The Mayor Feinen Podcast - Council Member Bob Pollett

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[0:10] Hi, I'm Mayor Deb Feinen, and I'm here today with Council member Bob Pollett, who serves as the elected council member for district two.
[0:24] And Bob, you've been a council member now for about a year, right? S2:
[0:41] So I want to learn all about you, but I have to follow on that thread. Okay. So let's talk about interesting things that the city did that you didn't realize that we did.
[0:53] Okay. Well, I didn't really realize what all went even into simple things like trash collection or like snow removal until I actually got the chance to go and do the tours with public works. I didn't really realize how involved that was. I didn't realize how much work the equity and engagement department did, uh, how much work. There's so many different departments. Or like even with the difference between neighborhood services and planning, why it would make sense to have multiple departments that seem like they kind of do the same thing if you're just a complete outsider, until you get the chance to do the car wash, you get the chance to meet the people that work in the different departments and kind of see where the nuance lies between each department.
[1:30] So one of the things that we do with new council members is orientation, right? And I don't know if the public really realizes what that entails, but do you want to talk about that experience?
[1:43] Absolutely. So I was incredibly lucky and that I was the only person to run for District Two's seat as council member, Beck had decided to step down, so I was the only person who'd put in a valid application in October of 2024. So the very basically, I turned in my paperwork, uh, on a Monday morning, that Tuesday night. Since then, I've been coming every single meeting, trying to learn as much as I can. I've really had the luxury of time, which is something most people don't get. You're out campaigning, you're out meeting people, and certainly meeting people is still part of it. But being able to have the chance to learn more about what different people the city do has been. And I've been very, very lucky. I've had an opportunity that most people don't get in that regard.
[2:26] And we do formal orientation once the election's over.
[2:31] Well, I was actually super lucky in some of my orientation sessions had started a couple weeks early, just based on.
[2:37] What we knew you were going to win.
[2:38] Yeah, well, it's one of those. I think once I turned in my early mail in ballot for myself, it kind of became a formality at that point. But I'd had the chance to do, say, my police right along before the official date. But you can see here I brought my notebook because this is basically my first year's worth of notes of different people and different functions that the city does, and all the different meetings I've attended. And I got to say, like the first 100 pages of it are solely just orientation, with different departments learning about the people that work in the departments and learning about all the different things they do.
[3:08] I think one of the things that I, you know, I feel as mayor is that part of our job is just being a conduit, right? Like, we we don't do the day to day operations of the city, but we know who to contact when a constituent has an issue and to get them to the right department or the right person is really important.
[3:31] So in a lot of ways, it reminds me of my previous life because my an old job, I used to be tier one helpdesk for it. Yeah. Information tech just doing basic computer support. So in a lot of ways I kind of feel like a council member can be the tier one help desk for the city. That's great. I maybe can't solve your problem. Uh, in some cases, I am not encouraged to go drive around heavy machinery, right. But I can direct you to the right person. Or I can work with somebody who knows. And over time, as I've been able to talk more and more, kind of learn. It's helped me. I really love those questions because it's helped me learn who does specific things, where kind of the nuance between different departments.
[4:06] I love that. Okay, so let's back up. Okay, I want to I want to learn more. Well, I want our community to learn more about you. Okay.
[4:19] Um, so how did you end up in the Champaign area? S2:
[5:48] Okay. And where did you come from? Where's home for you? Okay. I mean, home is here.
[5:53] Yeah. Holy home is.
[5:55] Where where are you originally from?
[5:57] Okay, so I was born in Springfield, uh, sort of with my parents. I kind of moved up and down the I-55 corridor. I lived in a bunch of little small towns like Virden, Auburn, uh, Wagoner, which only 200 people spent a lot of time in Livingston, Illinois, which is where my grandparents were originally from. And there's lots of generations of pilots that live there, like my uncle had been the fire chief there for several years. So Livingston had kind of been a home base, but it's a town of 800 people. And it's it's wonderful. It's wonderful. If you can find somewhere and say, Edwardsville or Glen carbon where you wanted to work. I never really found somewhere in that area that I went to work. And for me, I knew once I had come to Champaign, there was no way I was going to move back to Livingston after I graduated. And so when I realized that I wasn't going to move home, I kind of became, okay, well, this is my home now, so where am I going to work? And so I'd taken a couple of different IT jobs. I've been working with the facilities department at U of I for the last since 2012. So I guess the last 13 or 14 years now, that is scary. I didn't want to think about that. Um, but I should also point out that I do not officially speak for the U of I in anything. I know their public relations department always wants to make sure I get that message across that I'm speaking for myself today. I'm not speaking for the U of I.
