- and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annalise Poorman. The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission met on June
- 1st and discussed the Hopewell South housing development. Bloomington engineer Kendall Kandoki presented
- the engineering report. I kind of wanted to get a temperature check but my impression or I think plan
- moving forward is to move full steam ahead on the design and moving towards all the approvals. That's
- one of the agenda items tonight is
- authorization for myself or the engineering department to apply for all the needed approvals for Hopewell
- South. But the idea being that I kind of come to you when there are major milestones or specific things
- I need feedback on, but not necessarily at every meeting moving forward. I just wanted to make sure
- that all of the RDC members were in agreement. I mean, I can continue to come every two weeks, but I
- don't feel it's really necessary at this point. Just wanted to get your feedback.
- The commission agreed that the project should move forward without bi-weekly updates. The commissioners
- decided engineering should provide quarterly updates instead and report on any milestones. Kenoki said
- engineering is expecting infrastructure bids this year. So I still anticipate we can get the infrastructure
- out to bid this year. However, with the couple delays that we've had, I don't anticipate we will be
- able to do much construction.
- before the end of the year, it's probably going to be mostly in 2027. However, you do have the lot line
- adjustment and kind of those initial homes that could start this year if that's the desire. And it's
- possible that the contractor might get out and do some earthworks and utility work depending on weather
- and all of that. The commission moved on to approve the Hopewell South planned unit development as passed
- by the Bloomington City Council. Commission member Sue Scambaluri detailed the affordability conditions.
- The next reasonable condition, there were multiple reasonable conditions related to the affordability.
- And this was an alternative that was proposed by Council Member Piedmont-Smith at the last meeting that
- was at least 35% of all dwelling units in Hopewall South community shall be designed as permanently
- affordable with a goal of 50% of all dwelling units.
- The approved plan calls for at least 35 percent of homes in Hopewell South to be permanently affordable,
- with a goal of reaching 50 percent. The Commission unanimously approved the City Council conditions
- and authorized staff to move forward with platting, permitting, and other project approvals.
- The Monroe County Commissioners met on June 4th and approved a three-year cybersecurity agreement to
- allow ethical hackers to test county networks for vulnerabilities. Monroe County Chief Technology Officer
- Greg Crone explained the process. For those who don't know what deep penetration is, basically you're
- contracting with a company as white hackers.
- to go after your systems just the same as any threat actor would do to try to discover revealed
- vulnerabilities in your system and then bring them up for remediation. The agreement was approved
- unanimously. The commissioners noted that prevention is far less costly than responding to a successful
- cyber attack. The commissioners moved on to ratify the county's 2026-2027 juvenile detention alternatives
- initiative grant to fund local diversion programs.
- Commissioner Jody Madeira praised the effort. I think in the last couple of weeks especially we've heard
- how important it is the community to have these non-carceral alternatives and I think that now more
- than ever before both those plus anything that keeps anybody especially at these core ages out of the
- system is just
- and especially out of detention is just so important. And so I think for every dollar spent, you can't
- even anticipate the amount of return you get. So I think this is just so precious.
- Then the commissioners discussed a resolution 2026-21, which would repeal Monroe County's 30-day notice
- policy for homeless encampment removals due to a new state law taking effect on July 1. Officials emphasized
- that the action was required by state legislation and does not represent a change in the county's overall
- approach to homelessness.
- Commissioner Julie Thomas expressed concern that the law relies on enforcement without providing resources
- to address housing instability, mental health needs, or substance use treatment. I know that there are
- a lot of good folks in the community. I know that there are a lot of agencies, churches, and other really
- well-meaning people who are involved. I hope they are able to fill the gap because
- beyond being an unfunded mandate, this is a human tragedy. And it is horrible to imagine what will happen
- here in Monroe County, but across the state especially, where they may have different kinds of leaders.
- The resolution passed unanimously.
- The Bloomington City Council met on June 3rd and approved a letter to the Redevelopment Commission supporting
- a land swap between College Square and Seminary Point. Council Member Isabel Piedmont-Smith said that
- the land swap could preserve or even add affordable housing in the area. There are multiple ways to
- leverage this property to advance affordable housing and enable downtown residency for those who otherwise
- could not afford it. These options include one, developing affordable housing on the site
- two, exchanging the property for nearby land owned by the Monroe County government, now the CIB, and
- then developing or preserving existing affordable housing there, or three, selling the property at market
- rate and reinvesting the proceeds in affordable housing. So that all is talking about the College Square
- site. Council Member Matt Flaherty said that while he supports the letter, he does have some reservations
- about public subsidies for the convention center.
- In general, my view for many, many years, since before we've been taking office, was that the food and
- beverage tax is the city's public subsidy and contribution for the convention center project, including
- all things like a host hotel. And we've, of course, talked about this in the past. And my concern here
- is that we're not just talking about public expenditure to preserve affordable housing, which, of course,
- is terrific and something I've wished that the RDC did more of, frankly.
