WEBVTT 00:00:04.738 --> 00:00:10.910 - Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Martin O'Neill. A special Monroe County Election Board hearing was 00:00:10.910 --> 00:00:17.023 - held on August 12th. Candidate Joe Davis, who lost this year's Democratic primary election for Monroe 00:00:17.023 --> 00:00:23.255 - County Clerk, is attempting to get on the November ballot as a write-in candidate. Five complaints were 00:00:23.255 --> 00:00:29.428 - filed against Davis, citing what is commonly known as the Indiana sore loser law. County Attorney Jeff 00:00:29.428 --> 00:00:33.982 - Cockrell explained the relevant section of Indiana code and the complaints. 00:00:34.338 --> 00:00:44.939 - looking through all the complaints, they all seem to be the same complaint from five different people, 00:00:44.939 --> 00:00:55.644 - which is that there is a violation of Indiana Code 381 5.5, which is entitled Ineligibility of a Person 00:00:55.644 --> 00:01:02.334 - Defeated in Primary Convention or Caucus. The allegation is that 00:01:02.754 --> 00:01:10.877 - Mr. Davis is one who was defeated in a primary convention or caucus, and therefore he is ineligible 00:01:10.877 --> 00:01:19.405 - to be on the ballot for this fall. I think there is one with a second complaint of history of disruptive 00:01:19.405 --> 00:01:27.609 - behavior at voting locations. I'm not sure how that fits into where we're at in today's process, but 00:01:27.609 --> 00:01:30.046 - I guess those are kind of the 00:01:30.978 --> 00:01:37.667 - I think the primarily one that all of them complained about was the violation of Indiana Code 3815.5. 00:01:37.667 --> 00:01:44.422 - Dee Owens, one of the completants, said that adding a write-in candidate to the ballot who had already 00:01:44.422 --> 00:01:51.176 - lost the primary would be against Indiana law. I think allowing a write-in candidate at this point who 00:01:51.176 --> 00:01:57.800 - was a previous candidate is clearly in opposition to the law. We just have to follow the law. That's 00:01:57.800 --> 00:01:58.718 - all there is. 00:01:59.170 --> 00:02:06.196 - Mr. Davis already lost. That's the law of the state of Indiana. We need to follow the law. I think it's 00:02:06.196 --> 00:02:13.086 - quite simple. Prior to Davis giving his presentation, election board member Danny Shields remarked on 00:02:13.086 --> 00:02:19.842 - what the election board can do and cannot do. I think that the question is, can this election board 00:02:19.842 --> 00:02:26.935 - rewrite Indiana state law? And the answer is, no, we can't. I'm sure there are state laws that all three 00:02:26.935 --> 00:02:28.894 - of us would like to rewrite. 00:02:29.378 --> 00:02:36.690 - We can. That's what the legislature does. And you know that. And the question here is, this is what, 00:02:36.690 --> 00:02:44.001 - and we've reached out to the state election board. This is what they say Indiana code states. And we 00:02:44.001 --> 00:02:51.675 - really have no desire to change what that law states. Joe Davis started his presentation by acknowledging 00:02:51.675 --> 00:02:56.670 - the law, the results of the primary election, and the election board 00:02:56.994 --> 00:03:03.407 - could not change the law nor the election results. However, citing multiple court cases, Davis argued 00:03:03.407 --> 00:03:09.883 - that he should be allowed to run for the clerk position as an independent write-in candidate. Election 00:03:09.883 --> 00:03:16.548 - restrictions affecting political association must be evaluated by considering the character and magnitude 00:03:16.548 --> 00:03:22.961 - of the burden on candidates and voters and the precise governmental interest asserted to justify that 00:03:22.961 --> 00:03:25.790 - burden. That matters here because the burden 00:03:25.890 --> 00:03:50.558 - I cannot be a candidate for Monroe County Clerk in the November general election at all. 00:03:50.882 --> 00:03:59.200 - but it also affects voters who may wish to support an independent candidacy. I anticipate that the board 00:03:59.200 --> 00:04:07.122 - may consider Hero v. Lake County Election Board, a Seventh Circuit decision. Hero is important, but 00:04:07.122 --> 00:04:15.044 - the factual distinction is critical. In Hero, the candidate was removed from the Republican primary 00:04:15.044 --> 00:04:20.510 - ballot, but he still had alternative routes to the general election. 