[7:06] Absolutely. So something that I think is really unique, though, for somebody who is an IT person, is that you are also a union member. So talk to me about that.
[7:16] Well, that was a very rare opportunity because my group is kind of classified in a strange way. Um, so my day job had switched more from helpdesk support to being a control specialist. So, uh, access control. So card go boop on the door. Yeah, it's silly, but it works. Uh, and then, uh, like HVAC. Uh, so my work these days has gone from being on people's desks to in the walls across campus because we help support the computer back ins that run the large mechanical systems that help provide comfortable spaces and secure spaces for people to work in to make sure property is protected on campus. Okay. And so that department meant that we had kind of and again, we're getting kind of the nuance of university life. I love that, but we had a weird job classification. Our job classification was direct digital control specialist. That allowed us an opportunity that we wouldn't have had otherwise. If we were listed as just regular IT specialist, you'd have to card check all of the IT specialists across campus, which I don't know that that's ever going to happen within my lifetime. Personally, I would be in favor of it. I don't think that we're ever going to get there because a lot of people want at that size. People want a lot of different things. It's a group that's never traditionally been unionized, and you'd have to get a lot of people to kind of change their mind on that. Sure. But for my particular group, we're actually a subset of at the time we were nine strong. We went through the CBA process kind of writing our own CBA, working to negotiate with and against the university on some different topics that we considered important. But getting to do that was a really cool experience, because I got to be a part of the bargaining team for my group in that alongside, uh, Matt Kelly and Kevin Sage with local 149. Um, as we kind of negotiated the contract, we realized we needed to pick a steward at the end of that. And I kind of was the best fit for that because I was able to kind of maintain a neutral opinion on a lot of things between management and day to day staff. And so I kind of fell into the role of shop steward. And then from there, during a union meeting, it became it was basically Matt had reached out to everybody and said, hey, it's almost election season. Is anybody interested in running for an office? Like, if that's the sort of thing that appeals to you of serving your community, something you want to do, we'd love to hear you out. And so at first I thought I didn't want to do it. And then I got talked into it by one of my union brothers, uh, Zach Abbot. Great guy. Doesn't live in Champaign, unfortunately, but we'll fix that one day. Uh, but he's a great guy, and he kind of told me, look, you're sitting here at all these meetings. You're the one who's going through the financials and trying to help, like, notice anything that's weird. Like you have an eye for that sort of thing. You might be the right person to run. And so he was the one who really convinced me to do it. I had the chance to talk to a couple different people, and over a very, very long weekend, I was convinced that it was the sort of thing. I talked to you about it. I talked to former Council Member about it. Like I had the chance to kind of talk and hear. It was going to be a lot of work. I wasn't wrong, it was going to be a lot of work, but it was the sort of work that's worth doing. It's the sort of work that our community needs somebody to do. And I had the capacity in my life where I was able to kind of step up and do it. And so it's been a lot of fun.
[10:17] I think, though, having having that really on the ground union experience is also an important voice to add to the Champaign City Council. And so that's been delightful to have that perspective. And so I appreciate that as well. Um, you know, it's interesting to me that because, you know, you're right, you are the person who sort of digs into things in a way. And over my course on council, I feel like various council members have, uh, they their skills shine, right? And, you know, there may be an area of expertise or interest or it it may be how you approach meetings and and I can think of people who preceded you, for example, Marcy Dodds or Angie Brix, who I would say. I mean, and I don't mean this in a pejorative way at all. We're sort of our proofreader council members, and I think you fall into that category. Not only are you reading everything that is provided to us, but you are reading it at a level and carefulness that I think a lot of us don't, don't do as good of a job at. And so, you know, I am appreciative because you're going to be the one who will catch the, you know, that, says Urbana. And I think it meant to say Champaign. Right. Whereas we're we're reading for like the big picture things and we might not miss that, that nuance. And, and I think you do a tremendous job at that. So it's you know, we're glad you're here.