- But we're also talking about public subsidy for convention center that's TIF revenues. And how much
- is a little bit unknown because the properties were bought at different times. And we don't know, I
- don't think yet, their exact market values. But I've had some reservations about, let's say, the Bunker
- Robertson property, former Bunker Robertson property, College Square, which were considerably more than
- the Seminary Point property, that we would just be
- subsidizing not only the affordable housing but also the convention center, which is something that
- I'm sort of philosophically opposed to because I think we set boundaries and we've sort of exceeded
- them. I'm worried about future requests to exceed them. Council member Dave Rollo said he wants to leave
- negotiations up to the RDC. I agree with my colleague, Council member Flaherty. I think that in spirit,
- I would like to see this negotiation happen in terms of the specifics
- I think it's up to the RDC to negotiate that. And perhaps they can arrive in the middle somewhere. But
- I think that it's important to try to save Seminary Point and maintain it for affordability. So that's
- my main priority here, and let the RDC negotiate from here.
- Local activist Bryce Green spoke on behalf of the group Bloomington Homes for All during the public
- comment portion of the meeting. Green addressed Flaherty's remarks, saying this land swap is unprecedented.
- I want to acknowledge the concerns that have been brought up throughout this process about the precedent
- it might set for
- boundary pushing of public subsidies for these major things. However, I think that this case is exceptional
- enough that no one can really claim that it's a precedent for anything that we can anticipate in the
- future. I mean, unless there's some other grand bargain to save a bunch of units of affordable housing
- in the future, no one's really gonna be referring to this as an example of why we should increase public
- subsidy to something like the convention center.
- Another resident, Barry Herbers, said that he's glad the city is listening to activists and taking the
- land swap into consideration. I moved recently to the neighborhood near Seminary Square in the Seminary
- Point Apartments. And it's a really lovely neighborhood in a lot of ways. And it's a really troubled
- neighborhood in a lot of ways. And since I moved there, I've really fallen in love with the place.
- walk to Friendly Beast a lot, take my dogs around, folks around there, pet them and stuff. But it's
- such a relief to know that there's people in our government who are as hopeful about keeping that place
- thriving and beautiful and communally oriented for people of all different income brackets as I feel.
- So I just really want to say thank you guys for being in such great communication with the activists
- around here.
- It's really wonderful to hear you read the letter out loud. Thank you. Housing Solutions Director for
- Habitat for Humanity, Sarah Wolford, announced that Bloomington Homes for All will give a presentation
- on June 20th in support of Preserving Seminary Point. You all will be invited as well as members of
- the CIB and RDC.
- All of the decision makers and also people of the public can come and kind of have a presentation of
- what we hope to bring to the community in regards to this incredible property and how we envision improving
- it and kind of our hopes for the future. The letter passed by a vote of eight to zero.
- The Bloomington Utilities Service Board met on June 1st, where they approved a service agreement with
- First Appraisal Group, Inc., to appraise real estate at and around Lake Griffey and Lake Lemmon. City
- Attorney Chris Wheeler explained that the appraisal is the first step in determining what the City owns
- and will inform future decisions about whether to retain, sell, or repurpose the lakes and surrounding parcels.
- It's a first attempt at trying to get a professional appraisal done to determine what the value of our
- real estate is out at those lakes. Just to understand what we own primarily and then it very likely
- will inform the utility department and this board on what steps we may take in the future with regards
- to our ownership of those lakes.
- primarily because we do not use them anymore as a water source. And so it's hard to continue to justify
- ownership when it really isn't providing any benefit to our customers. Then water quality coordinator
- Justin Mashter presented the 2026 annual drinking water quality report. Just talk about all the contaminants
- that are listed. Anything that deviates from the EPA maximums, which I'm here to tell you that we are within
- range of all the contaminants that were detected in our water. So there's very few changes from last
- year, which is a good thing because consistency in water treatment is always a positive for us. Nothing
- new popping up to cause issues.
- The report noted two current deficiencies at Monroe Water Treatment Plant identified in the last sanitary
- survey, a backwash tank overflow port that needs to be extended closer to the ground and the addition
- of a secondary backwash pump. Both are expected to be resolved by the fall of 2026.
- The Bloomington Board of Public Works met on June 2nd. Board members discussed an abatement at 1205
- West East Branch Road with four citations for garbage, debris, and overgrowth. Neighborhood compliance
- officer Mike Arnold spoke on the abatement request. I did get one call about two weeks ago saying that
- they had mowed and they did actually mow somewhat, but the garbage and debris is still on the property.
- The board approved the abatement unanimously. Later, the board reviewed a right-of-way closure and a
- noise permit request for Crider and Crider at North Walnut and East 19th Street. Program manager of
- right-of-way use, Kyle Baugh, presented the request. Street to accommodate completion of a sanitary
- sewer connection associated with the Hub 2 project. The request includes temporary closures of the north
- sidewalk along East 19th Street, the east sidewalk along
- North Walnut Street and the intersection of East 19th Street and North Walnut Street as necessary to
- safely complete the work. Closures are proposed to occur in June 2026 for a two week period. Pedestrian
- and vehicular traffic will be maintained, shifted or rerouted in accordance with the approved maintenance
- of traffic plan. The board approved the right-of-way closure.
