- >> Hello, good evening.
- I am Mayor Carey and we are so glad to have you here,
- and I understand that we're up on a stage and you're down on the floor,
- which is not our favorite setup.
- But we are going to stay up here because BCAT's all set up and let's hear it for BCAT.
- We're so grateful to have community access,
- television that bring people into our town hall even when they can't be with us.
- In person, I have with me tonight,
- Jane Coopersmith, who is our Director of Economic and Sustainable Development at
- the City of Bloomington and the President of your City Council,
- Hopi Stossberg, who is also your district representative here.
- So the way we do this because gratefully,
- we see some new faces here, lots of new faces.
- We each will give an update on what we're thinking about and what is top of mind for
- us at the city right now and then what we really love is
- your questions that help steer the things that you really want to know about.
- We had some early birds here,
- so I asked them what they were interested in hearing about.
- So they've already worked in to my comments a couple of questions,
- but we do be thinking about questions
- because the best part of this is when you all tell us what you really want to know.
- I just want to start by saying thank you to each of you for showing up tonight.
- This is something we do every other month.
- We do these big town halls.
- We travel throughout the city,
- always invite the council representative from that district.
- Then the months that we're not doing these big town halls,
- I do traveling office hours and so that's a way to just get some one-on-one time with me.
- If you have an issue or concern that you really want some more focused attention on
- or don't really want to talk about in a big public setting.
- So let me just share with you a couple of really recent things that I think are pretty awesome.
- Just today, we swore in 11 new police officers.
- So my commitment when I was running for mayor and through my term in office so far,
- is to really get our public safety operating at full capacity and with policing,
- of course, get back to community policing.
- So that's when they're doing something other than just responding to emergencies,
- they're really friends in the neighborhood,
- they get to know people and can provide community safety that way.
- We're getting very close to being fully staffed at our police department,
- and I shouldn't say this because then somebody will retire or get injured,
- but our fire is in great shape, that's what I'll say.
- So we really have made great strides in the last 18 months on both fronts.
- I also want to highlight the new transportation that we have going on downtown,
- and people are confused about that, that makes sense.
- So it's like a little minibus,
- and it's branded with our Blink Bloomington Transit logo,
- and that will be circulating,
- so it will be going on a set route.
- But if it's not busy, it also can be called like an Uber.
- So you can say, "This is where I am, come pick me up."
- So that is really exciting.
- It's free, and it is an effort to really maximize parking in our parking garages and elsewhere,
- and to make shopping downtown easier,
- especially if you're mobility limited.
- So you want to park a couple blocks away and go to a few shops,
- and then go all the way back to your car.
- Blink can help with that.
- So other bigger but longer-term things.
- We are working on a complete website rebuild.
- Desiree is in the back,
- our fabulous communications director.
- She is heading up that charge,
- and we're really excited about doing that,
- not because website design or rebuilding is fun,
- but because it's really a barrier to communication and transparency.
- If you've been on the city's website,
- you know that it's a website that's been added onto over many years,
- and nobody can find anything.
- Even I can't find things.
- So we're really looking forward to an easy-to-navigate website
- that gets our residents what they need to know when they need to know it.
- Make some audience nods.
- Nods, yes.
- Everybody, yes. It's like a next year thing.
- Yeah, it's going to be a minute.
- The question was, when do you expect to launch it?
- You-all can feel free to remind me.
- I have to repeat your questions into a microphone for folks on CATS.
- So, we also have our friends at Civic Brand who have been working very hard,
- and I'm going to tip my things over.
- There are some postcards that look like this in the back.
- And on the back is a website.
- You can go by QR code.
- It is a survey that will take you through a questionnaire
- about what makes Bloomington special for you.
- This is a branding effort that we're doing.
- We took the old wage growth study off the shelf.
- We decided to actually implement the wage growth study.
- And one of the first things it said was you really need to have a clear way
- of talking about what's great about Bloomington because wages are all going
- to be driven by the kind of businesses that we can attract and retain here
- and getting those top-level jobs, the mid-level jobs, et cetera.
- And, you know, I talk a lot, if you've heard me talk ever, about housing.
- Housing is both a supply problem but it's also an affordability problem.
- Part of the reason it's not affordable is because our wages are very low here.