[11:57] Well thank you. I mean, I think a lot of that is some of it's just being new. Uh, you're kind of still I'm still in the dry sponge phase of, like, I've got plenty of room to kind of, like, read through everything, and I'm just. That doesn't seem right. Or, you know, I don't necessarily know about that, but I have to say, it's really easy to catch things when there's not that many things to catch, because all of our city staff do an amazing job. These everything that gets presented, everything that you can go online and see before a council meeting, has had weeks of preparation put into it by several different city staffers. And so there's never really anything. We're never seeing the first draft of anything. We're seeing the 10th, 11th draft of something. And so then sometimes you catch something, or sometimes there's just something that maybe doesn't make sense. If you don't know a lot about a topic, or that makes it a lot easier to kind of find that sort of stuff. But we're not. We're never starting with raw materials on anything because everybody's we're getting really good work. And the number one thing I would recommend to anybody that comes to a city council meeting is if you have the time and if you have the capacity, just read through some of the different documents. They're all posted online. It's all a matter of public record. I encourage everyone to read through. Not only sometimes there are extra attachments, especially if something's a contract. It's not necessarily the case that you need to read through all 60 or 100 pages to a document. And to be fair, there's plenty of things that I don't catch. Like as an example, last year we covered the facilities master plan, and I remember specifically looking for an intersection that was at State and Kirby because like I remember I'd had a car crash there a couple years ago. And so I'm like, okay, is this in here anywhere? Because I was like, is this like this like kind of bother me? So I'm like, well, it was really easy for me to look for because it was just something that meant a lot to me to kind of see what's going on with that project. Um, but at the same time, um, being able to kind of come in with the eye of a new person, I think helps. And it's, I don't know, it's been a lot of fun to learn. And I should also point out that if I did have any questions, most of the time I'm trying to get as many questions as possible answered before a council session, because nobody wants to be surprised. And you know, a good lawyer never goes and ask the question for the first time on the stand. Right? Right. So I don't want to I don't want to put city staffers in the position where I'm asking them a question that they've never heard before, that they didn't have the chance, or at least a fair chance to do some prep work for. And so I always try to get in touch with them in advance. Now, certainly there are things that you don't think about until the moment or somebody comes up with something that, you know, there's a follow up question that you can't always prepare for. But city staff have done an amazing job in putting up with me, making time on Monday nights that they do a great job making time on Mondays and Monday nights so that when Tuesday night comes around, we all get to look good.
[14:37] I think that that's part of the professionalism, and there are certainly times where I've asked them the question on Monday, but I still ask them on Tuesday because I think it's worth making the record for the public and, you know, but I also think sometimes those questions are things that help you in your decision making. And so I don't want to be sitting there Tuesday night at seven, still on the fence about, am I supporting this or I'm not supporting this. I mean, that happens sometimes. You want to hear the public input or whatever it may be, but if it's a question that you know can alleviate your concern and you can get that taken care of on Monday, so you know you're good to go and can vote for it on Tuesday. That's a better way to go anyway.
[15:23] Right. And for so many issues out there, there's more than one way to solve a problem. That's a completely reasonable way to solve the problem. It's just sometimes Champaign has picked way a right, which is always some of the hardest conversations we have or I have with constituents of like, well, the previous town I lived with did it this way. Why don't you guys do it this way? Wouldn't this way be better? And it's like that way works. That is a great way to do things. That would be a great way to do, say, yard pickup. That's not how we've chosen to do it. We've invested a lot of money in doing our yard pick up in a specific way, and having people follow a specific pattern. People expect that pattern, and we're going to stick with it. Unless we're proven otherwise, we're just going to stick with the way we do things and while keeping an open mind at all times.
[16:05] So did you come from a family of people who had held office or run for office?
[16:11] Yes. So my uncle for the longest time, Robert Pollard, it's actually kind of funny, had been on the village board in Livingston for on and off for about 20 years. Uh, he'd also again, I've been the fire chief. Again, it's a small town. You're. If you if you are an able bodied man, you're in the governance like you're doing something, even if it's just public works. By taking your lawnmower out to the baseball field on Saturday, you're going to be doing something if you're in that small of a town. Uh, but it was mainly him. And so before, I think the first night, uh, back in May, I kind of got the chance. We we kind of caught up and talked like the weekend before I'd gone down there to visit, and we kind of got the chance to talk through some things about, just like making sure you keep an open mind about things and making sure that you do what you think is right, even if it's maybe not popular.
