Bloomington's Downtown Task Force Committee wants permission to miss its Aug. 31 deadline to present its initial recommendations to the Bloomington City Council.
Members want more time to weight their priorities, such as on-street parking meters. Task force member Justin Boyd said the committee should set its focus on other things.
"We had talked about parking meters and moving everybody to the parking garages. I don't know if we're ready for that yet. I don't know if that's a recommendation we can bring forth at this time. I think there are other priorities we need to look at," Boyd said.
Other priorities suggested by the task force were the beautification of downtown and more creative freedom for business owners. Boyd also mentioned they should explore whether downtown safety is a real problem or a misperception that can be changed through education.
According to the Bloomington Police, downtown is not as unsafe as people think.
"Data shows crime rates are going down," Assistant Police Chief Ken Bays told the downtown task force.
The members of the task force said residents believe they are to be unsafe due to disorderly conduct from panhandlers. Bays said "disorderly" and "crime" might be the wrong terms to use when referring to beggars.
"One of the things we discussed in the meeting was disorderly conduct," said Bays. "That requires a behavior that's alarming or disturbing and causes a breach of the peace versus someone that asks for money that's irritating ... nuisance versus crime," Bays said.
When asked about how the issue of panhandlers could be eradicated, Bays said he did not have an answer.
"I encourage people to continue to call the police if they believe they are a victim of a crime," said Bays. "The police will respond and do what they can based on the information at the scene."
The Downtown Task Force Committee hopes to have things wrapped up and something to present by late September.
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