- And so this is all part of a bigger economic development picture
- that Jane's going to talk more about, I'm sure.
- Tied to that housing work, we are doing a full audit of our permitting process.
- Housing permits have been way too slow.
- And that actually impacts the cost of housing here in Bloomington.
- And so we really want to make those efficient.
- We want to make sure that we can get our I's dotted and T's crossed,
- make sure everybody's in compliance and then get that permit out the door.
- And tied to that but separate work, we are going to be doing some revisions
- to our unified development ordinance.
- That is the code which used to be about 20 pages long just 50 years ago.
- It's now 564 pages long, imagine navigating that.
- And we need to do some very targeted revisions to make sure
- that we actually are getting housing that is targeted
- at people who work here in Bloomington.
- So we've really had a lot of student housing development over the past few years.
- We haven't had very much housing for our longer term residents.
- And that is concerning and it has to do, it is impacting our population retention,
- our population growth, and of course how far people have to commute to be able to work here.
- A couple of things that I'm going to highlight really quickly,
- we're in the middle of a parks master plan.
- That is all focused on sustainability.
- We have a lot of parks here, they cost a lot to maintain, they're beautiful,
- they're award winning, so when we talk about parks master plan,
- that doesn't mean we're planning to build a bunch of new parks.
- It means that we want to effectively and efficiently care very well for the parks
- that we have and so that's the focus of that parks master plan.
- We also have a parking study underway.
- Is the survey still live for that Desiree?
- Yes, okay, so if you have thoughts about parking and I'll just say,
- I have never met a resident in Bloomington that doesn't have thoughts about parking,
- please go take our parking survey.
- It only takes about five minutes.
- We really need all kinds of people to take that parking survey.
- We want to know why you're not parking downtown.
- If you are not parking downtown, why you do park downtown,
- what other modes you're using to not take up a parking spot,
- all kinds of people,
- we would love to hear from you on that.
- We also have capital projects planning happening for a new police headquarters.
- The intent right now is to put that at 714.
- You can't hear? You can?
- Yeah, 714 South Roger Street.
- We also need a new public works facility eventually.
- I'm going to talk really high level.
- I think many people have been reading in the news about the bill that was passed in
- our state house that really is limiting funding to local municipalities.
- We are concerned about that and we're
- concerned about how that's going to limit our budget very directly and very quickly.
- That of course comes at a time when there's significant federal funding cuts.
- We are concerned.
- We are going to be very creative about how we make ends meet.
- But I also just want to communicate to the public,
- the budget that you're going to see rolled out in August is not going to have a lot of special
- projects in it.
- It's not going to have a lot of new initiatives.
- We really need to focus on basic city services.
- Make sure your water is clean and safe.
- Your streets are plowed and they're well-maintained.
- Your parks are maintained, etc.
- This is not going to be a budget where you're going to hear us talking about big new initiatives.
- This is not the year for that.
- So that's what you can expect.
- Budget season, of course, is in August at the city of Bloomington,
- and we'll have some hard decisions to make.
- But I just want to really get the public used to hearing that we're going to be back to basics
- budgeting here,
- because I'm really committed to doing what we can with what we already have.
- The state legislature would like us to increase local taxes significantly and that's how they
- expect us to make ends meet.
- I'll just tell you, I talked to plenty of residents who are on a fixed or limited income and the
- taxes really impact people.
- And so we're not going to do that unless we think it's absolutely necessary and we will do it in a
- limited way.
- So that's our approach.
- And now on to Jane.
- You cover a lot of territory there.
- So yeah, I'm Jane Cooper-Smith, I'm the Director of Economic and Sustainable Development for the
- city.
- And our city is unique in that we put sustainability with economic development.
- We actually place arts and small business in the same context as well.
- We believe that these areas mutually inform one another and create a stronger economy when they're
- placed in the same context.
- So we want our small businesses to have access to the people who are facilitating arts and events.
- And we want our small businesses and our artists and our major economic development practitioners.
- We want everyone to have access to sustainability.
- Sustainability is a huge priority for the city of Bloomington.
- When Kerry talked about, you know, the local income tax impacts, Bloomington has already made a
- commitment to sustainability through its economic development local income tax.
- So we have a really significant budget for this already.
