Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annaliese Poorman. On March 4th, the Bloomington City Council met
and discussed a resolution establishing full transparency with flock safety technology. Council President
Isa Kasari explained the purpose of this resolution. The central question before us is not whether public
safety matters. Of course it does. I think the question is how we pursue it, what capabilities we build.
what risks we accept, what limits we place on ourselves when technology expands the reach of institutional power.
I think generally that we should avoid a common trap in technology, which is this sort of idea that
any potential benefit, no matter how small, is sufficient justification for something. When we're dealing
with tools that collect large amounts of data of any sort, or particularly location-linked information
about residents and visitors, many of whom are not suspective of wrongdoing, it might help sometimes,
cannot be our governing standard. Benefits should be demonstrated, not presumed,
and they should decisively outweigh the civil liberties, security, and governance risks that are created
by the system itself. So the resolution before you tonight is intended as a first step toward responsible
governance in this space. It does three things. First, it establishes a shared premise that technology
is capable of collecting large volumes of location-based data, require a higher level of transparency
and democratic oversight than ordinary municipal tools.
It initiates a structured process of inquiry. It asks for a public briefing and written materials so
that the council and the community can understand the program as it exists today, its scope, its cost,
its retention policies, its access controls, its auditing practices, and its data sharing pathways.
In other words, the due diligence required to make informed decisions in daylight. I will note here
that several members of the public submitted to us a sort of shared, a joint written report noting multiple times
where they have sought information under the Freedom of Information Act and that that's been obscured
or not accessible to them in certain cases. And third, it signals the council's intent to develop durable
and enforceable rules governing ALPR and similar technologies in Bloomington, rules that would apply
regardless of vendor. Now this point I think is quite important. I know that right now the sort of reaction
is to a particular vendor and I have particular thoughts about the particular
particular vendor, but we need to think in a broader sense that it's not just maybe a concern with this
vendor, but about the use and governance of this technology in Bloomington at all. To me, the deeper
question is whether institutions are prepared to govern technologies that will only become more powerful
and more common over time. I think
This is sort of the first motion. I mean, sort of first step here. And it's a spirit in which this resolution
was drafted. And I look forward to the discussion. Bloomington residents expressed their concern with
the contract between the city and flock. The company's technology is capable of tracking a person's
movements using license plate scanners and facial recognition. Residents say that they are suspicious
of the actual purpose of the flock contract and worry about government transparency.
Community members say that they believe this program will be used in cooperation with U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement. Local resident Susan Brackney voiced her opinion during public comment. This
issue is bigger than just that camera. Focusing on Bloomington's use of one system or one company in
isolation is not enough.
If you use flux technology alongside facial recognition software, you've got yourself a live real-time
dragnet. Bloomington resident Joffrey Livingston also expressed his concern. I want to reiterate that
transparency about these contracts should be a given. Transparency should be an inherent part of the
relationship between people and
Government and there will be many criticisms levied against flock and ALPRs in general tonight But I
think the reality is that we must and once again, I also want to reiterate that The council does not
make this decision the mayor who was present in this room and is no longer present in this room for
just this item alone Is the one who makes this decision? But we must
divest from this contract. Sarah Owen the community engagement coordinator for Exodus refugee immigration
office in Bloomington explained the impact on the immigrant community. Exodus is here tonight to make
clear to the City Council and to the mayor that we are asking for the flock contract to be terminated in full.
With regard to this ongoing discussion about the contract we ask you to consider everyone's investment
in the matter Firstly flock is a private company Selling you a product so they can make a profit and
that is the extent of their interest in this matter The language on their website is simply a matter of PR
they state that FLOC does not share data with ICE. That does not mean that ICE or the federal government
does not have access to that data. In fact, there is already a clear and established pattern that that
is happening across the country and following these comments today, Exodus will be providing documentation
of that pattern to the council. The BPD is tasked with public safety and therefore advocates for the
use of FLOC cameras for the sake of investigating crimes. However, we respectfully contend that they
may not be considering the larger ramifications.