[16:59] So what has surprised you about the service of being a council member?
[17:04] Okay, so I think one of the hardest things about being council member, one of the most surprising things is how much you're I almost like to call it your camera. Like, your lens is constantly being shifted by things. Sometimes it's things that are happening across the world, in the nation that are out of your control. Sometimes it's just a matter of, well, the city would like to discuss this issue this week, so congratulations! You're assigned special interest for the next week is to learn about snow removal, right? So there's a lot of, uh, you don't always get the time you'd like to focus on or dig deeper into some issues that maybe. Yeah, that's kind of interesting. That's sparked my interest. But we got to put that aside and kind of work on the homework first. And so that's been that's been surprising. I didn't realize how much that would kind of take up things. Uh, but learning how to navigate the maze of different city offices has kind of helped a lot with that. Now that I'm kind of going into my second cycle of things, being able to attend meetings for several months beforehand, we're now starting to get to issues that we've already. Maybe we've seen them before, like, I got to be in the crowd the last time, uh, the budget was discussed. And so knowing that we're coming up to budget conversations here in the next few weeks, I'm kind of prepared for what that's going to look like.
[18:21] So issues for your district, did you do you did some campaigning even though you didn't have an election?
[18:30] Yeah. Not much.
[18:31] You got signatures? Yes.
[18:32] Right. The most campaigning I did was in the first couple weeks, uh, going around making sure that I had enough signatures to get on the ballot, which was interesting, because I still got the chance to meet a lot of neighbors, in some cases, people I hadn't met, even though I lived there for just a couple of years. So, you know, you don't always get the chance to meet all of your neighbors. Um, it was interesting to learn people cared about. I was I learned that I very much wasn't alone when it came to concerns about pedestrian safety, bike safety, traffic safety. Uh, that seems to be a big issue in my neighborhood. Um, the I will say it is rough, though, when you have people who want kind of different. They both want the opposite things, and they live kind of next to each other. And you're like, oh, that's interesting. One person wants more light, more street lights. One person doesn't want street lights to ever go with. They want like a promise that you'll never install a streetlight. And so that's been kind of fun, but it's been a lot of just the issues of pedestrian safety, making sure the overall health of the city is strong. Uh, those kind of issues and then just walkability, reliability, all that good stuff.
[19:28] Do you have a significant amount of constituent contact? So tell me about kind of the day to day, week to week for sure.
[19:38] It's been a lot of email based contact, which is what I prefer because it's always the easiest to answer asynchronous contact. Um, I love it when people email in, and a lot of times whenever somebody comes to me with a question, it's something I maybe don't know a lot about myself at first. And so I'm getting the chance to better myself and serve better by learning more about a specific issue. Uh, there's been a few neighborhoods. I don't want to get too much into it because, you know, people's privacy. But there's been a few neighborhood disputes that have come up. But generally, it's been a lot more of the general sort of form letter responses. Or you get a lot of people who write in about a specific issue, either pro or con, um, which is always kind of funny because you can notice talking points over a time when you read the same thing, but it's, uh, I'd say it's primarily an email based.
[20:25] On what has been the thing that you've been most delighted to work on in this last year.
[20:32] Honorary street signs.
[20:34] Tell me about that.
[20:35] Why is that?
[20:36] Because for so many of the people, despite the fact that I shared the city for 20 years with a lot of the people especially we've had, I want to say something like three of the four people that we honored last year had already passed on. Mhm. Um, but being able to hear from their family members, being able to hear from the people that we're honoring, to hear from the people that they have impacted here, from the legacy they've left on in the city, has been incredible. I always think the most heartwarming and the best, the best I feel when I get done with anything related to the city is when I get to be a cheerleader, when I get to just stand in the room and either it's cheering for somebody who just got a new job, or cheering for somebody who's been working for years, and we're finally giving them that promotion they've been wanting, or whether it's cheering for somebody who left a legacy in the city that gets to stand up on a street sign for ten years, or any of the or even if it's just going to an event where, you know, maybe city council is invited to something and it's not really we're not there to speak, we're just there to be in the back of the room, cheer b b or be the city's cheerleaders. Those are the the best things. Those are the happiest moments. I love it so much.