- And it serves us in a number of ways.
- This isn't the direction I was planning to go, but we'll just go with it.
- So it serves us in a number of ways.
- It helps us be more efficient as an institution with, you know, what how we're operating, what
- kinds of fixtures we have in our buildings,
- are our buildings all weather properly weatherized and what kinds of vehicles we're driving.
- It helps us with all those sorts of practical efficiencies.
- And then it helps us as a community deliver those same types of opportunities.
- So we have BGHIP, which is the Bloomington Green Home Improvement Program,
- which offers sorry, incentives for improvements that you make at home.
- If you're income qualified, you might get grant funding for them.
- If you're not income qualified, you can get really cheap financing for these projects.
- And then we offer a ton of resources, so if you're putting a heat pump in your house,
- you can see what that might cost you to install and then what are the laundry lists
- of tax benefits you can get with that.
- And those tax benefits are still there.
- We know they're there through 2025 and depending on what happens
- with this federal budget, they may also be there in 2026.
- So there's a lot of speculation that the federal budget won't actually get approved,
- which would mean that we just have a continuation.
- So there are some benefits to that, including the retention of these tax incentives.
- Yeah, so sustainability is really, really significant and that investment
- that our community, that you all have made in sustainability,
- is why we get national attention.
- Desiree just issued a press release today that talked about our being named,
- I can't remember what the official title was, but one of the most, or it was a,
- it was a grade A for sustainability of 112 cities across the globe.
- There were 112 A's across the globe and only 29 in the US.
- So we really fight above our weight in this category.
- The last thing I'll say about sustainability is that we're moving our efforts from,
- well, we're just expanding our efforts to include not just sustainability
- and greenhouse gas reduction, but really to think about climate resilience
- and the safety of our residents.
- So as summer hits, we're really concerned about people who have, you know,
- don't have access to air conditioning and who maybe have health,
- some kind of comorbidities that place them at greater health risks.
- So we have a low income air conditioner distribution program
- where if people are income qualified, they can get a free window unit installed
- in their house and they can potentially get a new window
- if the window frame isn't solid enough to install that.
- And that's anyone, renters or owners who live here.
- So we're thinking about that.
- We're helping install cooling stations across the community and we are trying
- to help people get to the swimming pool through the high heat, I can't remember,
- stay cool is what the program's called, the high heat days program.
- So if you're low income, if you qualify as a low income household,
- you can get access to those pools throughout the whole year.
- And then if you're not qualified in that way,
- when the temperature hits a certain amount, it's a level three high heat day,
- then we can all go swimming and just kind of try to decompress in that way.
- So those are some of our climate resilience initiatives.
- But we think a lot about placemaking.
- So our big swings for economic development,
- we want to grow our workforce population.
- We know that our population has declined.
- We know that our population is aging,
- which isn't bad in and of itself.
- We love retirees, they're a critical part of our community.
- But when our population becomes imbalanced,
- then the fabric can become a little weaker.
- So we need people represented at all parts of the life cycle.
- And so we know that we're missing that workforce piece.
- We know that people have been leaving Bloomington for
- places that are a little more affordable to live in.
- And so most of our initiatives are really,
- or many of our initiatives are working on just bringing those people back to Bloomington.
- So grow workforce population.
- We want to grow wages like Mayor Kerry mentioned,
- and we want to reinforce our economic base.
- And with these three major pillars,
- we have some pretty practical categories of activity underneath them.
- But I would say housing and childcare are probably the key of
- key importance under growing the workforce population.
- And everything really is driven toward reducing that housing constraint.
- So when we're talking about economic development,
- we're really thinking about Hopewell and what's happening there.
- And to Kerry's point about the development process,
- how can we reduce the barriers to construction in Bloomington?
- When we think about big picture economic development in a lot of communities,
- it's really just what resources,
- what dollars can the city provide to me and what type of incentive.
- But in Bloomington, well and everywhere,
- there's the time value of money.
- I see Tom here could talk about this much more intelligently than me.
- But an equal type of support for
- housing developers is just getting it done fast enough that they're not
- carrying debt and having to pay interest rates that drive up the cost of housing even more.
- So we're all really excited and motivated to be working on that.
- I think I'll park it there and pass to Hopi.