- The Monroe County Election Board met on June 4th and approved sending complaints against former clerk
- candidate Joe Davis to the county prosecutor for further investigation. This comes after allegations
- that Davis violated state election laws. County Attorney Molly Turner-King gave a summary of the first
- complaint against Davis. An email was received from Ms. Karen Wheeler on April 28th, 2026 that outlines
- like four potential election violations and in summary that includes violations pertaining to campaign
- signs without the required disclosure, electioneering inside the chute, following a voter after voting
- and potentially misleading representation of legal credentials. A copy of the complaint was provided
- to the board as well as Mr. Davis who received certified notice of today's hearing along with a copy
- of that formal complaint.
- Unless there's questions on that summary, I think we could proceed to the complainant providing or addressing
- her complaint. Former election supervisor Karen Wheeler provided testimony to the board saying she observed
- Davis throughout early voting. I had the opportunity to see Joe Davis pretty much every day during the
- election early voting because I work in that building and I would come outside and I would see him.
- And pretty much every day, I really can't think of a day that it didn't happen, but I did not have the
- disclaimer on his signs in the beginning in that he would very often go into the chute. He would follow
- people to the door. He would also follow people afterwards and having walking them to the car or toward
- their car.
- He would, I saw him different times blocking people so they could not even get out of their car easily.
- And for me as a woman, that would be intimidating. No matter where you're at, you just don't want anybody,
- but especially a man standing there that I can't even open my door without him moving. Election supervisor
- Kylie Farris described multiple attempts by election officials to address the situation.
- So there were multiple in-person conversations before a formal written notice was given to him. It was,
- I believe, the first Saturday of early voting was when the written formal statement saying that he was
- not doing things that he was allowed to be doing, and that was after the first two conversations that
- we had had with him.
- Local resident Carol McGarry, who filed the second complaint, said Davis approached her after she exited
- her car. She said she kept telling him she did not want to talk while walking to vote early. As soon
- as I walked into the building, I made a complaint because I felt trapped. I felt it was inappropriate
- to be on my way. I think she called it the shoot.
- and being approached so insistently by a candidate. McCary said she believed Davis's demeanor was misleading
- and bizarre, not emblematic of how Monroe County candidates should behave during elections.
- He claimed that he was a practicing jurist at law, and I'm not really for sure what that is, but it
- didn't seem like it was accurate or it seemed confusing at best. He would also just do things that were
- kind of bizarre from brushing his teeth on the sidewalk, and so I thought it was a
- I think Monroe County is a great county and we really want to have the most accurate voting day that
- we have from our early voting to election day itself. And this just did not reflect, I think, what Monroe
- County stands for. Then Joe Davis had the opportunity to defend himself. Davis argued that he was not
- acting improperly with voters. He was cleaning the area.
- every early voting session from the beginning all the way to the end. I camped out basically at the
- area where early voting takes place, and it was a shambles. There was debris everywhere. All over where
- the handicap parking was was a mess, so I took my time to clean up the property, clean up the hardscape
- around, to prune the trees, to make it
- hospitable so that voters could come and enjoy their day of voting instead of walking through a litter
- covered environment with gravel that was hard to walk and branches and debris everywhere. Okay, so I
- cleaned this up. I brought some of the rock and gravel that I cleared off of the parking lot in the
- area where the handicap parking was.
- I took care of that place. Davis said it was alleged that he violated several rules during the election
- cycle. Okay, first off I want to say that Penny Givens should recuse herself from sitting on the board
- and someone else should fulfill her role because she
- is a biased individual who is not going to give me a fair hearing, especially she has had a hand in
- two of these alleged allegations coming from Karen Wheeler. One of those is the sign. She was scrutinizing
- my sign incredibly. She and the other whispering cabal, which is what I call them, Karen Wheeler, Penny
- Givens, Tree, Martin Lucas,
- There was another woman with frizzy gray hair. She was in one of those videos. Another guy, they were
- always whispering about me while I was cleaning up around the place. And obviously it was, you know,
- trying to conspire and come up with what they could do to bring me down. Davis then defended his title
- of, quote, jurist at law, unquote. When I was telling voters that I am a practicing jurist at law,
- at law. I have filed into eight causes or filed into eight different cases. Seven of those are my own
- cases, three of them gone to appellate court. I am a practicing jurist at law. You are looking at just
- a smattering of my files right here, my law books, many more
- Twice this amount of law books are at home, three times actually. I just brought some of them that are
- most relevant because I'm working on filing for the appellate court right now that's due today. Republican
- Chair Danny Shields explained that the board is not deciding whether Davis is guilty. You may not completely
- understand what we're doing here today and I understand that. What we're doing today
- is determining whether or not there is cause for us to push this along to a different level of people
- that work on it. We are not in a position to make a finding of guilt nor innocence of any of this, nor
- are we in a position to determine whether some fines or something would happen. We are not in that position.
- We are not in a position to have to cross-examine witnesses here. That was part of what we talked about earlier.
- The board approved sending the complaints to the prosecutor into unanimous votes. The next meeting of
- the Monroe County Election Board will take place on July 2nd. And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you
- for joining us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annaliese Poorman.