- Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annaliese Poorman. Bloomington Mayor Carrie Thompson hosted a traveling
- town hall in City Council District 4 on Monday, April 6. The mayor was joined at Morgenstern's Bookstore
- by Planning and Transportation Director David Hittle. During the question and answer session, a Bloomington
- resident asked the mayor to explain how the administration engaged with security professionals regarding
- the use of flock cameras in the community.
- We have a number of different folks that have been consulted and are still being consulted. That's why
- you don't have a report yet. And I'll just say that I don't, I just wanna be clear that we are getting
- both kinds of feedback in the mayor's office. So it's not 100% against flock and I would say,
- may not be even a majority. A citizen then asked about the Seminary Point apartment demolition for the
- convention center expansion. They asked why alternatives are not being considered. Some of the people
- who live in those homes have expressed concern, people in the community have expressed concern about
- just getting rid of 29 units of affordable housing at a time where everyone agrees there's a housing
- crisis. And there actually seems to be a decent plan that's within the city's power to promote and to act on.
- to have the CIB, once they receive the land, to then sell it to the city. And the city can spin it off
- into whatever, what have you, to be a cooperative land trust, you know, details aside. But is there
- any reason why that plan is unworkable? Thompson said the city had not heard of the plan. We have not
- looked at it. We simply haven't looked at it. And I'll tell you, we
- We don't have capacity to take on another project right now. We simply don't. If you're tracking what's
- happening at the State House, Senate Enrolled Act 1 has significantly cut the income that Bloomington
- will have. HUD has made cuts, et cetera, et cetera. And so financially, we don't have the means to take
- on another project at this point. Our TIF is maxed out. I mean, we're just, we're at a point in the
- city where
- We really are looking at how do we maintain what we already have and do a really good job with that
- and try to meet people's expectations with the basic city services that we must provide. Next, the mayor
- addressed the issue of IU not building dormitories while the city struggles with a housing shortage.
- Student housing has been some of the most reliably
- funded housing, because it's secure. The people who live in that house, by and large, do not source
- the income in the community that they use to pay for that house. And so as David spoke to earlier,
- our UDO, unfortunately, has made it really easy to build these large student buildings. And those are marketed
- directly to students. Mayor Thompson also addressed voter turnout. She said that the city is focused
- on increasing civic engagement in the community. How do we get people to vote? And that's the root of
- a lot of problems that we have. We have very, very low voter turnout. And what that means, and I used
- to think that
- that voting was like the minimum engagement in the democratic process, but it's actually, it's sort
- of up here now. People are so disengaged. And so I think if we got people voting, then no matter what
- party you were, you would probably be more representative of the people. And so that's where I think
- we should be working. We need people to get to the polls and we need
- them to know that it matters. And you know that because you show up at all of these meetings, right?
- And, and hold electives accountable. To view the full town hall, you can visit catstv.net. The Bloomington
- Board of Public Works met on April 7th and discussed permitting directional voting signs in the public
- right of way at the North Showers building. City attorney Audrey Brittingham explained the issue.
- there were, when we came into work, there were signs placed in the right-of-way, the public right-of-way,
- largely signs that were just directing people to the voting location, and there was one or two signs
- regarding rules about electioneering where you can and can't stand. So those were placed on city property
- by the Monroe County government. This is just a resolution from the Board of Public Works saying that
- they can, for the 2020,
- For 2026, the county can place signs like that, signs that are directing people to vote, that are outlining
- the rules within the polling locations, within the public right-of-way. It also clearly indicates what
- signs cannot be put in the right-of-way, so signs on political issues, campaign
- candidate signs, things like that. After explaining the revised rules, Vice President Kyla Cox Deckard
- asked for clarification on where the signs could be placed. Brittingham clarified where the signs could
- go. They currently can't or shouldn't be placed in city public right of way anyways. Yeah, so yes, they
- would need the permission, of course, of the owner of the polling location. The motion passed unanimously.
- Next, the board discussed a service agreement with Murphy Elevator for full service maintenance. Public
- Works Director Adam Wason explained the contract. Murphy Elevator, we're looking to bring them on as
- our full service maintenance contractor for including our monthly preventative maintenance and repair
- services. This will include City Hall, West Showers, BPD Dispatch, Morton Street Garage, Trades Garage,
- 4th Street Garage, and Walnut Street Garage.
- and we request your approval of this contract with Murphy Elevator Company. This motion passed unanimously.