- There's a lot and we love questions.
- Thank you. So I'm Hopi Stasberg and I'm the District 3 City Council person.
- And as Mary Carey said, I'm also the President of City Council this year.
- And I will give a much shorter introduction than either of the other two
- because I would much rather just hear your questions.
- But a lot of the things that have already been talked about are things of course that
- City Council either already has dealt with or will have to also be involved with.
- So UDO changes, that's the Unified Development Ordinance,
- that will all end up coming through City Council at some point.
- And Mary Carey talked about a new police station,
- talked about a new public works building,
- all of those things have to get worked into the budget.
- We talked about the budget and right now,
- City Council and the city in general are really working on
- a lot of budget things to help make the budget process more transparent and make
- it more understandable with outcomes-based budgeting and helping make it clear,
- not just what department we're spending money in,
- but what that department is actually doing and how it is serving Bloomington,
- and how it is serving Bloomington residents.
- And I think that a lot of the programs that we have,
- if you look really at the programs,
- you can kind of see that.
- But if you incorporate that more into the budget process,
- then it's just easier to understand for everybody and it just makes it a little bit,
- a little bit more transparent, a little bit more accessible for everyone.
- So and then the other thing that I wanted to
- mention with regard to things that were already said,
- what Kerry said about the state property tax changes and how that is going to change,
- how we as a municipality, I mean,
- it's going to change our revenues and how we get revenue.
- And that's, I just want to say that I'm taking that very seriously as a council person,
- and I think that my colleagues are as well,
- because it's taxation in general of residents is just,
- it's very serious, it's not a laughing matter, it's not a joke.
- It is very, very serious and you have to think very,
- very carefully about how what we do impacts you all as residents.
- And so that is something that we are continuing,
- I'm continuing to learn more about and see how that develops.
- There's a lot of work going on behind the scenes with translating that bill from
- the state house and understanding how it's actually going to impact our budgets,
- and what that means in a very practical, analytical, mathematical sort of way.
- And then figuring out how we need to respond to that in terms of what
- our budgets for next year look like and what we're spending money on.
- And then of course with outcomes,
- what outcomes are we getting for what it is that we're spending money on.
- And the last thing that I want to talk about is just other ways to access me.
- Of course, you can email me anytime,
- hopi.stossberg@boomington.in.gov.
- And then I also have constituent meetings,
- generally third Saturdays of the month at 11 o'clock.
- And so the next one is June 21st.
- And so we're getting ready for City Council recess.
- Usually our meetings are Wednesday night.
- This Wednesday in two days is our last meeting until the middle of July.
- City Council meetings are kind of on summer recess.
- That doesn't mean it's a vacation or a break.
- It just means that our Wednesday meetings are on a little bit of a hiatus.
- But I will still have my constituent meetings throughout the summer.
- Usually I have those in person at City Hall.
- But weather allowing, I've been kind of going out into the farmers market instead.
- But my website at the city will kind of have updated information about that.
- So I think that that's everything for me right now,
- because I am very interested in hearing
- your questions and what you guys are interested in tonight.
- So thank you for coming and where are our questions?
- So Katz, do we need them to come to this microphone over there?
- They can just ask for, okay.
- So if you have a question,
- just raise your hand or stand up.
- Usually the great thing about these town halls is everybody has been very respectful.
- So if two people stand up at the same time,
- I'm sure we can figure out who can ask first.
- While you're thinking about standing up,
- did you announce Grand Faloon?
- No, it was on my list.
- Okay.
- We just want to invite you all to Grand Faloon this weekend.
- Actually, it's going on all week,
- but Friday night, there's the 4th and Rogers block party at 4th and Rogers.
- Then Saturday is the main stage concert which takes place on Kirkwood.
- I believe the concert starts at eight and it's free.
- Oh, what time? Four?
- Okay. The event starts at four.
- But it's free, kid-friendly,
- just a wonderful celebration.
- This event is supposed to be IU's love letter to Bloomington.
- So they've really put it on with us and to celebrate us.
- While we're announcing events,
- tomorrow is the groundbreaking of the Convention Center at
- 3.30 if anybody wants to also come to that groundbreaking.
- So that is an exciting culmination of a multi-year project.
