WEBVTT 00:00:07.586 --> 00:00:14.049 - and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annalise Poorman. The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission met on June 00:00:14.049 --> 00:00:20.768 - 1st and discussed the Hopewell South housing development. Bloomington engineer Kendall Kandoki presented 00:00:20.768 --> 00:00:27.295 - the engineering report. I kind of wanted to get a temperature check but my impression or I think plan 00:00:27.295 --> 00:00:33.822 - moving forward is to move full steam ahead on the design and moving towards all the approvals. That's 00:00:33.822 --> 00:00:36.062 - one of the agenda items tonight is 00:00:36.258 --> 00:00:42.532 - authorization for myself or the engineering department to apply for all the needed approvals for Hopewell 00:00:42.532 --> 00:00:48.688 - South. But the idea being that I kind of come to you when there are major milestones or specific things 00:00:48.688 --> 00:00:54.606 - I need feedback on, but not necessarily at every meeting moving forward. I just wanted to make sure 00:00:54.606 --> 00:01:00.585 - that all of the RDC members were in agreement. I mean, I can continue to come every two weeks, but I 00:01:00.585 --> 00:01:05.438 - don't feel it's really necessary at this point. Just wanted to get your feedback. 00:01:06.082 --> 00:01:12.483 - The commission agreed that the project should move forward without bi-weekly updates. The commissioners 00:01:12.483 --> 00:01:18.822 - decided engineering should provide quarterly updates instead and report on any milestones. Kenoki said 00:01:18.822 --> 00:01:25.469 - engineering is expecting infrastructure bids this year. So I still anticipate we can get the infrastructure 00:01:25.469 --> 00:01:31.624 - out to bid this year. However, with the couple delays that we've had, I don't anticipate we will be 00:01:31.624 --> 00:01:33.470 - able to do much construction. 00:01:33.922 --> 00:01:39.604 - before the end of the year, it's probably going to be mostly in 2027. However, you do have the lot line 00:01:39.604 --> 00:01:45.123 - adjustment and kind of those initial homes that could start this year if that's the desire. And it's 00:01:45.123 --> 00:01:50.805 - possible that the contractor might get out and do some earthworks and utility work depending on weather 00:01:50.805 --> 00:01:56.597 - and all of that. The commission moved on to approve the Hopewell South planned unit development as passed 00:01:56.597 --> 00:02:02.334 - by the Bloomington City Council. Commission member Sue Scambaluri detailed the affordability conditions. 00:02:03.298 --> 00:02:09.550 - The next reasonable condition, there were multiple reasonable conditions related to the affordability. 00:02:09.550 --> 00:02:15.863 - And this was an alternative that was proposed by Council Member Piedmont-Smith at the last meeting that 00:02:15.863 --> 00:02:21.933 - was at least 35% of all dwelling units in Hopewall South community shall be designed as permanently 00:02:21.933 --> 00:02:25.150 - affordable with a goal of 50% of all dwelling units. 00:02:25.858 --> 00:02:32.306 - The approved plan calls for at least 35 percent of homes in Hopewell South to be permanently affordable, 00:02:32.306 --> 00:02:38.447 - with a goal of reaching 50 percent. The Commission unanimously approved the City Council conditions 00:02:38.447 --> 00:02:44.158 - and authorized staff to move forward with platting, permitting, and other project approvals. 00:02:45.218 --> 00:02:52.019 - The Monroe County Commissioners met on June 4th and approved a three-year cybersecurity agreement to 00:02:52.019 --> 00:02:59.156 - allow ethical hackers to test county networks for vulnerabilities. Monroe County Chief Technology Officer 00:02:59.156 --> 00:03:06.024 - Greg Crone explained the process. For those who don't know what deep penetration is, basically you're 00:03:06.024 --> 00:03:09.054 - contracting with a company as white hackers. 00:03:09.186 --> 00:03:15.457 - to go after your systems just the same as any threat actor would do to try to discover revealed 00:03:15.457 --> 00:03:21.860 - vulnerabilities in your system and then bring them up for remediation. The agreement was approved 00:03:21.860 --> 00:03:28.654 - unanimously. The commissioners noted that prevention is far less costly than responding to a successful 00:03:28.654 --> 00:03:35.578 - cyber attack. The commissioners moved on to ratify the county's 2026-2027 juvenile detention alternatives 00:03:35.578 --> 00:03:38.910 - initiative grant to fund local diversion programs. 