- (upbeat music)
- Hello and welcome to "Cats Week."
- I'm Annalise Poorman.
- The Monroe County Board of Health
- met on Thursday, March 20th.
- During public comment,
- county resident Melanie Davis spoke to the board
- about a name and gender change that was denied.
- Davis expressed concern that there has not been
- enough clarity to help people impacted
- to navigate the executive order
- instated by Governor Mike Braun.
- I had a friend come in earlier,
- I guess a week ago,
- who had a court order to change her daughter's
- and her gender on the birth certificate.
- And that was denied.
- And we've gone through a lot.
- They're actually trying to seek legal counsel
- through the ACLU, I understand that this has been
- something that was handed down from the state.
- So it's not just a no-county,
- but actually, I mean, I can't ask questions,
- but I will make some clarification.
- We handed this down, where this came from,
- where we can find more information on this,
- because this is,
- I understand it's in respect to
- the executive orders from Governor Bond.
- However, it's going to affect a lot of people,
- including people like myself,
- who are members of the intersex community.
- I didn't find out until I was an adult.
- I'm also transgender because I was raised as an adult.
- But people who are intersex also will be impacted by this.
- And there's no clarity.
- There's nothing that's been put out for the public.
- There's been nothing that would help people navigate this
- and also find their address.
- Health Department Director Lori Kelly
- explained that the local county vital records department
- is able to make name changes.
- However, they can only request a gender change,
- and then the Indiana Department of Health
- is in charge of making the gender change.
- Guidance in the past that we have received historically
- is that the Indiana Department of Health
- is the organization that makes gender changes.
- So when individuals present to the health department,
- we do have access to go in and make name changes.
- The process then goes to submit a ticket
- to the Indiana Department of Health
- to have a gender change made.
- What we received from the Indiana Department of Health
- on March 14th was that they will no longer process
- gender change requests.
- And so that's kind of the situation
- I think we've been dealing with now.
- So it's counties between the rock and the hard place
- if they have a parent come into the court order
- saying to change the gender,
- yet IDOH is saying don't change the gender.
- IDOH actually is the one who goes in
- and makes that change.
- And we have been instructed that we cannot make that change
- that it goes through the Indiana Department of Health.
- Chair of the board, Aurora DiOrio,
- followed up asking for clarification.
- County registrar, Kathy Hertz responded.
- Forgive my ignorance of how the data system works,
- but we're, we in vital records,
- we can request some change be made,
- but we can't actually make the change.
- Is that a good way to say it or no?
- The state has always mandated local health departments
- not do gender changes.
- They will never tell us why,
- but they've said we can do the main change,
- but we have to put in a request
- for them to do the gender change.
- So following that instruction,
- last week with what I assume was your friend,
- they told us they were not going to do them anymore
- citing the governor's order.
- And I am holding a court order instructing all,
- anyone issuing an identity document to change the gender
- and they wouldn't do it.
- They have told us we're not allowed to do it.
- So that's where we are.
- Okay, so we're between the rock and the hard place.
- The state registrar and division director
- at the Indiana Department of Health
- reached out to county health departments
- with guidance on the new executive order.
- County attorney, Dave Schilling,
- explained what the guidance entails.
- Basically, this sets forth all the statutory requirements
- relating to creation of birth records
- and the role of the health department in.
- So the court's order basically say,
- we're directing anybody that has issues, identity,
- records, including the state board of health
- and its subsidiary.
- So we're an establishment, we're a subsidiary,
- talks about the process that we go through.
- And then it talks about the state requirements
- for maintaining the birth records
- on the Indiana birth records system.
- And in those, we also have our own birth records system
- for people born up to 2006.
- And that's under the county control.
- So what the county has done, and after that,
- it's the state that the state has been maintaining records
- on the Indiana birth records system.
- So what this is basically saying is,
- when we get an order from the court,
- we change the name and the gender marker
- on our local system.
- We have the authorities change the name on the state system,
- but not the gender marker.
- So then we send it up to the state.