- The beginning of it anyway.
- No, it is a culmination.
- It's a culmination of part of it.
- But yeah, I know we're just going to keep on
- talking until somebody stands up right now
- because we're just a master at that. Go for it.
- [ Silence ]
- >> Yes, so the question, the comment initially was about good
- that we have more police and then a comment
- that there's been some drug activity in your neighborhood.
- And let me just say that we want to do a great job, not an okay job.
- We do, of course, have to follow the law.
- And so, and that, you know, there's a standard for getting a warrant, et cetera.
- And so, there is a limit to what police can do.
- But I'm happy to talk to you afterwards about how we can improve and, you know,
- take that back to the chief.
- I think there's a lot of nuances that sometimes folks in the general public don't understand
- about the process that the police department does have to follow.
- Yeah. Yeah.
- [ Pause ]
- And it's been resolved now?
- Okay. Okay.
- Okay. Who else?
- I'll take it.
- Who else has a question?
- Yes. That would be great.
- You can introduce yourself if you'd like.
- We always love to know who we're talking to.
- [ Inaudible ]
- Uh-huh.
- [ Inaudible ]
- Yeah. So the -- I won't be able to remember the whole question, but the root of the question is
- that there's been some reporting in recent months about one particular sober-living organization
- called Malibu House, and the question is how does the --
- how can the city hold these organizations accountable for making sure
- that they're providing safety to their residents and other residents?
- And what we have learned in -- so that situation has been in the news for two different reasons,
- and one of those reasons is that some of those houses, and they're --
- the landlord is renting to Malibu House, so Malibu House doesn't own these properties,
- are not providing safe shelter, and so the city has gotten involved because there are --
- we, of course, have rental inspections, and we require safe, inhabitable living situations,
- so that's one of the reasons, and so we have -- we did not just target the sober-living.
- There were multiple properties that came under that violation, and we are committed
- in my administration to ensure that if you're renting in the city of Bloomington,
- you will be providing safe, inhabitable housing, so that's one end of it.
- The other end of things in terms of regulating sober-living institutions is actually done
- at the state level, and there are protections there
- that the city doesn't have jurisdiction over.
- I will tell you that there are different certifications
- for different sober-living institutions, and my feeling is that is important
- to get real certifications that mean that they're providing safety
- and a good environment to people who are in crisis, so that's where we are with that, yeah.
- >> Thank you.
- I also just want to add to that in terms of that specific house that was purchased and encouraged
- to change as an organization, so Eastern Heights actually had a neighborhood beating.
- Oh, boy, was it only last week?
- I think, yeah, a week and a half, something like that, and the director of Courage to Change,
- and the -- oh, the case manager who is actually going to be working with that house,
- both attended, and they are -- first of all, as an organization, they are state licensed.
- They are very concerned with maintaining a high quality of, I guess I'll say sobriety
- of service to the residents of their houses, like as an organization,
- and they're also very open to hearing from the community and talking to people,
- especially neighbors who are then concerned and want to understand more
- about the organization and who the new neighbors are.
- So, I can get you in touch with that person, if you would like that contact information.
- Thank you for sharing those last parts because I think that that community meeting did help
- at least most people kind of, you know, the unknown can always be a little bit scary,
- so the more you know, the more comfortable we can all feel with what happens.
- And what I see coming home all the time is all these poor students and small families
- trying to get across 10th Street from both directions, you know, they're taking the bus
- to get to school, and there's no safe way for them to cross 10th Street, and it's been
- a major issue for a long time, and I've communicated with the city in the past and been told that
- it's not, but it's a major issue, so I'm just making sure you all are aware of that,
- and please, please, make it so the safe way for them to cross is true.
- Thank you.
- Yeah, thank you for mentioning that.
- So that is a state road, and the state does have project plans, and I'm not gonna know
- all of the dates off the top of my head, but if you drive by there right now, you'll notice
- that there are utility flags on the side of the road, and I mean, they should start construction
- this year.
- That is what is supposed to happen.
- So this project is gonna be in two phases.
- The first phase is gonna work from 10th Street to just past Pete Ellis, and then there's
- gonna be a second phase that goes from where they stopped just past Pete Ellis to Russell
- Road, and yes, there is a plan online, so I could get you that link, too, if you wanted.