[21:40] So council members really attend a gazillion things, I mean. So it's not just a commitment for a Tuesday night, right? Um, and so has that broadened, you know, the the people that, you know, and kind of how you feel about our community because you've probably been at stuff you would have never imagined you would go to it.
[22:07] Has there have been, I think, my favorite event I got to go to there was I wasn't able to attend. I know you were honored, and I am. The last year I wasn't able to attend because it fell on the same weekend as my dad's birthday, which I got to go to that. But at the same time, I wanted to do something that weekend. And so the, uh, the Immigrant Awards were that Saturday at the Urbana Free.
[22:28] Library.
[22:29] And Welcome Center Awards.
[22:30] Yes.
[22:31] And so I got the chance to attend that. That was probably the most inspirational single event, because you got to hear I got to hear six amazing stories. Not just people live in Champaign, mind you, but, you know, just people live in our community, like, our community doesn't stop at Wright Street, no matter how much, you know, Civically and legally. It kind of does. But, you know, getting to learn so much about the stories of people who've come to Champaign maybe people have come to Champaign from circumstances that are harder than Livingston, Illinois, and learned about how other people have thrived in this community and made it their home to made me realize why I love it and why I wanted this to be my home.
[23:04] So let's get back to the personal a little bit. So you're spending a ton of time doing council work. Sure. And you're and you're working for the university.
[23:19] What else do you do for fun when you're not at council meeting? S2:
[23:25] Because you've been busy with council work?
[23:27] Exactly. Yeah. The homework is just complete, which is good. It's been wonderful, and I'm glad I did it, but I have not read a single book for fun in the last 18 months. What? I'm not doing that. I'd love to play board games, play a lot of video games. I keep in touch, actually. Really the best part about video games? It's given me the opportunity to keep in touch with all my friends from high school and college that I kind of moved around the country. I'm the last one left in Champaign in a lot of cases, and unfortunately, a lot of cases, even people that maybe had family ties in the area, sometimes the family ties aren't there anymore. Right? And so really, the only chance I get to spend with some of my longest friends is over the internet. And so, uh, they've had to put up with a lot Tuesday night game and got canceled.
[24:05] I really I don't want to make a big deal about it. Everybody sacrifices. Right.
[24:09] But the Tuesday night game group is over. But, uh, no, when I'm not doing this, I'm kind of just being super competitive online and losing because I have no time to practice anymore.
[24:20] Yeah, yeah.
[24:21] And attending union meetings. Right.
[24:23] That's every Thursday.
[24:24] So Thursday night game group is, uh, a little different too.
[24:27] So what things did you kind of begin this next year of service? You've you've spent this first year really learning about the city. Are there things that you're hoping that either get accomplished because they're city goals or do you have, you know, some personal, uh, district goals that you're hoping we get done in the next few years?
[24:53] I think, uh, as far as being a council member and being there for people, I've done a great job of being. I think I've done a great job at being available to people online. I am really inspired when I hear stories of like, council member Clayborn, who's also new, stepping and doing a lot of in-person meetings with her district and her community. And I would like to try to find a way to step up more in the next year and kind of take down on something I can be better at because, you know, not everybody wants to meet with you online, even if I think it is the most convenient way. I will admit I'm a little biased.
[25:25] Yeah.
[25:26] So so we're talking about, like, you know, coffee with council member Pollett at the, at hopscotch, which is your district.
[25:35] You're right.
[25:36] I think that'd be a great thing to do. I really need to do that. Um, it's been challenging because I've been trying to maintain a low profile on social media, and so it's challenging to sometimes reach out to people or find ways to reach out to people when you're not online. And that way you're trying to keep your online presence as sort of like this formal firewall, basically.
[25:56] So why are you doing that? Talk to me about that. Okay.
[25:58] I don't really like the way.
[26:01] A lot of.
[26:02] Okay. Social media is an incredibly powerful tool. I don't like the idea of feeding the beast of a lot of major tech companies. I think it's kind of every tech company kind of takes their own turn at having a major scandal. But I'm like.