- The Bloomington Board of Public Works will meet again on April 21st. The Monroe County Election Board
- met on April 9th. County Clerk Nicole Brown described an issue that occurred early Tuesday with candidate
- signs being located on city property. The same day, a meeting was held and a resolution was proposed
- to find an appropriate place for the signs.
- as we left the meeting, my understanding was that there was going to be a resolution proposed, which
- ultimately passed at the meeting on Tuesday evening. And so I believe it was described in the online
- paper as a kerfuffle. I am here to say that the kerfuffle lasted less than 24 hours. I am not aware
- of any significant harm that was done with respect to the candidate signs.
- But because the resolution was passed, we are able to keep those directional signs outside of the showers
- building, which actually helps the city as well as the county because it gives the voters the direction
- where they need to report to vote early. Election supervisor Kylie Farris gave an update on voter numbers.
- We are currently sitting at 90,180 registered voters in Monroe County.
- And then for the early voting turnout, we are sitting at 430 check-ins. As of right now, I have a live
- update on that through our vendor.
- And then absentee by mail. I actually wanted to also include by email in this as well. So for mail,
- we are sitting at 603 ballots that have gone out with 86 of those being returned. We did have more that
- came in right before I left for this meeting. And then for email, we have sent out 57 and have received
- eight of those back. Ferris said the first day of early voting saw 178 check ins, which is the most
- in county history.
- Fleet and building director Richard Kreider then updated the board on the election central relocation.
- We went ahead and moved them downstairs into the new space and unfortunately we had to use their their
- used furniture to make that happen but we were able to make that happen. We're moving training into
- suite 203 a little more level floors in that area for them to use and
- They're set up downstairs and off and running. Monroe County GIS coordinator John Beaton showed the
- board the new early voting dashboard, which includes updated coverage on election results. If you guys
- are interested in this, it's a fairly dynamic dashboard.
- and it's fairly cool we're doing it here in Monroe County. So if you go to the Monroe County homepage,
- you can click on the GIS division, or I believe in voter registration as well. The next meeting of the
- Monroe County Election Board will be on April 23rd. The Richland Township and Town of Ellisville
- Reorganization Committee met on April 8th and discussed finalizing the draft reorganization plan. Town
- attorney Darla Brown summarized the draft progress. The Reorganization Committee has already
- approved the subcommittee reports with few revisions, so I have included language from the subcommittee
- reports into the final report, and I changed very, very little. And what I sent an email out to the
- board earlier with a list of questions that I have about the board's intent.
- because it wasn't clear to me from the meeting or from the subcommittee report what the recommendation
- is. Brown requested that the committee revisit the Reorganized Government Board composition. The committee
- agreed that the board will be composed of seven council members, five from the Ellitsville Town Council
- and two from the Township Board of Trustees. The language I put in the plan
- with regard to vacancies for town council states that they should be filled by caucus. It's not clear
- to me how, if there's a vacancy with regard to a former Richland township board member, how that vacancy
- should be filled. Committee member William Ellis said township board vacancies should be filled by caucus.
- Since township board is voted on by the entire township,
- I would say if there's a vacancy, normal caucus procedures would follow for any other, any of the districts,
- but the at large positions, it would be the same as what the township board currently, the entire township,
- the precinct commitment of the political party of whichever one's elected.
- Brown said the normal caucus procedures will still apply for districts and council members are currently
- required to be residents of the district from which they are elected. Ellis clarified that district
- lines will not change, but they will expand. I just don't want to confuse people to think that it's
- a function of the reorganization that would happen because right now the reorganization does not change
- any of the current. It expands the districts.
- to include more people, but it doesn't change district lines for a current elected person or those running
- for election, which would change. The committee also discussed differences in taxes and services between
- the town and rural areas. Committee member Scott Reynolds said the proposed plan does not define the
- differences. Those two districts, rural versus town, talk about taxes and they talk about services.
- One point I should note is that I don't think we actually define in the plan the exact difference in
- services that we'll find between those two districts. In other words, it leaves open the possibility
- that the rural district will have less services, but we don't actually say anywhere exactly what that
- means. The committee said it will provide further material to distinguish between the two at a later date.