- We used to send it up with a ticket.
- Then they've let us know that they're not even processing
- those tickets until they hear from the attorney general.
- So we just send copies for the order
- to the state board of health there,
- their vital records response team or whatever it's called.
- And that's what we're doing.
- And if a record comes in that is 2006 before,
- change in ours, if not, then send to the state.
- So we will, I just wanna be super clear for everybody
- before we have a discussion.
- So we will change gender on a record that we have control
- over which means 2006 and older.
- That's, I think that's what we've been doing.
- Okay.
- And we don't have control of anything newer like 2007 on,
- so we are unable to change that.
- Oh, we can only change the name.
- Okay.
- Because the state has authorized us to do that.
- The board of health voted to submit a legal report
- which documents the Monroe County health department's
- compliance with the court order to change a petitioner's name
- and gender marker on local birth records,
- despite Governor Braun's executive order
- prohibiting state agencies
- from processing gender marker changes.
- County health board members discussed
- what the report entails.
- This would be, the intent of this is to possibly
- file this with the issuing court just to let the court know
- that the county has complied with its order
- for the next thing that came.
- Basically, this outlines the circumstance
- which we, and how we know about making our decision, really.
- I guess the form of this document here,
- if you believe that, that any word that walks in,
- we can just plug in the cause notes and other things.
- But Lisa, the ticket, if somebody comes under the order,
- we'll do the ticket process with the state
- and then file this, which basically says,
- we've changed from our records
- and done the ticket process with the state.
- Okay.
- The board voted unanimously to file the legal report
- in the Monroe Circuit Court.
- The Monroe County Board of Health
- will meet again on April 17th.
- The Monroe County Women's Commission met on March 20th.
- During commissioner updates,
- Commissioner Juliet Hardesty shared what her goals are
- as vice chair of the commission.
- I do wanna say happy first day of spring,
- whether or not it feels like it,
- and also happy Women's History Month,
- and let's go make some women's history now.
- So I'm now, I'm vice chair this year,
- and what I'm interested in doing,
- kind of wanting to see what you all think,
- but I'm interested in what information is available
- about the status of women in Monroe County.
- And it's been something I've maybe been kind of
- circling around a bit for a while,
- but I'm interested in digging into that a little bit,
- and I'm also interested in what information
- is not available, that's kind of the other side of it.
- So, and then the sources of any information,
- and if that's like community organizations,
- or local or county government, state level,
- or federal level, and if the information has been available
- and is removed or no longer made available,
- I think I'm kind of interested in looking at that
- as time goes on this year.
- I think there are some topics of information
- that seem like they're pretty easy to come by
- for Monroe County, such as wage gap for women,
- number of women-owned businesses, life expectancy,
- age group trends county-wide, that sort of thing.
- I think those seem to be like
- they're gonna be pretty easy to find,
- but there are other topics related to the status of women,
- like the number of women experiencing homelessness,
- number of women property owners,
- trends in contraception and miscarriage and abortion
- and birth support in the county,
- the number of women supporting children in the home,
- the percentage of women in elected positions,
- trends in childcare support,
- trends in gender affirming care,
- trends in post-menopausal healthcare
- and topics that impact other marginalized genders,
- and those I think are gonna be more difficult to get at,
- but things like that I'm kind of interested
- to see what we can find out
- that can give us a way to share a fuller picture
- of the lived experience of marginalized genders
- in Monroe County than what we can share,
- even as the members of the Women's Commission like we are.
- So I'm planning on researching a topic for each meeting
- and sharing what I'm finding or not finding.
- Hardesty continued to explain her goal
- to provide an update at each meeting
- about what information is available to the community
- and what is not available
- on the status of women in Monroe County.
- As a very basic baseline of information,
- at the federal level,
- the United States Census has a quick facts sheet
- on Monroe County, Indiana.
- So this is not just Bloomington,
- but it's all of Monroe County.
- And at the estimated total population of Monroe County
- as of July 1st, 2024, so that's July of last year,
- is 140,702 people.