[26:15] I.
[26:16] Really don't know that I'd want to go back and rejoin a lot of sites that I'd given up before, even like before I thought about running for office. There's a lot of sites, like, I kind of got to step away from this. I don't know if I want to support this company with my time and attention, because really, that's what you're after, right? That's how you pay them back for using their services as time and attention. But I don't know that I necessarily want to always, uh, pay those companies back with my time and attention. But then the cost of that is it's kind of harder to be in touch with people. right. Really, what I need to do is get my own website back up and running, which is Bob Pollett. Com, which currently goes nowhere. I gotta fix that. I gotta start the blog back.
[26:51] Okay, so people are people be able to to find information there at some point?
[26:56] Yes.
[26:57] Yeah I think that's good. Well, and you can also, you know, announce at a council meeting that you're going to do X, Y or Z.
[27:05] That's the goal.
[27:06] That's, that's that's great. I think the in person is important as you get to know the people in your district. Right. I mean, you can respond to their concerns and get them the help they need via, you know, internet. But, um, if the one on ones are important as well. And I know you've done that because I've, we have we have an issue that that people have reached out to both of us on. And I know that they've met with you personally.
[27:35] Yeah. But it's you can always it's about trying to cast as wide of a net as possible because, you know, just Again, there's not one way to live in champagne, and there's plenty of people who just don't live their lives online. And so making sure they have every opportunity to be heard as well.
[27:49] So we've talked about kind of the joys and fun of being a council member.
[27:58] What was harder than you thought it would be? S2:
[28:41] Write.
[28:42] I've not had the like. There's so many things that I've not had the chance to do. And so sometimes it can be hard. When you're in a social situation, you realize everybody else knows each other better than they know you, and you still kind of feel like an outsider.
[28:54] You're the new guy.
[28:55] Yeah. And so but that's the thing, right? I haven't had to professionally be the new guy in over a decade. And so relearning what it's like to be in a social situation where you're new as a council member, you're constantly in rooms where everybody else knows each other, they don't know you that well. And so learning how to adapt is hard.
[29:16] That's so interesting, and I'm so glad that you shared that. I mean, I think that takes a lot of courage to, to talk about, I think two. Um, it is it I mean, it will change over time for sure, but it's, um, it is that lived experience piece, right? Because I think there is a lot of Respect and congeniality. I mean, I think council does a great job of working together, but but it is.
[29:51] You're not besties with anybody, right? S2:
[29:55] Absolutely. And recognizing that is is important. And I and I do think, you know, it is the shared experiences we will have and have had hard things that we've, um, decisions we've had to make or policies. Um, and over time, you know, the growth that comes from working together to solve those big issues, you know, makes that big difference. Oh.
[30:24] Absolutely. No doubt about it. It's just sometimes I get impatient.
[30:29] Yeah. Yeah. For sure. I yeah, I could I can see that. And and it's interesting too. It's not just directly council and city staff, but it is all the new rooms that you're exposed to, right? I had someone early on say to me, if you're if you feel comfortable in the room you're in, you're in the wrong room. And, you know, just keep pushing yourself to be uncomfortable and be in those other situations. So sounds like you're doing it right and and you're learning along the way.
[31:02] Well thank you. I've always heard it more as the if you're if you ever feel like you're the smartest guy. And I got to assure you, in the last 18 months, I've never felt like the smartest person in any way.
[31:09] I have pretty amazing city staff.
[31:11] I really.
[31:11] Do. Yeah, I think the community doesn't know how lucky they are.
[31:16] Yes, it's I again, I just want to shout out our city attorney. He's done an amazing job, not just in terms of like because like, we just got our litigation report on all the things they'd worked on in the last year, and not just to do that, but it's like it's not about the litigation. Like it's important, it's necessary. It's good work. And they're doing a great job. It's the council that our city attorney has provided me in the first year of making sure like, hey, this is serious business right now. You need to make sure you're following all rules, all laws. You're following the standard decorum of how a city council meeting works. And those have been some of the most impactful conversations I've had since I started doing this.