00:04:20.738 --> 00:04:30.100 - The Seventh Circuit therefore characterized the burden as minor. Here, the challenged statute does something 00:04:30.100 --> 00:04:38.861 - different. It eliminates the general election candidacy itself. There's no alternative independent or 00:04:38.861 --> 00:04:41.438 - right-in route left for me if 00:04:42.274 --> 00:04:51.346 - Indiana code section 3-8-1-5.5 is applied. That distinction is reinforced by the Indiana Supreme Court's 00:04:51.346 --> 00:05:00.072 - later discussion of a hero in Morales v. Rust. The Indiana Supreme Court emphasized the availability 00:05:00.072 --> 00:05:08.971 - of alternative routes to the general election ballot in conducting that a restriction was minor. Those 00:05:08.971 --> 00:05:12.254 - alternative routes are precisely what 00:05:12.418 --> 00:05:20.673 - Indiana Code Section 3-8-1-5.5 removes in this case. After Davis ended his presentation, a recess was 00:05:20.673 --> 00:05:29.414 - declared to allow the Complaintants and the Election Board to review exhibits Davis submitted. Complaintant 00:05:29.414 --> 00:05:35.646 - Dee Owens offered her thoughts on how the board should proceed. Having heard 00:05:35.842 --> 00:05:43.428 - the presentations and having reviewed the exhibits, I would like to kindly say that this is the wrong 00:05:43.428 --> 00:05:51.609 - venue for this argument, that this board has no authority over the United States Constitution. And therefore, 00:05:51.609 --> 00:05:59.493 - you can only rule, of course, on what's in front of you, the law that's in front of you, and the evidence 00:05:59.493 --> 00:06:01.278 - that's in front of you. 00:06:01.602 --> 00:06:10.228 - Shields agreed that ultimately the issue was not for the Monroe County Election Board to decide. Well, 00:06:10.228 --> 00:06:18.853 - ma'am, that is exactly the thought that I had that if we don't write the law, we read the law and make 00:06:18.853 --> 00:06:27.730 - decisions based on what it says, it seems to me that if Mr. Davis wants to be on the ballot as a write-in 00:06:27.730 --> 00:06:31.582 - candidate, he needs to seek injunctive relief 00:06:31.874 --> 00:06:39.013 - that we can't offer. And if you wish to try, if you wish to file suit somewhere to be put on the ballot, 00:06:39.013 --> 00:06:46.016 - that same constitution you're talking about gives you that right. The election board voted unanimously 00:06:46.016 --> 00:06:52.883 - to remove Joe Davis from the ballot, but acknowledged that Davis does have the right to petition the 00:06:52.883 --> 00:06:59.614 - courts and appeal the decision. The Monroe County Council met on August 11th during public comment 00:06:59.842 --> 00:07:11.782 - Bloomington resident Gerhard Glohm called attention to federal immigration detentions and invited officials 00:07:11.782 --> 00:07:23.611 - and the public to a vigil. 65,765. That is the number of people, as I Googled it today, that are currently 00:07:23.611 --> 00:07:27.038 - held in ICE detention. 65,765. 00:07:28.546 --> 00:07:40.658 - Various independent agencies have verified that roughly 70% of those detainees have no criminal record. 00:07:40.658 --> 00:07:52.420 - Every day in this country, injustices occur hour after hour after hour, state by state by state. The 00:07:52.420 --> 00:07:56.030 - powers that be cause suffering 00:07:56.322 --> 00:08:05.122 - for tens of thousands of people and their families. On August 28, at 8.50 p.m., there will be a vigil 00:08:05.122 --> 00:08:14.009 - right outside this building on the southeast corner of the square. Vice President of Life Designs, DSI 00:08:14.009 --> 00:08:19.358 - Chris Hardesty, thanked the county for their ongoing support. 00:08:19.618 --> 00:08:25.414 - He outlined plans for a new day program to serve people with developmental disabilities who've been 00:08:25.414 --> 00:08:31.442 - stuck on wait lists. He explained how county funding is especially critical as Indiana Medicaid changes 00:08:31.442 --> 00:08:37.354 - create uncertainty. Things at a state level are definitely not getting any easier. Every day seems to 00:08:37.354 --> 00:08:43.440 - bring a new challenge and so having this support as it is is fantastic and just hoping that it continues 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:48.830 - and hoping to continue this relationship and the support from you guys is extremely helpful. 