To be clear, we empathize with the objectives of maintaining public safety, but the more that our city
invests in data collection, allies with profit-driven companies, and fails to take a firm stand on our
community's basic rights, the less likely our immigrant community will feel safe to utilize police for
when they themselves are victims of a crime. Following public comment, council members had the opportunity
to make their own statements. Councilman Dave Rollo demonstrated his support for the resolution.
Remembering such things as the Patriot Act which this council opposed back in 2003 and just this steadily
normalization of government secrecy erosion of free speech Dissenters being targeted all that contextually
is important So we're essentially living in a society where total surveillance is the goal and It is
real that is the hallmark of the totalitarian state and
So, to whatever extent we can push back, we have to do it. I don't want to live in a digital panopticon.
I don't think anyone should. So I appreciate this council resolution, our council president's resolution,
very well thought out. Wonder if it goes far enough. I think that the case has been made tonight that
we don't need this, we don't need flock cameras, and we should think of defunding it.
And so that's what I look to as the next step. The council unanimously approved the resolution, saying
it will promote greater transparency and pause the expansion of flock technology. The Richland Township
and Town of Ellitsville Reorganization Committee met on March 4th. During public comment, resident Phil
Shanoff shared concerns about the fire protection arrangement between Ellitsville and Richland Township.
I guess a question
is if or can Ellitsville town government and Monroe County government get together and agree upon a
fire protection territory that satisfies Ellitsville's fire department debt while continuing to provide
fire protection services for both townships, Bean Blossom and Richland and the town. Shanoff suggested
Monroe County and Ellitsville governments try to reach an agreement.
Committee member William Ellis said that the fire protection issue came about after the reorganization
plans began and the county indicated it wanted to move to a new fire district. The reason we decided
to pursue reorganization was the state has talked about streamlining government duplication of services
and there was some from the township in the town
Richland Township and Ellisville has a 79-year history with fire protection. So that was a good blueprint
for us. We were already kind of married, you know, there. And the county decided, while we're in the
middle of pursuing this process, to take that away from us. They gave the intention that they wanted
to do a fire district, which is different than a fire territory. Right now, we just have a contract.
and what that would do when you're worried about increased taxes. With this plan, your taxes, it would
increase taxes a lot more than what it would for
Yeah, then reorganization if they did a fire district because they'd have to build a station. They would
have to buy equipment because right now Ellisville owns that. Shanoff also expressed concern about how
the reorganization might affect other county-provided services such as road maintenance, snow removal,
and stormwater management. Ellis said that the town would take control of services like roads and fire
protection and the town could use funding already in place from the county.
The committee moved on to discuss finalized subcommittee reports. Sandy Hash, with the finance subcommittee,
talked about funding sources for the reorganized area. This plan anticipates that the property tax rates
for the police, cumulative fire building and equipment, cumulative capital development, and the existing
debt service will be applied exclusively to the properties within the current boundaries of the town
of Ellitsville.
Conversely, tax rates for the town administration, park recreation, and fire will be levied across all
properties in the consolidated area. The township assistance tax rate will apply to the properties situated
in Ellisville, Richland, and Richland. Taxing rates allocated to those properties, funding for other
services will primarily
derived from local income tax, service charges, wheel tax, and gas revenues. Hash said that the town
and the township budgets will increase. But when you compare between the 26 certified property tax levies
and rates with the projections after the reorganization, the impact on the property tax bills is expected
to be 6.9% for Richland Township, 4.1% for Ellitsville,
Richland 3.4 percent for for Ellisville being blossom and I think the difference in that is they don't
they have their own township tax so that we aren't involved with them on the township part in being
blossom a $300,000 home in Richland Township is expected to see a hundred and seventy three dollar tax
increase while the same value home in Ellisville will not really have any change because
In Ellisville, the tax rate is substantially higher than the tax rate in the county. So the people in
Ellisville will hit the circuit breakers at 300,000, so they won't see any increase in taxes.
Hash said reorganization will provide long-term financial advantages such as structured service expansion,
a broader tax base, and coordinated planning for land use and economic growth. It would also create
a single simplified budget process. Ellisville resident and Parks, Recreation and Cemetery subcommittee
member Jim Perry asked about the impact of 2025 Senate Enrolled Act 1 on local income tax and taxation
structure.