00:03:39.202 --> 00:03:48.404 - Commissioner Jody Madeira praised the effort. I think in the last couple of weeks especially we've heard 00:03:48.404 --> 00:03:57.168 - how important it is the community to have these non-carceral alternatives and I think that now more 00:03:57.168 --> 00:04:06.107 - than ever before both those plus anything that keeps anybody especially at these core ages out of the 00:04:06.107 --> 00:04:07.422 - system is just 00:04:07.810 --> 00:04:16.934 - and especially out of detention is just so important. And so I think for every dollar spent, you can't 00:04:16.934 --> 00:04:24.286 - even anticipate the amount of return you get. So I think this is just so precious. 00:04:24.578 --> 00:04:31.474 - Then the commissioners discussed a resolution 2026-21, which would repeal Monroe County's 30-day notice 00:04:31.474 --> 00:04:38.701 - policy for homeless encampment removals due to a new state law taking effect on July 1. Officials emphasized 00:04:38.701 --> 00:04:45.730 - that the action was required by state legislation and does not represent a change in the county's overall 00:04:45.730 --> 00:04:47.454 - approach to homelessness. 00:04:48.130 --> 00:04:55.947 - Commissioner Julie Thomas expressed concern that the law relies on enforcement without providing resources 00:04:55.947 --> 00:05:03.471 - to address housing instability, mental health needs, or substance use treatment. I know that there are 00:05:03.471 --> 00:05:11.215 - a lot of good folks in the community. I know that there are a lot of agencies, churches, and other really 00:05:11.215 --> 00:05:17.278 - well-meaning people who are involved. I hope they are able to fill the gap because 00:05:17.378 --> 00:05:29.324 - beyond being an unfunded mandate, this is a human tragedy. And it is horrible to imagine what will happen 00:05:29.324 --> 00:05:41.045 - here in Monroe County, but across the state especially, where they may have different kinds of leaders. 00:05:41.045 --> 00:05:44.990 - The resolution passed unanimously. 00:05:46.146 --> 00:05:52.583 - The Bloomington City Council met on June 3rd and approved a letter to the Redevelopment Commission supporting 00:05:52.583 --> 00:05:58.553 - a land swap between College Square and Seminary Point. Council Member Isabel Piedmont-Smith said that 00:05:58.553 --> 00:06:04.405 - the land swap could preserve or even add affordable housing in the area. There are multiple ways to 00:06:04.405 --> 00:06:10.667 - leverage this property to advance affordable housing and enable downtown residency for those who otherwise 00:06:10.667 --> 00:06:15.934 - could not afford it. These options include one, developing affordable housing on the site 00:06:16.578 --> 00:06:22.447 - two, exchanging the property for nearby land owned by the Monroe County government, now the CIB, and 00:06:22.447 --> 00:06:28.607 - then developing or preserving existing affordable housing there, or three, selling the property at market 00:06:28.607 --> 00:06:34.709 - rate and reinvesting the proceeds in affordable housing. So that all is talking about the College Square 00:06:34.709 --> 00:06:40.868 - site. Council Member Matt Flaherty said that while he supports the letter, he does have some reservations 00:06:40.868 --> 00:06:43.774 - about public subsidies for the convention center. 00:06:44.258 --> 00:06:49.980 - In general, my view for many, many years, since before we've been taking office, was that the food and 00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:55.757 - beverage tax is the city's public subsidy and contribution for the convention center project, including 00:06:55.757 --> 00:07:01.479 - all things like a host hotel. And we've, of course, talked about this in the past. And my concern here 00:07:01.479 --> 00:07:07.367 - is that we're not just talking about public expenditure to preserve affordable housing, which, of course, 00:07:07.367 --> 00:07:11.422 - is terrific and something I've wished that the RDC did more of, frankly. 