- So there is a plan online.
- The state has that all drawn out already because now they're entering the construction phase,
- and there will be better pedestrian...
- It will honestly not take very much to be better pedestrian infrastructure at that corner
- of Pete Ellis and 10th because there's literally no pedestrian infrastructure there right now.
- So there will be pedestrian infrastructure there.
- There will also be other improvements along that way, and ultimately, there will be pedestrian
- access all the way from Pete Ellis to Russell Road, which is also an area that is just completely
- lacking and devoid in terms of pedestrian infrastructure and also bicycle infrastructure.
- I believe the plan right now has a multi-use path along...
- I think it's gonna be along the north side of 10th Street all the way from the bypass
- to Russell Road ultimately, and it's gonna take multiple years for that to happen.
- And so I've heard from some people that it's just like, "Come on, let's make it go faster,"
- but it is at this point, I think, the fact that the ball is rolling and it is going because
- it has really been a long time coming in terms of working with the state and trying to get
- that project elevated to the level of it actually getting planned and completed.
- So the city is gonna watch it and make sure that they do what they need to to make it
- safe for people walking, right?
- That's really in the planning phase.
- So there was a public meeting about that first part from the bypass to just past Pete Ellis
- and I think that it was actually about two years ago because I was not in office at that
- time and there was a public meeting about it and they showed the project plans and it
- was a whole public input thing and yes, there are pedestrian crossings there.
- So it's the kind of thing like once it's in the plan, like that's the way that it should
- be, but yeah, yeah.
- And I just want to mention you can communicate directly with INDOT.
- We do and we likely have a weightier voice than any other individual, but it's not as
- significant as you might think and so it's also important that you use your voices there.
- I did want to mention in this context that on the city's website we do have a live projects
- map and even the projects that are not ours, anything that we know about, we'll highlight
- them on there and you can click on them and get the links to, you know, it'll take you
- right to INDOT, to the site for that particular project.
- So if there's ever anything going on in your neighborhood or on your way to work, whatever
- it is, if it's in the city of Bloomington, our intention is to have it on the map.
- You can let us know if we're missing something, but our crew is pretty good at putting things
- up on that map in real time and you can just click on it and get the various links that
- you need to find out more information.
- Who else has a question?
- In light of the state putting pressure on the city to increase taxes, I guess in light
- of the goal of not having to do that, is the city's budget healthy in moving through their
- budget, do we feel like the city is going forward, even pushing back a little bit with
- the state that the budget is healthy and in a good place for the next few years?
- The question is, given the cuts that are coming, is our budget in a healthy place?
- Yes and no.
- We moved to a system last year of doing these GO bonds to fund capital projects.
- Our ability to do that now with the intention that we would do a new little one every year,
- we can't do that because also in this bill you have to have a one-year break, no go bonds,
- and our current one is a two-year bond, so the intention to do rolling GO bonds is no
- longer going to work.
- This gets into some complexities that perhaps the sort of mother goose version of this is
- we're not there yet and we had been in a place of saying yes to everything that we wanted
- to do for a lot of years.
- Our budget was growing and growing and growing and we tried to sort of rein that in a bit
- last year during my first year in office.
- We're going to have to get used to saying no we can't do that this year.
- It sounds like a great program or project, it's not a good year to do that and because
- of the math on the income that's going to come to the city, it's going to limit our bond
- capacity anyway.
- So not only with go bonds.
- So it's quite significant.
- I know we had a lot of action at the state house and it was I can't imagine being a resident
- with a full time job that is not at the city and paying attention to everything that happened
- at the state house.
- I will just say your voices really matter there.
- I spent some days up at the state house advocating for our city.
- We need residents to be calling because the whole approach was well if you don't have
- enough money just put more local income tax together and you can get what you need or
- we'll fix it later was the other answer it's going to be an uphill battle to fix it later.
- So we're not in a great spot.
- I do want to recognize that Dr. Markay Winston our wonderful superintendent of MCCSC has joined
- us and just want to give a shout out to the amazing work she's doing very tough circumstances
- because those cuts are going to have a bigger impact on the schools and they have no ability
- to put in a local income tax.
