that needs to be delivered that the people of Bloomington want provided to them? And if it is, is it a service that the city has to provide?”
Sage said the city’s golf courses are one of those services that need to be evaluated. New Ward Four representative Amelia Buragas said the council must get right to work to address their upcoming challenges.
“I think where we’ve run into problems as a city and as a council is where we wait too long to make a decision,” said Buragas. “And then we run out of time to really analyze the information and to feel like we’ve made the best decision. So I am very hopeful that starting in May and June, we will already be talking about the next fiscal year. And after that, talking about a five and ten year plan, so we know how the city is going to move forward in the future.”
Buragas also said positive interaction between council members to come to solutions is something she hopes to bring to the council.
Andy Dahn can be reached at andy.dahn@cumulus.com.