00:07:11.522 --> 00:07:17.112 - But we're also talking about public subsidy for convention center that's TIF revenues. And how much 00:07:17.112 --> 00:07:22.703 - is a little bit unknown because the properties were bought at different times. And we don't know, I 00:07:22.703 --> 00:07:28.517 - don't think yet, their exact market values. But I've had some reservations about, let's say, the Bunker 00:07:28.517 --> 00:07:34.331 - Robertson property, former Bunker Robertson property, College Square, which were considerably more than 00:07:34.331 --> 00:07:37.182 - the Seminary Point property, that we would just be 00:07:37.282 --> 00:07:43.127 - subsidizing not only the affordable housing but also the convention center, which is something that 00:07:43.127 --> 00:07:48.971 - I'm sort of philosophically opposed to because I think we set boundaries and we've sort of exceeded 00:07:48.971 --> 00:07:55.108 - them. I'm worried about future requests to exceed them. Council member Dave Rollo said he wants to leave 00:07:55.108 --> 00:08:01.187 - negotiations up to the RDC. I agree with my colleague, Council member Flaherty. I think that in spirit, 00:08:01.187 --> 00:08:05.278 - I would like to see this negotiation happen in terms of the specifics 00:08:05.442 --> 00:08:15.911 - I think it's up to the RDC to negotiate that. And perhaps they can arrive in the middle somewhere. But 00:08:15.911 --> 00:08:26.380 - I think that it's important to try to save Seminary Point and maintain it for affordability. So that's 00:08:26.380 --> 00:08:32.478 - my main priority here, and let the RDC negotiate from here. 00:08:32.898 --> 00:08:39.549 - Local activist Bryce Green spoke on behalf of the group Bloomington Homes for All during the public 00:08:39.549 --> 00:08:46.732 - comment portion of the meeting. Green addressed Flaherty's remarks, saying this land swap is unprecedented. 00:08:46.732 --> 00:08:53.715 - I want to acknowledge the concerns that have been brought up throughout this process about the precedent 00:08:53.715 --> 00:08:54.846 - it might set for 00:08:55.106 --> 00:09:01.476 - boundary pushing of public subsidies for these major things. However, I think that this case is exceptional 00:09:01.476 --> 00:09:07.433 - enough that no one can really claim that it's a precedent for anything that we can anticipate in the 00:09:07.433 --> 00:09:13.507 - future. I mean, unless there's some other grand bargain to save a bunch of units of affordable housing 00:09:13.507 --> 00:09:19.700 - in the future, no one's really gonna be referring to this as an example of why we should increase public 00:09:19.700 --> 00:09:22.590 - subsidy to something like the convention center. 00:09:23.170 --> 00:09:30.206 - Another resident, Barry Herbers, said that he's glad the city is listening to activists and taking the 00:09:30.206 --> 00:09:37.311 - land swap into consideration. I moved recently to the neighborhood near Seminary Square in the Seminary 00:09:37.311 --> 00:09:44.211 - Point Apartments. And it's a really lovely neighborhood in a lot of ways. And it's a really troubled 00:09:44.211 --> 00:09:50.974 - neighborhood in a lot of ways. And since I moved there, I've really fallen in love with the place. 00:09:51.170 --> 00:09:57.904 - walk to Friendly Beast a lot, take my dogs around, folks around there, pet them and stuff. But it's 00:09:57.904 --> 00:10:04.908 - such a relief to know that there's people in our government who are as hopeful about keeping that place 00:10:04.908 --> 00:10:11.777 - thriving and beautiful and communally oriented for people of all different income brackets as I feel. 00:10:11.777 --> 00:10:18.579 - So I just really want to say thank you guys for being in such great communication with the activists 00:10:18.579 --> 00:10:19.454 - around here. 00:10:20.098 --> 00:10:27.223 - It's really wonderful to hear you read the letter out loud. Thank you. Housing Solutions Director for 00:10:27.223 --> 00:10:34.417 - Habitat for Humanity, Sarah Wolford, announced that Bloomington Homes for All will give a presentation 00:10:34.417 --> 00:10:41.403 - on June 20th in support of Preserving Seminary Point. You all will be invited as well as members of 00:10:41.403 --> 00:10:42.590 - the CIB and RDC. 00:10:42.690 --> 00:10:50.583 - All of the decision makers and also people of the public can come and kind of have a presentation of 00:10:50.583 --> 00:10:59.023 - what we hope to bring to the community in