[31:50] Well, and also review of all of our contracts and our council bills and, you know, all of those things they keep they keep all of us in line, but they also keep the entire city moving forward. So great legal staff for sure. So, um, so, you know, I think a lot about sometimes you fall into doing things the same way because that's how we've always done it. And I've been thinking a lot recently about, are there things we could do to tighten up our council meetings? Um, and, you know, perspective of somebody who's new and sort of, you know, how it's our formal trappings of our council meeting.
[32:48] Are there things that you now would look at and say, why do we do that? Like how how come that happens that way? S2:
[32:58] Pretty standard.
[32:59] That was my first in-person experience, right? I had no idea that people from outside the city limits of Champaign were permitted the same five minutes that everybody else gets. And I think that is a wonderful thing. I know that sometimes meetings can run long, and certainly I always remind people that if somebody else has already made a point, it's okay to sign on to a point somebody else has already made. But at the same time, I think it's absolutely wonderful. And one of the best things we do is we get to be the eyes and ears for the city government and for government in general for people to come. We get to be a stage for people to express as long as they're doing it respectfully and as long as nobody. You know, they're not threatening. I think it's wonderful that we get to be a showcase for the First Amendment for the city. I wouldn't want to change a thing about that part. I absolutely love.
[33:48] It. That's interesting. Yeah. I mean, I would say that's the most important job we have is listening to the public in that way. Um, and, and it does inform how we do our work. It may not right in that moment, but it it certainly impacts the work that we do. And I've, I've seen public participation changed the course of how the city does their work. I mean, we had years of public participation on equity issues and job related issues and, you know, minority contracting. And we now have our CDep program and we have our equity and engagement department. And, um, all of that took a probably way longer than it should have, but I know that council members being passionate about it and the public being passionate about it, change the course of the type of city that we are. And so it it's really important.
[34:52] Yeah. I mean, there are.
[34:54] Some things that maybe as far sometimes I fully appreciate that it's important to have rules and it's important that everybody tries to follow the rules. And certainly I've sometimes asked a question that maybe should have been asked earlier on, but it can be rough sometimes when you to go from the extremely formal. Here's a topic. Questions? Public comment. Council member comment. Let's take a vote. So I almost wish there's a little bit more open dialogue sometimes between questions and the and the dialogue portion where it was, you know, you didn't feel like you were breaking the rules to ask a question. I would be fine with that. I think that's something that maybe we could change and just keep it as like a sandwich of here's a chance to kind of open it up and then here's a chance to maybe follow up. But overall, I gotta say I, I enjoy the rigidity. I enjoy the format of the meetings. I. I you know, it wasn't what I was doing on Tuesday nights, but I can't imagine being anywhere else.
[35:44] I love that that's a that's a that's kind of a great ending comment I would say. Are there. Is there anything else that you wish the public knew about you that you know that you want to tell them about? Bob Pollett, our council member from district two.
[36:02] Oh, no. I can't give away all the dirty secrets.
[36:06] Now, what is the news? Is that gonna do? S1:
[36:46] I really think the mutual respect that everybody in the room has is something that I think it radiates out. I really do, because it's I was a little bit worried getting involved, that it would turn into a it would be a contentious situation. I've never really felt even when there's been disagreement, I've never felt that the meetings had been utterly contentious. And watching just the respect radiate out from council. I hope that transfers to the audience into the city and to city staff.
[37:12] That's great. And I do think the expectation is that people do their homework, make good decisions, but there's never an expectation that the the decisions be this the same way. Like you represent a different district. You come at it from a different perspective. And and I hope that, um, no one ever feels like there's this, you know, thumb of pressure about. I think everybody just does the best job they can. And that's maybe unique because we are a nonpartisan body.
[37:47] Right.
[37:48] And respect means that there's a level of agreement to like a standard of how people behave. But it doesn't mean you agree on the the overall issue and certainly etiquette. What is it? What's the phrase? Reasonable minds may differ, like there are plenty of times in which we all read the same information, we have the same facts and, you know, but you have lived conclusions. Or maybe as a district representative, it's my job sometimes to stand up for district two, you know, without harming the overall city. But if nobody else is going to, like, who's going to stand up for district two, if not me, that's great.
[38:16] Well, thank you for taking the time today. I've loved getting to talk to you some more, and I appreciate you being here.
[38:23] It's been a dream come true.