- And they also estimate that of that population,
- 50.3% of that population is female.
- So that puts the estimate at 70,773 people are women.
- So the topics we'll be getting into
- impact more than half of the population in Monroe County.
- Can consider things that way.
- The topics we might not be able to find out
- anything about impact more than half the people
- in Monroe County.
- And the historic inequities that have existed
- for over 200 years since the founding of this county
- in 1818, now affect more than half the people in the county.
- So I'm not going to get into any particular topic today,
- but because I wanna hear, I'm kind of interested
- to hear what you all think about this as a concept
- and what sorts of things you might think
- or you're considering are important
- to find out more about.
- But this is what I'd like to focus on
- for the remainder of my time as vice chair
- when I'm giving updates.
- So we can see where it takes us.
- Later in the meeting, Hardesty shared a presentation
- that she's been working on with commissioner Maria Douglas
- to present to Monroe County commissioners
- to contribute to the conversation of the new jail.
- To get a little bit of background on this,
- starting, this kind of came out of work
- that the Monroe County Women's Commission did
- when we were considering issues around
- the new Monroe County jail
- in terms of women and marginalized genders.
- And we were doing this work in 2023 and 2024.
- And we were arriving at topics
- that we wanted to make sure were brought up and considered
- around things like separate areas
- needed for safety based on gender,
- things like needing menstruation supplies provided,
- needing care for pregnancy, giving birth and childcare
- when people are incarcerated.
- And then diversion support
- needing to include childcare support
- and reentry support needing to include childcare support.
- So making sure those sorts of things
- were being considered when a new facility
- and a new system for the Monroe County jail
- was being considered.
- And working on this, we started contemplating
- that this lens of supporting
- and improving conditions for marginalized genders
- could be used to evaluate policies and ordinances as well
- and improve the lives of all county residents
- by centering and elevating gender equity concerns.
- So we are proposing this gender equity rubric
- to the Monroe County commissioners
- as a tool that they can use
- to help mitigate these inequities
- and produce better ordinances and policies
- that are better explained and maintained
- for everyone in our community.
- She went over the next steps and recommendations
- for implementing the gender equity rubric.
- The next steps for this are we hope to finalize these,
- finalize the rubric and the guidelines
- possibly with another test run
- on a county ordinance or policy.
- I think it would be interesting to see this
- in more of a conversational setting
- where multiple people are trying this out.
- And then we're interested if it's possible
- to publish both the rubric and the guidelines
- on the Monroe County Women's Commission webpage.
- And at that point, it's a tool that is available
- for public use.
- So it would not be just something that county government
- or local government could use,
- something that businesses could consider,
- community organizations could consider,
- anyone that is putting policies into place.
- Commission members recommend that they reach out
- to a subject matter expert like a gender equity professor
- at Indiana University before they present
- to the commissioners.
- The Monroe County Women's Commission will meet again
- on April 17th.
- The Waste Reduction District Citizens Advisory Committee
- met on March 20th.
- Executive Director at Waste Reduction District
- of Monroe County, Tom Glassen,
- gave an update on legislation that could impact the county.
- There was a number of bills,
- this legislation that we were monitoring.
- And of all the ones that we were monitoring,
- only three House bills and one Senate bill
- actually made it over to the other chamber.
- And at this point, none of the four had any action.
- One is actually had a hearing and they held it in committee.
- They said they would bring it back up,
- but they held it in committee for the time being.
- So the bills that are still moving,
- one was originally drafted to address executive sessions
- of a governing body and add some additional topics
- that would be covered by the executive sessions.
- While that's still there, that's since been amended to,
- for lack of a better way to phrase it,
- it appears that somebody added amendments
- trying to fix all of the virtual meeting stuff
- that was rushed through when COVID ends there.
- So they're shoring up some of the requirements
- of the virtual components of public meetings.
- And the one, I guess the one tidbit that's in there
- is it does provide a mechanism of public to challenge
- the facts taken at a meeting if there's a problem
- with the virtual, any disruption of the streaming
- or technological failure.
