Office of the Mayor: City Hall Reopening

The Challenge

When the COVID pandemic began, Mayor Hamilton wanted to keep Showers City Hall open for Bloomington residents to show how the government would not stop working for the people. However, with Monroe County school children and families returning from Spring Break travel in mid-March 2020, there was a great amount of employee concern regarding travelers coming back into the office. At the time, there was very minimal knowledge about COVID and its dangers. As a result, Mayor Hamilton limited physical presence in City Hall to City employees only on March 23, 2020. The public was encouraged to do business online as much as possible. Once the COVID numbers and corresponding safety measures were better understood, the Mayor wanted to open City Hall to residents as much as was safe to do so. A challenge arose in how this could be done safely for both residents and City employees.

City Hall was to open back up on May 26, 2020 to the public for those who could not conduct their business online. But, in order to do so, new safety measures were implemented. Signs on the external doors to City Hall encouraged residents to seek online resources or call ahead regarding their needs. However, if a resident did need to come in, they could. 

It was important that both residents and City employees understood and adhered to the new safety protocols once inside. City employees were notified by email, and residents were notified through a press release and posting on the Office of the Mayor Facebook page. The list and explanation of the new safety measures were thorough, but there was a concern that people would gloss over the important information and that compliance with the new measures would not be met well enough to protect the health of everyone involved.

The Idea

In order to best demonstrate what this new City Hall experience would look like and feel like, Andrew Krebb, Digital Communications Specialist within the Office of the Mayor, created a video walkthrough of City Hall’s reopening. You can view this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwBmg3_8ygw&feature=youtu.be. In addition to alerting the public to City Hall’s reopening, this video also outlined expectations and guidelines for City employees who work on-site and addressed their concerns and uncertainty about the safety of reopening.  

The Cost

There was no monetary cost involved in filming City Hall’s reopening and the new process residents and employees could expect upon their arrival because Andrew used equipment he already owned. There was a cost, however, for the plexiglass barriers, hand-sanitizing stations, and disposable masks provided at the main entrance, as well as door signage, and floor stickers indicating directional flow. Though costly, these safety precautions were essential to reopening City Hall and ensuring the health of Bloomington’s residents and City Hall staff. Given the pandemic, the costs associated with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), though not anticipated as part of the city’s budget pre-pandemic, was a necessity. 

The Benefit

Though City Hall was restricted to City employees for roughly two months early in the pandemic, it’s reopening to the public with COVID-19 safety protocols in place indicate the Bloomington government’s commitment to its residents. For some, conducting their city business solely online was not a sustainable option (especially those without access to the internet, and those needing resident parking passes before the system allowed for online requests later in Summer 2020). By re-opening in a limited capacity, Showers City Hall can now serve every resident during these troubling times. In providing a video walkthrough of what residents can expect when they arrive at City Hall, the Office of the Mayor aims to provide transparency and prepare residents for the changes. A special thank you to City Hall staff both in the front atrium providing these services and those other office representatives who make themselves available to meet with residents in a socially distant way despite the pandemic!

Metadata

City Departments: Office of the Mayor, Public Works, Legal

City Point of Contact: Mary Catherine Carmichael, Andrew Krebbs

Partners: n/a

Partner Point of Contact: n/a

Type of Innovation: Process Improvement

Date Implemented: May 2020