Hello, and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annalise Poorman. At their meeting on July 28th, the Monroe County
Council heard about the recent closure of the Justice Building due to a sewage backup in the jail. Council
member Marty Hawk asked why employees in the voter registration office were given paid days off when
the office itself was not affected by the closure. In a related incident, I think some of us were informed
that the voter registration office was closed. And many wondered, did they really think that because
the justice building was closed that the showers building people didn't have to go to work? And before
I would suggest we spend one more penny, we find out who gave them the permission to stay home. I'm
not faulting the employees because I'm sure they did what they were told. But who told them that?
And yes, it's a budgetary question because we're being asked to fill the slide plus money out of that
election fund. And that's where these folks were getting paid from, I would believe, from the election
fund. So do you have an answer as to who gave them the order to stay home?
Deputy Clerk Tanner Branham, who was at the meeting to request approval for hiring a part-time voter
registration clerk during the county's hiring freeze, stated that the decision was made by Monroe County
Clerk Nicole Brown. That was Clerk Nicole Brown decided to close, and that was because we had a few
voter registration people who were gonna be out on vacation anyway this week, and then I wouldn't,
you know, so we just decided to go ahead and close with the justice building being closed, and we wouldn't
have any employees who would be able to help
potentially help out any issues that would arise down in Election Central, because they wouldn't be
in. Judge Mary Ellen Deakoff, who was also requesting to fill vacancies, elaborated on how the closure
affected offices that are located in the Justice Building. We are on minimalistic what we are doing.
But for me to shut the courts, for the judges to shut the courts, requires the special petition filed
with the Indiana Supreme Court, who then has to grant us the permission to do so. To do that is involved.
And so we try not to do it. But I also want to point out that on Friday afternoon when this took place,
I have been around a long time. I have seen a lot of things. This was awful. There was water just by
the gallon full, just spreading everywhere. And it was toilet water.
I was there, they were there, there was others who were there, and we were trying our best. It was kind
of like watching a blob movie. And then Dave Gardner showed up and shut off the water. Had that not
happened, he tells us that it would have just continued down offices to offices. She said that judges
and other employees were working so that operations would be back up and running as quickly as possible.
yesterday there were these folks and other court reporters and other office staff and me and other judges
who were in there taking everything off of bookshelves desks etc because they are ripping out carpeting
they are ripping out baseboards they are trying to put us back together i tried to negotiate for wednesday
they convinced me thursday so um they are telling us that we will be able to have the courts
operational, we will still have people in jury rooms, court personnel in jury rooms, in the court conference
room, so that we can function and proceed. I was supposed to have a jury trial next week. I contacted
the attorneys and told them that cannot happen because I don't have space right now to put them. We
were concerned there was a health hazard, which was also addressed and is being addressed.
So we are not closed because to close us requires the Indiana Supreme Court. But we are not fully operational
because we cannot be. During discussion of the county commissioners bond projects presentation, council
members asked questions about preventing future plumbing issues in the jail. Councilor Peter Iverson
asked how they can prevent the same situation from happening again. Is there a way to plumb this so that
The situation we're experiencing now doesn't happen again. Commissioner's administrator, Angie Purdy,
said it was unpreventable because the problem was intentionally caused. The current situation was entirely
intentional by inmates. And when somebody is purposely breaking a system, it doesn't matter what kind
of maintenance you have. This is just the result of bad actions.
bad actions and a bad design." Purdy said that the new jail designs are built in ways that can prevent
intentionally caused plumbing issues. The next Monroe County Council meeting is scheduled on August 11th.
Bloomington City Council met on July 29th. The meeting opened with multiple council members addressing
topics of concern outside the scope of the agenda. Council member Dave Rollo spoke about a reported
security breach involving an advanced AI model and urged a moratorium on developing what he called,
quote, artificial super intelligence, unquote. This is the loss of control that we've been the experts
have been warning about.