- So that's something that we're watching.
- Another house bill had to do with doing public notices
- on a website that the state would establish
- that would satisfy the statutory public notice
- requirements that did make it out of the house
- into the Senate.
- Obviously the newspaper lobby,
- it's very vocal against that bill.
- That is the one that did get one hearing
- in the Senate committee, still in that committee.
- Another one is a bill that has to do,
- title is waste disposal.
- But what it does is define illegal dumping
- and make that a criminal offense, misdemeanor.
- That's one that we're pleased to see and following.
- And it made it through the house 95 to zero.
- Well, it certainly has bipartisan support there.
- He continued to explain that one bill
- could impact them financially
- if they have to focus on cybersecurity.
- The one Senate bill we're watching
- is an environmental matters bill,
- but what it has in it is cybersecurity requirements
- for publicly-owned wastewater treatment works,
- which the Leachate Treatment Finance Land Bill
- would qualify, would be defined
- as publicly-owned treatment work.
- So that's one that we're watching,
- 'cause that would certainly, if it goes through,
- would have an impact on us.
- Potentially a financial impact
- that may or may not be significant.
- I understand the purpose behind the bill.
- Talked to a couple of senators
- and suggested, requested to maybe an amendment be proposed
- to have it applied to facilities
- that are doing over X thousand gallons a day.
- So let me, I don't view our facility
- that's doing 25,000 gallons a day
- as a priority target for somebody
- that really wants to do something.
- The next meeting of the Waste Reduction District
- Citizens Advisory Committee will happen on April 17th.
- The Monroe County Plan Commission met on March 18th.
- The commission held the final hearing
- for the Southern Meadows Major Subdivision
- Preliminary Platt Amendment Two.
- Senior Planner, Drew Myers,
- presented a summary of the request.
- The petitioner requests to amend the phasing schedule
- of the Southern Meadows Major Subdivision Preliminary Platt.
- Phases one, two, and three have been platted and recorded.
- The acquisition of building permits
- and the construction of single-family residences
- within each of the three phases is ongoing.
- The petitioner now requests new configuration
- of phases four through six.
- Phase four will be split up into two non-contiguous sections
- with a total of 16 lots and will include the construction
- of the road connection to South College Drive.
- Phase five will be reconfigured and consists of 10 lots.
- Phase six will be split up into two non-contiguous sections
- with a total of 10 lots and will include the construction
- of the asphalt side path to Clear Creek Elementary.
- Although phase four and phase six involve
- non-contiguous sections, each phase will be built out
- as if it were one contiguous phase.
- And after reviewing the language
- in the 1997 Subdivision Control Ordinance,
- the legal department confirmed
- that the Subdivision Control Ordinance
- does not preclude developers from using this strategy
- for configuring subdivision phases.
- The approval of this preliminary plot amendment
- will retain the original plan for the roadway connection
- to South College Drive to occur within phase four.
- And the additional turn lane on South Old State Road 37
- onto South Orchard Lane will also remain with phase four
- under this preliminary plot amendment.
- The asphalt side path to Clear Creek Elementary
- will remain with phase six.
- So some new language with this update for tonight's meeting.
- This preliminary plot amendment also involves a change
- to the written commitment.
- You'll see exhibits seven and eight in the staff report
- with respect to the improvements currently detailed
- to occur under phase four through phase six.
- The written commitment amendment,
- specifically exhibit eight, updates the timeline
- for completion of these offsite improvements
- and establishes commitments
- to the timing of their completion.
- For example, the petitioner commits to the installation
- of the roadway from South Abington Avenue
- to South College Drive to be installed
- prior to recording the final plot for phase four,
- save for final asphalt coat, sidewalks, and street trees.
- During public comment on the development,
- county residents, Randy Cassidy and Tammy Wickle Cassidy
- said that they want the improvements
- that were promised to be followed through
- and asked the commission to help facilitate that.