- The committee voted to accept the reorganization proposal. It will now move on to the Town Council and
- the Township Board of Trustees. The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission met on April 6. Jane Cooper-Smith,
- Director of the City's Economic and Sustainability Department, discussed a resolution that would transfer
- several city-owned parking lots to the Monroe County Capital Improvement Board. The resolution 2624
- pertains to the transfer
- a real property to the Monroe County Capital Improvement Board from the redevelopment, Bloomington
- Redevelopment Commission for use relating to the Convention Center. This property that is, would be
- conveyed tonight if approved is only parking lots that are currently in use. I want to say for the public,
- this does not pertain to any property that has buildings on it and this
- represents other than Bunger and Robertson, the bulk of the properties near the Convention Center that
- the Redevelopment Commission owns. So just for a little detail, these parcels, all three parcels were
- transferred to the RDC at different times.
- Cooper Smith said, staff recommends the parking lots be transferred to the Monroe County CIB because
- they believe the CIB is best positioned to use them for a host hotel at the Bloomington Convention Center.
- During public comment, local resident Joe Davis said that he would rather see this land be used for
- other purposes such as a new jail or affordable housing units rather than convention center expansion.
- I want to point out the fact that this is the people's property.
- though it is a parking lot and though it was only purchased for $1, there are higher and better uses
- for the public than providing unnecessary parking or unnecessary use by the CIB because we do not need
- this expanded convention center. We have many more issues where valuable properties held by both the
- county and the city
- which are located downtown and no more land is being created downtown. It's all that there is. We need
- to reserve this land for a new jail justice center, co-location with the courts. We need this land for
- housing. We need this land to serve the community. A hotel does not serve the community. It serves those
- who come into the community.
- The convention center is designed to be a moneymaker, a loss leader, mind you, a loss leader that is
- going to benefit only a handful of players. Those are the hoteliers, the restaurateurs, those who are
- making a dollar. The average Joe, like you and me, are not going to benefit at all. I strongly encourage
- the RDC to not transfer
- these parking lot properties to the CIB. The commission passed the resolution by a unanimous vote. The
- next meeting of the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission will take place on April 20th. The Monroe County
- Commissioners met on April 9th and received a quarterly update from the Purdue Extension Office. County
- Extension Director Adi Ekuanwa gave updates on the local 4-H program.
- We are on track to enroll more than 400 youth in our 4-H program. Right now, more than 4,000 youth are
- engaged through local learning events. We offer our 4-H youth a wide range of experiences, including
- participating in clubs, interest meeting, workforce skill workshops, leadership development, camp, livestock
- education, certification, animal identification events, and camp counselor training as well.
- 4-H has been partnering with five schools in our county for their spring learning festival and launching
- initiatives for intracurricular project-based elementary programs and this will help to engage kids
- before, during, and after school. Equan Wa shared additional details about how the Monroe County program
- has been successful. Our youth are exceeding not only locally but in the state and national level as
- well. We have 16
- local youths who have attended the Teen Leadership Weekend. Two youths are representing Monroe County
- nationally at Washington, D.C. Two youths represent the county nationally at the 4-H Congress in Atlanta.
- And one youth is representing Monroe County in Washington, D.C. at the National 4-H Conference. There's
- a lot of engagement at the state and national level just from one county. So our youth are doing a really
- good job. Next, Monroe County GIS coordinator John Beaton spoke about early voting in the county.
- We are working in collaboration with the voter registration office, again, to track early voting across
- Monroe County. To get to our early voting dashboard, you can go to the Monroe County main website, click
- on the GIS division link here, and this will bring us view to our award-winning GIS division page with
- all of our exciting applications. And you can click on this, scroll down, and we have a link here to
- the Monroe County 2026 midterm primary election.
- We're doing pretty good so far this year for early voting in Monroe County for the primary. So you can
- see we've had 339 votes cast over a total of two days so far. We have 27 days until the election. 89,755
- registered voters as of April 7th. County Commissioner Julie Thomas emphasized the accessibility of
- voting. We have already begun early voting as we saw earlier in the meeting with some strong numbers.
- Remember this is at the
- North Showers building, lots of parking available, no meters. Thank you. And most of the hours are 8 a.m.
- to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. And we have a couple of Saturdays thrown in, the 25th of April and
- the 2nd of May, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. And the last day for early voting is fourth
- 8 a.m. to noon and of course Election Day, if you prefer to go on Election Day, is May 5th this year.
- The next Monroe County Commissioner's meeting is on April 23rd. And that is all for Cats Week. Thank
- you for joining us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annaliese Poorman.