It proved that AI, powerful AI, can act completely on its own to bypass safety limits when hyper-focused
on a specific goal. It demonstrated a real-world threat. That is, instead of staying in a harmless digital
test zone, the AI launched a real unauthorized intrusion, which was illegal, by the way, against an
outside company. And this is a warning sign.
that work on models that are, after all, they're meant to explicitly replace people is becoming too
dangerous. Councilmember Hopi Stasberg criticized the Monroe County Commissioner's late stage proposal
to use the Hopewell neighborhood as the location for the new jail and justice center. Stasberg aligned
herself with Councilmember Isabel Piedmont-Smith's public letter opposing the idea.
I've had a few constituents message me about concern for putting a jail there because it had been planned
for housing and you know there was several
years of feedback given about what to do with Hopewell and There was not any discussion in there at
the time about it being a jail and I think that that would have been a very Appropriate time to bring
that up and talk about it when there was still that community discussion around it and at this point
it feels Not necessarily too late but especially given that there was a collaborative working group
all summer long that the commissioners declined attending
It feels a little bit Obtuse perhaps to suddenly come out and suggest something that they could have
Participated in a collaborative community discussion about and so to bring it up now just It just doesn't
sit very well with me So if you're not sure out there what it is that I'm referring to I would direct
you to councilmember Piedmont Smith's very
eloquently written public letter. Later in the meeting, the Council heard the first reading of Ordinance
2026-17 to update the Civil City Salary Ordinance by shifting and reclassifying several utilities, HR,
and public works positions. HR Director Shar Paycheck described the reclassification as largely budget neutral.
Council Member Isabel Piedmont-Smith requested more information on the long-term fiscal impact before
the second reading. I feel strongly that the fiscal impact should be calculated beyond the current fiscal
year for any ordinances or other legislation that impacts salaries or category one expenses. So I'll
put that request in with the controller. The next Bloomington City Council meeting will be held on August 5th.
At their July 27th meeting, the Bloomington Utilities Service Board approved its recommended 2027 budget
after reviewing proposed spending priorities and hearing questions from board members. The proposed
budget includes a $7.56 million increase in 2026.
The increase is driven by the city's new water rates, continued modernization of the Monroe Water Treatment
Plant, and improvements to the water distribution system. Board member Megan Parmenter questioned why
negotiations over fleet maintenance charges have dragged on for so long. We've gone 2024, 2025, 2026.
We're going to approve 2027 today. We're still going to be in conversations. And we're still in conversations.
We're coming on four and five years that I guess I don't understand why we can't get solid answers on
this. The board also revisited plans for a new utility service center at the Winston Thomas site. During
the discussion, board member Jim Sherman joked about the long decision making process. Maybe I watch
a little too much HGTV, but I see what
those people do to existing structures. I think I could take this building and turn it over to some
AGTV people and they'd make it into a wonderful thing without this way we're spending a million here,
a million here, two million here, without much money. And that's why I say we have not made a decision
whether to go forward. And we keep spending more and more and more monies.
Despite questions about the service center project, the board unanimously approved forwarding the 2027
budget recommendation to the Bloomington City Council. The utility service board will meet again on
August 10th.
The Ellitsville Town Council met on July 27th. The meeting began with additional appropriation requests
for multiple departments to cover expenses through the remainder of the year. Among the largest requests
were for the fire and police departments. Both agencies cited staffing shortages as the primary reason
for the increased costs, saying vacant positions have required existing personnel to work additional
shifts while recruitment efforts continue.
Detective Lieutenant Zach Michael explained the issues in the police department. We too have also had
an unfilled position. So we've had to use quite a bit of overtime to keep our shifts staffed. So that's
the request for 55,000 additional overtime. You'll see an additional appropriation for an officer spot
that is filling. Well, we had filled it.
Now we have another one open because of a recent retirement. So that is to get us through the end of
the year for that position. So similar to the fire department, we're hoping when we're fully staffed,
we won't have to use as much of the overtime. The requests for additional appropriations were unanimously approved.