I would personally like to see some comparisons, particularly in terms of projected financial implications
that involve more than simply property tax.
built only on property tax under SB1. And we don't have the choice to change that, I presume. I don't.
Hash said that the financial subcommittee report accounts for cigarette tax and excise tax, as well
as property tax and local income tax. However, she said that the income tax rates for 2028 and onward
are not yet known. Ellis said that any projections beyond 2027 are uncertain because the state could
change tax rules again.
I never look at rate. I look at what the increase is in actual dollars, because I've said somebody,
people have heard it. When you go pay your mortgage or pay a bill, you don't pay by rate, you pay by
dollars. So I try to focus on a budget that has the least impact from what you pay this year to what
you pay next year.
Ellis said the committee does not yet have all the answers, but it appreciates community input as it
consolidates subcommittee reports into a final reorganization plan. The next meeting of the Richland
Township and Town of Ellisville Reorganization Committee will be held on March 18th.
the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission met on March 2nd. CEO of Amplify Bloomington, John Fernandez,
provided updates on the Forge apartment complex in the Trades District. We've really got a very stable
financial position right now with the Forge. It's doing really well. In fact, it's doing so well that
we're paying back the Redevelopment Commissions
the city's $100,000 operating fund reserve that you all approved as part of our trades district management
agreement amendment. If it didn't happen today, it's happening this week. The committee then discussed
approving a summit district economic development plan and establishing a related residential housing district.
City Attorney Dana Kerr said that designating the Summit District could improve Bloomington's infrastructure.
Those roads are very much necessary to connect this overall development to the rest of Bloomington and
provide some infrastructure that will support Bloomington as a whole. For instance, Adam Street connecting
it will now give another
direct line from Winfield Road all the way to Tap Road. So this really helps connectivity. It'll help
the connectivity for traffic flow to in front of the APA. Kerr further said that approving the plan
could benefit the entire city. We all know that Bloomington is landlocked. And so we must take great
care in dealing with the projects
or the land that we do have within sitting limits, which includes all of this area here. And so by providing
the TIF and generating revenue, that revenue can be used to help spur this development in ways that
it wouldn't happen without it. And again, the wonderful thing is the interconnectivity of the infrastructure
This motion passed unanimously. Later in the meeting, Kerr requested approval of an agreement with Sudbury
Development Partners for the Summit District planned unit development and public infrastructure improvements.
Kerr stressed the importance and costs of roads.
This motion passed four to one. The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission will meet again on March 16th.
The Monroe County Board of Zoning Appeals met on March 4th. The board began by reviewing the Fisk front
yard setback, a proposal to remodel a property in the Geo Triangle subdivision.
During the review of the proposed site plan, it was also found that the proposed walkway and boardwalk
will need to cross over an area of 25% slope or greater, as shown in Exhibit 5 of the staff packet.
In addition, the petitioner is proposing a temporary construction path on the west side of the home,
which will be removed and replaced with seed and straw following the construction.
The purpose of the construction path down to the lake is for access of construction equipment and a
petitioner has confirmed that this land disturbance will be temporary. The petitioner spoke to the board.
The stimulus for why we're here is that when we purchased the home we noticed and discovered a lot of
major issues actually pre-purchase and that was okay because we got a little bit of a savings on the cost
but there were some problems with the home and then we've lived in it for 14 years now and kind of monitored
that. And now we're at a point where we want to fix those problems. And then after we fix it, then we
want to update it and then live in it full time. The board approved this motion four to zero. The board
of zoning appeals will meet again on April 1st.
The Monroe County Election Board met on March 5th to discuss logistics for the upcoming primary election.
Board members tackled candidate filing procedures, early voting, and progress on the county's new election
operations location. Democratic Chair Penny Githans shared concerns about a candidate filing form that
had allegedly been altered prior to submission with a name change. I was surprised to hear that because
at our training that we all attended in December, we were told that
a candidate cannot go in and change. So I was in contact with the Indiana election division and it is
not allowed to, for anyone in any circumstance to change a form that has been filed in this situation
where someone signs an oath so that they are not to have changes in the clerk's office on any forms
even after the candidate has signed the form.