regards to this incredible property and how we envision improving 00:10:59.023 --> 00:11:05.822 - it and kind of our hopes for the future. The letter passed by a vote of eight to zero. 00:11:06.946 --> 00:11:13.201 - The Bloomington Utilities Service Board met on June 1st, where they approved a service agreement with 00:11:13.201 --> 00:11:19.456 - First Appraisal Group, Inc., to appraise real estate at and around Lake Griffey and Lake Lemmon. City 00:11:19.456 --> 00:11:25.834 - Attorney Chris Wheeler explained that the appraisal is the first step in determining what the City owns 00:11:25.834 --> 00:11:32.702 - and will inform future decisions about whether to retain, sell, or repurpose the lakes and surrounding parcels. 00:11:33.186 --> 00:11:41.089 - It's a first attempt at trying to get a professional appraisal done to determine what the value of our 00:11:41.089 --> 00:11:48.763 - real estate is out at those lakes. Just to understand what we own primarily and then it very likely 00:11:48.763 --> 00:11:56.666 - will inform the utility department and this board on what steps we may take in the future with regards 00:11:56.666 --> 00:11:59.198 - to our ownership of those lakes. 00:12:00.322 --> 00:12:07.432 - primarily because we do not use them anymore as a water source. And so it's hard to continue to justify 00:12:07.432 --> 00:12:14.406 - ownership when it really isn't providing any benefit to our customers. Then water quality coordinator 00:12:14.406 --> 00:12:21.858 - Justin Mashter presented the 2026 annual drinking water quality report. Just talk about all the contaminants 00:12:21.858 --> 00:12:29.310 - that are listed. Anything that deviates from the EPA maximums, which I'm here to tell you that we are within 00:12:29.570 --> 00:12:34.900 - range of all the contaminants that were detected in our water. So there's very few changes from last 00:12:34.900 --> 00:12:40.389 - year, which is a good thing because consistency in water treatment is always a positive for us. Nothing 00:12:40.389 --> 00:12:42.078 - new popping up to cause issues. 00:12:42.210 --> 00:12:49.329 - The report noted two current deficiencies at Monroe Water Treatment Plant identified in the last sanitary 00:12:49.329 --> 00:12:56.180 - survey, a backwash tank overflow port that needs to be extended closer to the ground and the addition 00:12:56.180 --> 00:13:01.822 - of a secondary backwash pump. Both are expected to be resolved by the fall of 2026. 00:13:02.914 --> 00:13:09.524 - The Bloomington Board of Public Works met on June 2nd. Board members discussed an abatement at 1205 00:13:09.524 --> 00:13:16.332 - West East Branch Road with four citations for garbage, debris, and overgrowth. Neighborhood compliance 00:13:16.332 --> 00:13:23.140 - officer Mike Arnold spoke on the abatement request. I did get one call about two weeks ago saying that 00:13:23.140 --> 00:13:30.014 - they had mowed and they did actually mow somewhat, but the garbage and debris is still on the property. 00:13:30.850 --> 00:13:37.194 - The board approved the abatement unanimously. Later, the board reviewed a right-of-way closure and a 00:13:37.194 --> 00:13:43.476 - noise permit request for Crider and Crider at North Walnut and East 19th Street. Program manager of 00:13:43.476 --> 00:13:49.758 - right-of-way use, Kyle Baugh, presented the request. Street to accommodate completion of a sanitary 00:13:49.758 --> 00:13:56.353 - sewer connection associated with the Hub 2 project. The request includes temporary closures of the north 00:13:56.353 --> 00:13:59.934 - sidewalk along East 19th Street, the east sidewalk along 00:14:00.066 --> 00:14:05.922 - North Walnut Street and the intersection of East 19th Street and North Walnut Street as necessary to 00:14:05.922 --> 00:14:11.953 - safely complete the work. Closures are proposed to occur in June 2026 for a two week period. Pedestrian 00:14:11.953 --> 00:14:18.099 - and vehicular traffic will be maintained, shifted or rerouted in accordance with the approved maintenance 00:14:18.099 --> 00:14:21.694 - of traffic plan. The board approved the right-of-way closure. 