Council members then approved a wholesale water rate tracker ordinance to reflect higher water costs
charged by the city of Bloomington utilities. Officials emphasized that the increase simply passes along
the higher cost and is intended to keep the municipal water utility financially stable. Town manager
Mike Farmer explained. The water tracker means that we ask for a raise in the rates
to reflect the new costs we pay for per thousand gallons to the City of Bloomington Utilities. They
supply our water for us. They recently went through a rate change and the wholesale users, which would
be like Ellipsville, our rate went up significantly. And so we just asked that the tracker pass, it's
a pass through. We didn't ask for any more than what CBU charges per thousand
increase. It allows us to retain the rates we had before. And without this tracker, our rates would
go at a deficit. And then one way or the other, we'd have to figure out how to recoup the money. So
this is basically penny for penny to track what CBU raised our rates to.
applies to our new schedule of water rates. Later in the meeting, attention shifted toward preparation
of the 2027 budget. According to staff, the budgeting process has become significantly more complicated
because they must prepare both a standard budget and a consolidated budget in preparation for potential
reorganization.
Clerk Treasurer Noelle Conyer explained the increased complications. The Gateway platform has completely
changed this year and we've already started inputting things. We have to put in the fire territory budget
and the reorganization budget. We had to separate out the police and the fire. It's a new platform.
It's taking three times as long as it normally does. The next Ellitsville Town Council meeting is scheduled
for August 10th.
The Monroe County Community School Corporation Board of Trustees met on July 28th. First, Assistant
Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Henderson announced that there would be an increase in school lunch prices.
Federal regulations govern the pricing of all meals and snacks in the USDA child nutrition programs.
And the paid lunch equity tool that's issued by the Indiana Department of Education is what's utilized
to determine the need for price increases to secondary lunches.
The price increases this year impact middle school lunch and high school lunch with an increase to each
of 20 cents per lunch price. I want to highlight that we're pleased to continue offering free breakfast
and lunch to all students at the following schools through the community eligibility provision.
program. That's Arlington Bloomington Graduation School, Clear Creek, Fairview, Grandview, Highland
Park and Templeton. Board member April Hennessy suggested that those who want to help alleviate the
effects of the increases support community funds. No one ever likes raising lunch prices. We know that
it's something that has to happen occasionally. I do appreciate that we've tried to keep, you know,
the impact in places where perhaps there might it might be easier to sort of manage.
But I also want to remind people who are out there listening, all four of you, not including who are
in the room, but a lot of you are here because you have a vested interest in what's happening tonight.
But that donations to lunch funds can be made. And so I do just want to continually remind people that
that exists. And if that's something that you feel like you want to do or can do, that we encourage
you to do that, especially as we see this small bump in lunch prices.
The board also heard a piece of legislation that would limit collective bargaining rights for operations
employees, making their rights comparable to teachers, which is limited to wages, benefits,
and paid leave. Dr. Henderson spoke more about the purpose behind this legislation. I think that the
policy just speaks to the fact that we continue, although there are no requirements or obligations for
us to engage in bargaining, it just speaks to the fact that we have a continued and ongoing commitment.
to continue to support our bargaining groups and ensuring the rights of them are upheld. And so this
resolution asserts that, and it doesn't take a position one way or the other in terms of the importance
or the significance of those rights. However, other members were concerned that this would result in
more difficult and complex negotiation processes. Hennessy commented. I am pretty staunchly and strongly
pro-union.
I actually do believe in, you know, sort of empowering people to bargain wherever there is space and
room to do so. And I do also know that the teachers bargaining has been sort of truncated. Their rights
have been stripped, truncated in many ways as a result of the legislature of the state. And so,
those things were somewhat out of our control. And I do understand the impulse or desire then to kind
of, in the sort of effort toward, what would we, I guess, fairness or equitable policies and processes
to sort of align what can be bargained for.
I will just say that from my perspective at this moment, I don't know that I fully agree with the desire
or the decision to remove bargaining rights that are available to people as there are no laws stripping
or governing what can or cannot be bargained. I'll also admit that it probably does make bargaining
more complicated.
And when you have more to bargain for, the process can take longer. Maybe resolutions are not reached
as sort of efficiency, efficiently or in a timely manner. This resolution will have its second and final
reading at the board's next meeting on August 25th. And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining
us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annalise Poorman.