So I realize that that may have been a policy in the past, but I want to ensure that going forward that
that does not get repeated. The board discussed whether the alteration constituted fraud. County Clerk
Nicole Brown said that she does not believe it would. Election Supervisor Kylie Farris maintained the
previous policy, allowed editing forms for accuracy, including name changes. She encouraged the election
board to develop a new policy. I just don't want fraud to be
There was no fraud. There was no fraud. According to a lawyer I spoke with that constitutes fraud. There
was no fraud. But what happened has happened in the past. Yes, so in the past it has been handled that
if an individual forgets a piece of information and it's generally a simple piece of information, not a
Like for this instance, it was a name. They forgot to put their name on it, but we had the rest of their
candidate filings with those and had their signature on it. So it was added, should have had an initial
next to it in the past. That's how it has been handled.
Also it has been that we will call the candidate sometimes if they leave off a piece of information
and they will tell us to make the change and then we would just initial next to it. Those are both things
that have been done in the past and then we had brought up during that last meeting that if we want
to set a new policy I think it would be best to come from the Election Board to set that policy and
then we can move forward with that. That way we have a set change and it can be ran from here on out.
I don't want to make it any harder than it has to be, but you want to make sure that there are no questions
when it's done. Correct. Then the board moved on to early voting plans. Election officials say they
are planning for high turnout during early voting. Ferris said they will set up early voting for full
capacity. We also do want to make sure that if there is a chance of us having
a bigger turnout than expected, then we need to be able to increase that. So I have talked with Bob
White on going ahead and setting up early voting at full capacity. So we'll have 10 poll books, six
print devices, and five checkouts set up in case if they are needed at any point during early voting.
That way we're not having to try to set up equipment overnight, and it takes
a good amount of time to get that set up. I want to make sure that we're making it as easy as possible
and making it as smooth as possible for the early voting session. And then also for election day, I
have those numbers in there for you guys. I have election day for primary and general that is leaving
us with backup poll books. And if we do decide after the early voting, if we need to increase some of
the locations for workers, then we can do that as well.
Fair's shared updated voter registration numbers for the county.
inactive, bringing us to a total of 89,740 registered voters in Monroe County. On this information,
I wanted to bring this up because we will be getting ready to print out postcards and sending those
out in the mail with everybody's updated information for their polling location based on the 28 polling
locations and reassigning precincts.
Next, Monroe County Building and Fleet Director Richard Kreider updated the board on construction at
the county's new election facility. The new election headquarters and early voting site will be on the
first level of the showers building at 501 North Morton Street. This week we completed building, the
building inspection and it passed. We also completed the fire inspection. It also passed the occupancy number.
has been officially determined by the Fire Marshal. That's an important milestone in this project. And
it gave us the ability to host this morning's event. The punch list with the architect and contractor
happened yesterday. Early voting area, that space is, it's very close to completion. We're actually
just a few doorknobs away from getting that finished up.
And based on where things stand today, I think we're comfortably on track for the April 7th target date.
Clerk Brown said there may be technical difficulties, particularly with the phone lines. Ferris responded
that county election officials are working on the issue. I kind of just want to mention there are some
glitches not to do with you, but glitches that
could translate to the voting public. One of them is the phones. As I understand it, we have one phone
line. So we have updated the county website to add a second number, but those phones, the two lines
that we have, if a second caller comes in, they do get pushed to voicemail. So we're still working through
those kinks, but me and Richard have been working together on trying to come up with some solutions
for that. So and so right now,
My recollection is I called 2612, and it is not operable. Correct. So we're working on getting ABS set
up downstairs where phones will be able to be connected, and they'll also have their computers connected
to internet as well. Once they are down there, that line will then be operable again. And that will
be? Hopefully Monday. OK.
And so I would just encourage voters who have questions to pack their patience. You know, in terms of
the calls rolling over into voicemail, nobody likes to get that. But that's where we are and there's
nothing that we can be doing differently. The board also approved the list of polling locations for
the upcoming election. All 28 former polling locations have agreed to serve again this year. The next
county election board meeting will take place on April 2nd.
And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annalise Poorman.