The Planning Commission's leadership for 2026-27 is set. Commissioners elected Kevin Cunningham as chair and Abdi Isse as vice chair, and appointed Shante Brown as secretary. Each vote was unanimous or close to it. The same meeting included the swearing-in of newly appointed Commissioner Madeline Summers.
City of Bloomington@CityofBloomingtonMNCommissioners elected Kevin Cunningham as chair, Abdi Isaac (Eay) as vice chair, and appointed Shante Brown as secretary for the 2026-2027 term, all by unanimous or near-unanimous vote.08/06
According to the city's roster, Cunningham's seat runs through June 30, 2027, and Isse's through June 30, 2028. Summers's term ends June 30, 2029, the same as Commissioner Robert Coleman's. Deanna White, Anne Linnee and Jared Munster fill out the 7-member board. The commission is advisory, but the City Council gets its recommendation on development proposals, development standards, long-range planning and transportation issues before voting on them. That gives the person running the meeting more say than the title suggests. Planning Manager Nick Johnson is the commission's staff liaison.
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Commissioners spent more of the night on how long residents get at the microphone. Right now the chair sets the public-testimony limit at each meeting. Commissioner Munster proposed swapping that for a fixed amount of time. Another member suggested a floor that would guarantee each speaker at least 3 minutes.
To compare, commissioners looked at how the City Council handles it: speakers there get 3 minutes by default. After that discussion no rule change was adopted. Testimony time stays where it was, in the chair's hands, and the chair is now Cunningham.
City of Bloomington@CityofBloomingtonMNCommissioner Munster proposed setting a fixed public-comment time (rather than letting the chair set it meeting-by-meeting), and a member suggested a 'no less than three minutes' floor; after discussion citing City Council's own 3-minute default with chair discretion to extend, the proposal was withdrawn.08/06
So if you plan to speak on a development, the commission's rules don't give you a number to count on. Your limit gets set at the meeting. Regular meetings are Thursdays at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Bloomington Civic Plaza, 1800 West Old Shakopee Road. The city has canceled the October 15 meeting, so the next ones are October 29 and November 12. To ask how testimony will work on a specific item, contact the Planning Division at 952-563-8920 or [email protected], or check the commission's page for agendas.
If the commission takes up the testimony question again, this story will be updated.
From the meeting: Planning Commission Meeting, August 6, 2026.