00:14:22.786 --> 00:14:29.034 - The Monroe County Election Board met on June 4th and approved sending complaints against former clerk 00:14:29.034 --> 00:14:35.221 - candidate Joe Davis to the county prosecutor for further investigation. This comes after allegations 00:14:35.221 --> 00:14:41.531 - that Davis violated state election laws. County Attorney Molly Turner-King gave a summary of the first 00:14:41.531 --> 00:14:47.902 - complaint against Davis. An email was received from Ms. Karen Wheeler on April 28th, 2026 that outlines 00:14:52.962 --> 00:14:59.576 - like four potential election violations and in summary that includes violations pertaining to campaign 00:14:59.576 --> 00:15:06.190 - signs without the required disclosure, electioneering inside the chute, following a voter after voting 00:15:06.190 --> 00:15:12.675 - and potentially misleading representation of legal credentials. A copy of the complaint was provided 00:15:12.675 --> 00:15:19.160 - to the board as well as Mr. Davis who received certified notice of today's hearing along with a copy 00:15:19.160 --> 00:15:20.830 - of that formal complaint. 00:15:32.386 --> 00:15:40.094 - Unless there's questions on that summary, I think we could proceed to the complainant providing or addressing 00:15:40.094 --> 00:15:47.662 - her complaint. Former election supervisor Karen Wheeler provided testimony to the board saying she observed 00:15:47.662 --> 00:15:54.879 - Davis throughout early voting. I had the opportunity to see Joe Davis pretty much every day during the 00:15:54.879 --> 00:16:01.886 - election early voting because I work in that building and I would come outside and I would see him. 00:16:02.178 --> 00:16:11.164 - And pretty much every day, I really can't think of a day that it didn't happen, but I did not have the 00:16:11.164 --> 00:16:20.237 - disclaimer on his signs in the beginning in that he would very often go into the chute. He would follow 00:16:20.237 --> 00:16:29.310 - people to the door. He would also follow people afterwards and having walking them to the car or toward 00:16:29.310 --> 00:16:30.270 - their car. 00:16:31.266 --> 00:16:38.240 - He would, I saw him different times blocking people so they could not even get out of their car easily. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:45.415 - And for me as a woman, that would be intimidating. No matter where you're at, you just don't want anybody, 00:16:45.415 --> 00:16:52.590 - but especially a man standing there that I can't even open my door without him moving. Election supervisor 00:16:52.590 --> 00:16:58.558 - Kylie Farris described multiple attempts by election officials to address the situation. 00:16:58.946 --> 00:17:06.176 - So there were multiple in-person conversations before a formal written notice was given to him. It was, 00:17:06.176 --> 00:17:13.336 - I believe, the first Saturday of early voting was when the written formal statement saying that he was 00:17:13.336 --> 00:17:20.426 - not doing things that he was allowed to be doing, and that was after the first two conversations that 00:17:20.426 --> 00:17:21.886 - we had had with him. 00:17:22.274 --> 00:17:31.001 - Local resident Carol McGarry, who filed the second complaint, said Davis approached her after she exited 00:17:31.001 --> 00:17:39.396 - her car. She said she kept telling him she did not want to talk while walking to vote early. As soon 00:17:39.396 --> 00:17:47.874 - as I walked into the building, I made a complaint because I felt trapped. I felt it was inappropriate 00:17:47.874 --> 00:17:52.030 - to be on my way. I think she called it the shoot. 00:17:52.674 --> 00:18:06.832 - and being approached so insistently by a candidate. McCary said she believed Davis's demeanor was misleading 00:18:06.832 --> 00:18:18.782 - and bizarre, not emblematic of how Monroe County candidates should behave during elections. 00:18:19.490 --> 00:18:29.468 - He claimed that he was a practicing jurist at law, and I'm not really for sure what that is, but it 00:18:29.468 --> 00:18:39.845 - didn't seem like it was accurate or it seemed confusing at best. He would also just do things that were 00:18:39.845 --> 00:18:48.126 - kind of bizarre from brushing his teeth on the sidewalk, and so I thought it was a 00:18:51.394 --> 00:18:59.120 - I think Monroe County is a great county and we really want to have the most accurate voting day that 00:18:59.120 --> 00:19:07.228 - we have from our early voting to election day itself. And this just did not reflect, I think, what Monroe 00:19:07.228 --> 