- I hope that we're able to move this forward
- so that these improvements can get done,
- especially the ones that were committed to
- by the developer before the current owners
- even owned that property and before I was even allowed
- to bring a petition forward from IPUD.
- The plan commission committed or made the developer commit
- to making these improvements along South Roger Street
- and that road.
- So please do what it takes for that to be able to get done.
- The only reason there's not a floodway permit
- is because there were two permits
- and once you have a second permit
- and it expires with the state, it is not renewable.
- It would not have been allowed to expire.
- We inquired about it last year.
- It's why we rushed to get our sewer laterals
- across under South Roger Street and get done
- and get out of the floodway so that our work on CINL side
- is out of the floodway for phases one and two.
- So please honor those commitments
- that the county made last time
- to because that was all part of our tearing down our building
- and allowing them to come through
- and make the road to connect to their project.
- Otherwise they would have had no connection at all.
- So they made commitments to us as well to do that road,
- to do that improvement, to do that intersection
- and please let's promote what it takes
- to help them get it done, not to hinder it.
- Commissioner Tron Enright-Randolph said
- that the petition has had issues
- but that he thinks that the amendment with the changes
- is the best solution.
- There's a lot of petitions
- that kind of don't necessarily move in the ideal manner.
- And we've seen a few of those.
- I do think what planning has put together
- allows us to move forward
- and achieve those public improvement projects.
- And also I think there's a few other commitments
- with kind of the multi-use trail connection
- and other things that wouldn't have been put in place
- until they got to those certain phases.
- So I'm willing to support this.
- It's not the position I like to be in
- because there's been a lot of issues with this petition
- but I feel like this is the best situation that we have.
- Commissioner David Henry thanked everyone
- for the work that they've done.
- I just wanna thank both staff and petitioner
- for their perseverance on working through this.
- I know we've been on this matter for a few months now
- or at least since I've been involved with Plant Commission
- and to get to a place where we can get to an accommodation.
- To move forward, I also just wanna say again,
- I do appreciate that we will have another ingress
- and egress in that neighborhood
- for our emergency services personnel to get in and out of there
- which was a priority concern of mine
- as we moved this through.
- So thank you all concerned.
- Thank you, thank you.
- Does anyone else care to say something?
- I just wanna say one thing.
- I think the testimony tonight really describes
- how interrelated all these moving parts are.
- And we are a community
- and we want all of the approved projects to be successful
- and to not be as cost enhancing for the developers.
- And so we do have to be concerned
- about the safety of the property owners
- and of future property owners
- and of people who currently live there.
- And so I really commend staff
- and the petitioner for working through this
- and coming up with a solution.
- We hope we can get DNR on board sooner rather than later,
- but there are a lot of moving parts,
- but so thank you for working through that.
- Commission President Margaret Clements also spoke
- on the work that they've done to collaborate
- with the developers and current residents in the area.
- I think the testimony tonight really describes
- how interrelated all these moving parts are.
- And we are a community and we want all
- of the approved projects to be successful
- and to not be as cost enhancing for the developers.
- And so we do have to be concerned about the safety
- of the property owners and of future property owners
- and of people who currently live there.
- And so I really commend staff and the petitioner
- for working through this and coming up with a solution.
- We hope we can get DNR on board sooner rather than later,
- but there are a lot of moving parts,
- but so thank you for working through that.
- Commissioner Jeff Morris motion to approve
- the preliminary plat amendment two.
- For case SPP-24-4, the Southern Meadows
- major subdivision preliminary plat amendment two.
- I move approval of the preliminary plat amendment
- to alter the phasing subject to highway engineer
- and stormwater program manager reports
- with the conditions listed in the packet.
- The commission voted seven to zero to approve it.
- The Monroe County Plan Commission will meet again
- on April 15th.
- And that is all for Cats Week.
- Thank you for joining us.
- For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annalise Poorman.
- (upbeat music)
- a.k.a. WFHB.
- (upbeat music)
- (birds chirping)
- , (birds chirping)
- (wind howling)