- So they are just dealing with the cuts so yeah I'm just going to say that the really short
- story in terms of that is that the state is lowering property taxes lowering the revenues
- that we can get from property taxes and then telling municipalities and county as well you
- can raise income taxes in order to make up some of that shortfall I don't think that
- it could even necessarily make up all of that shortfall but what that does is it just it
- it just changes the tax liability it just says oh instead of these people over here
- paying it we're gonna have these people over here pay something more and you know if you
- think about people owning a home say or owning property right even if it's not the home that
- they live on rental property or business property versus people who are just trying to make
- ends meet working a job and all of a sudden those people are just making ends meet working
- a job they're gonna get more tax liability through their income tax and so that's why
- it's not this like clean and easy thing for like me as a council person Carrie as mayor
- like us as a municipality or as a county to go oh well it's fine we'll just raise income
- taxes because it's not like we can't that's that's not a good solution for residents for
- the population and so that's kind of what makes it really hard and so then you're going
- okay how are we gonna figure out losing revenue without necessarily being able to make up
- all of that revenue because we don't want to do that to our residents so and and we
- had an extra chair up here in the beginning I don't know if dr. Winston wants to come
- up and be be in a hot seat but you should feel free to just sit out there and be anonymous
- if you want to as well I fully support that okay can I come and join you I'm just anyway
- thank you for that question who has another question come on you all came out here for
- something I know quite a few people that are if not terrified close to it yeah I know a
- lot of people are really scared about the immigration situation and we're working with
- all of our nonprofit partners and faith communities to make sure that the support that we that
- can be offered is offered and Exodus is doing a great job I'll give them a shout out but
- there are several other nonprofits that are really doing a great job we are you know that
- the executive orders keep changing the policies keep shifting but my communication hopefully
- has been clear that that we want to be supportive and welcoming in Bloomington and and I think
- you know we have all kinds of people that are scared green card holders and naturalized
- citizens now as well so I'll just encourage you all to support those great nonprofits faith
- communities that are leading the way with that I will add to that that one of the other
- things you can do is just listen to the people around you who might be in that situation
- and I actually attended an event last night with it was it was a picnic it was a annual
- refugee picnic that I have attended every year since its origin about four years ago
- and it was really fun and family friendly and there were lots of people there having
- a great time and in the midst of that there were also people that told me that they were
- scared even though they are totally legal and they have all of their paperwork and and
- so just hearing that from our neighbors and supporting them we'd also love to hear what
- you're excited about this summer in Bloomington or anything else if you don't have questions
- we would just love to hear from you yeah more of a statement it's exciting to see the new
- convention center finally have their groundbreaking and all of that and I know as far as economic
- issues that we're having right now it's supposed to be a boon but one of the things that our
- current convention center is is a resource for local organizations to be able to go in
- and have celebrations and things like that and I'm and over the last year couple years
- their current convention center has the prices have gone up and they're starting to price
- out some of the organizations and I'm really concerned about the new convention center
- and what the pricing is going to be like there because obviously I think business is coming
- from out of town and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and what the
- pricing is going to be like there because obviously I think business is coming from out
- of town and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and what the pricing
- is going to be like there because obviously I think business is coming from out of town
- and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and what the pricing is going to be
- like there because obviously I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really
- concerned about the new convention center and what the pricing is going to be like there
- because obviously I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really concerned
- about the new convention center and what the pricing is going to be like there because
- obviously I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really concerned about the
- new convention center and what the pricing is going to be like there because obviously
- I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really concerned about the new convention
- center and what the pricing is going to be like there because obviously I think business
- is going to be like there because obviously I think business is coming from out of town
- and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and what the pricing is going to be
- like there because obviously I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really
- concerned about the new convention center and what the pricing is going to be like there
- because obviously I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really concerned
- about the new convention center and what the pricing is going to be like there because
- obviously I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really concerned about
- the new convention center and what the pricing is going to be like there because obviously
- I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really concerned about the new convention
- center and what the pricing is going to be like there because obviously I think business
- is coming from out of town and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and
- what the pricing is going to be like there because obviously I think business is coming
- from out of town and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and what the
- pricing is going to be like there because obviously I think business is coming from out
- of town and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and what the pricing