00:19:15.030 - County stands for. Then Joe Davis had the opportunity to defend himself. Davis argued that he was not 00:19:15.030 --> 00:19:19.390 - acting improperly with voters. He was cleaning the area. 00:19:19.522 --> 00:19:27.885 - every early voting session from the beginning all the way to the end. I camped out basically at the 00:19:27.885 --> 00:19:36.583 - area where early voting takes place, and it was a shambles. There was debris everywhere. All over where 00:19:36.583 --> 00:19:45.280 - the handicap parking was was a mess, so I took my time to clean up the property, clean up the hardscape 00:19:45.280 --> 00:19:48.542 - around, to prune the trees, to make it 00:19:48.642 --> 00:19:57.176 - hospitable so that voters could come and enjoy their day of voting instead of walking through a litter 00:19:57.176 --> 00:20:05.543 - covered environment with gravel that was hard to walk and branches and debris everywhere. Okay, so I 00:20:05.543 --> 00:20:13.829 - cleaned this up. I brought some of the rock and gravel that I cleared off of the parking lot in the 00:20:13.829 --> 00:20:16.894 - area where the handicap parking was. 00:20:17.058 --> 00:20:25.274 - I took care of that place. Davis said it was alleged that he violated several rules during the election 00:20:25.274 --> 00:20:33.411 - cycle. Okay, first off I want to say that Penny Givens should recuse herself from sitting on the board 00:20:33.411 --> 00:20:37.598 - and someone else should fulfill her role because she 00:20:37.730 --> 00:20:46.564 - is a biased individual who is not going to give me a fair hearing, especially she has had a hand in 00:20:46.564 --> 00:20:56.017 - two of these alleged allegations coming from Karen Wheeler. One of those is the sign. She was scrutinizing 00:20:56.017 --> 00:21:05.204 - my sign incredibly. She and the other whispering cabal, which is what I call them, Karen Wheeler, Penny 00:21:05.204 --> 00:21:07.678 - Givens, Tree, Martin Lucas, 00:21:07.842 --> 00:21:15.231 - There was another woman with frizzy gray hair. She was in one of those videos. Another guy, they were 00:21:15.231 --> 00:21:22.548 - always whispering about me while I was cleaning up around the place. And obviously it was, you know, 00:21:22.548 --> 00:21:30.010 - trying to conspire and come up with what they could do to bring me down. Davis then defended his title 00:21:30.010 --> 00:21:37.182 - of, quote, jurist at law, unquote. When I was telling voters that I am a practicing jurist at law, 00:21:37.378 --> 00:21:47.365 - at law. I have filed into eight causes or filed into eight different cases. Seven of those are my own 00:21:47.365 --> 00:21:57.450 - cases, three of them gone to appellate court. I am a practicing jurist at law. You are looking at just 00:21:57.450 --> 00:22:03.422 - a smattering of my files right here, my law books, many more 00:22:03.714 --> 00:22:10.436 - Twice this amount of law books are at home, three times actually. I just brought some of them that are 00:22:10.436 --> 00:22:17.418 - most relevant because I'm working on filing for the appellate court right now that's due today. Republican 00:22:17.418 --> 00:22:24.531 - Chair Danny Shields explained that the board is not deciding whether Davis is guilty. You may not completely 00:22:24.531 --> 00:22:30.078 - understand what we're doing here today and I understand that. What we're doing today 00:22:30.178 --> 00:22:36.812 - is determining whether or not there is cause for us to push this along to a different level of people 00:22:36.812 --> 00:22:43.511 - that work on it. We are not in a position to make a finding of guilt nor innocence of any of this, nor 00:22:43.511 --> 00:22:50.601 - are we in a position to determine whether some fines or something would happen. We are not in that position. 00:22:50.601 --> 00:22:57.950 - We are not in a position to have to cross-examine witnesses here. That was part of what we talked about earlier. 00:22:58.306 --> 00:23:04.758 - The board approved sending the complaints to the prosecutor into unanimous votes. The next meeting of 00:23:04.758 --> 00:23:11.273 - the Monroe County Election Board will take place on July 2nd. And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you 00:23:11.273 --> 00:23:14.942 - for joining us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annaliese Poorman.