- is going to be like there because obviously I think business is coming from out of town
- and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and what the pricing is going to be
- like there because obviously I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really
- concerned about the new convention center and what the pricing is going to be like there
- because obviously I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really concerned
- about the new convention center and what the pricing is going to be like there because
- obviously I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really concerned about the
- new convention center and what the pricing is going to be like there because obviously
- I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really concerned about the new convention
- center and what the pricing is going to be like there because obviously I think business
- is coming from out of town and I'm really concerned about the new convention center
- and what the pricing is going to be like there because obviously I think business is coming
- from out of town and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and what the
- pricing is going to be like there because obviously I think business is coming from
- out of town and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and what the pricing
- is going to be like there because obviously I think business is coming from out of town
- and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and what the pricing is going to be
- like there because obviously I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really
- concerned about the new convention center and what the pricing is going to be like there
- because obviously I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really concerned
- about the new convention center and what the pricing is going to be like there because
- obviously I think business is coming from out of town and I'm really concerned about the
- new convention center and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and I'm really
- concerned about the new convention center and I'm really concerned about the new convention
- center and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and I'm really concerned
- about the new convention center and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and
- I'm really concerned about the new convention center and I'm really concerned about the new
- convention center and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and I'm really
- concerned about the new convention center and I'm really concerned about the new convention
- center and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and I'm really concerned
- about the new convention center and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and
- I'm really concerned about the new convention center and I'm really concerned about the new
- convention center and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and I'm really
- concerned about the new convention center and I'm really concerned about the new convention
- center and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and I'm really concerned
- about the new convention center and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and
- I'm really concerned about the new convention center and I'm really concerned about the new
- convention center and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and I'm really
- concerned about the new convention center and I'm really concerned about the new convention
- center and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and I'm really concerned
- about the new convention center and I'm really concerned about the new convention center and
- say what you actually are going to do. It's a list of what you'd love to see. And between
- that master plan time and the time that it was time to move dirt on roads and other things,
- there wasn't a whole lot of funding that was coming in and the construction prices were
- going up and up and up. And so with a massive vision statement, which is the master plan,
- and no tangible plan for how we'd actually achieve it, Hopewell has been an incredible
- opportunity which is also to say it's been a challenge to get it to pencil. And you will
- see housing there. My commitment and my goal is to get the people that we want living in
- Bloomington. It would be easy to put Hopewell together for a student housing developer.
- The multinational financing is there. It's open and shut. It is less easy to get a neighborhood
- that we're really proud of that says this is Bloomington and that calls the people who
- work in Bloomington to live there. And that's what we're going to get at Hopewell. And
- so the details of how we're going to get there have taken some expertise to finagle. And
- I think we're getting closer. But in all transparency, it's been a challenge. And I've been in
- housing
- a long time. It's not rocket science, but there are a lot of components that get interwoven
- into it. And the easy way is usually not the way that we want to go. Because it's going
- to get us what's easy to finance. And I think we have enough of that in Bloomington. And
- unfortunately, the parents of the students that we want at MCCSC, they don't live in
- those places. And the folks that are working at Novo and at Catalan and Cook and not Catalan,
- Novo now, at Boston, etc., they don't live in those places either. We need the place,
- the people who are going to walk to the university, who are going to be working at trades district,
- who are going to go over to Cook. That's who we want living at Hopewell. And we want to
- make that attainable for them. And attainable means reasonable for your income. So it's
- not a great thing that we're not turning dirt on houses yet, but I also will say it is a
- good thing because we're trying to protect Bloomington from the things we don't necessarily
- need more of. We need to get it right and we only have one opportunity to do it. Yeah.
- Two minutes. We're getting the two minute warning. Yeah. Anybody else have a burning
- question or a comment that they want to make before we close things out? I'll hang out
- for a little while afterwards, maybe. Hope you and Jane will for a few minutes too. Okay.
- We're going to close out. I'm going to encourage you to go to Grand Faloon this weekend. Go
- to the city pools and have fun meeting some new neighbors and think about how you might
- like to contribute to your city through volunteering, contributing your treasure other ways. Thank
- you for being here. Your voices matter to me and I know to Hopi and Jane as well and
- this is how we build a city that really works for everyone.
- ("Pomp and Circumstance" by Edward Elgar)
- [ Music ]