00:08:49.346 --> 00:08:57.774 - County Surveyor, Tron Enright Randolph, delivered a 20-year retrospective on the Surveyor's office work, 00:08:57.774 --> 00:09:05.881 - showcasing the office has brought Monroe County's Public Land Survey up to modern standards. Made it 00:09:05.881 --> 00:09:14.550 - a priority to have higher standards, do the perpetuation work per state mandate, stay on top of technology, 00:09:14.550 --> 00:09:16.958 - continue to create databases. 00:09:17.058 --> 00:09:25.151 - Also the GIS division is within the surveyors office and we have created public applications and we 00:09:25.151 --> 00:09:33.650 - also have been incorporating other data into a GIS where we have provided that data to our constituents, 00:09:33.650 --> 00:09:41.662 - colleagues, elected officials and created valuable tools for policy decisions in general outreach. 00:09:41.858 --> 00:09:48.558 - Later, the council approved a modest health department grant amendment to extend funding for sexually 00:09:48.558 --> 00:09:55.259 - transmitted diseases prevention and disease intervention specialists. Health administrator Lori Kelly 00:09:55.259 --> 00:10:01.828 - said the money breaks a gap until a larger amount arrives. This is just a standard grant amendment. 00:10:01.828 --> 00:10:09.054 - So this funding supports our disease intervention specialists. This funding will last us about into the fall. 00:10:09.218 --> 00:10:16.611 - and we are expecting an additional $110,000 to be arriving soon. That was initiated by the Indiana Department 00:10:16.611 --> 00:10:23.466 - of Health July 1st. So this is just essentially helping to cover an additional gap as we work our way 00:10:23.466 --> 00:10:30.522 - through the grant period. The Council then spent time discussing how to handle the special purpose local 00:10:30.522 --> 00:10:37.310 - income tax that funds youth and court programs. The rate was cut twice in recent years to spend on a 00:10:37.310 --> 00:10:38.654 - large cash balance. 00:10:39.234 --> 00:10:47.282 - County Auditor Breanne Gregory explained the current situation and made a recommendation. We're definitely 00:10:47.282 --> 00:10:55.028 - going to be in the red if we don't take some sort of action, either budget reduction or rate increase. 00:10:55.028 --> 00:11:02.700 - So FSG's recommendation is to put this back at the original rate that we reduced from the first time. 00:11:02.700 --> 00:11:05.182 - So they are recommending 0.0950. 00:11:05.378 --> 00:11:13.094 - The next County Council meeting will be held on August 25th. The Bloomington Utility Service Board is 00:11:13.094 --> 00:11:21.038 - preparing to present its 2027 budget to the Bloomington City Council. Utilities Director Catherine Zager 00:11:21.038 --> 00:11:28.678 - told the board that the budget has been reduced. There was a $748,000 overall decrease in the budget 00:11:28.678 --> 00:11:30.494 - split across all funds. 00:11:30.594 --> 00:11:36.651 - due to the removal of a placeholder for the union contract by the Office of the Controller. The Board 00:11:36.651 --> 00:11:42.293 - will present their budget to the City Council on August 19th. At their meeting on August 11th, 00:11:42.293 --> 00:11:48.231 - the Bloomington Board of Public Works approved several temporary road and sidewalk closures tied to 00:11:48.231 --> 00:11:54.347 - the construction of the Bloomington Convention Centre. Board members also raised concerns about access 00:11:54.347 --> 00:11:59.870 - to nearby properties, including parking accessed through the alley. We did issue the letters 00:12:00.002 --> 00:12:05.630 - to the same group that we've affected with the full college closure. So everybody between second and 00:12:05.630 --> 00:12:11.481 - third street. But on this one, we included Bunger and Robertson's team and Juan's cells for this closure 00:12:11.481 --> 00:12:17.332 - duration. City officials said additional land closure and sidewalk requests are expected as construction 00:12:17.332 --> 00:12:23.072 - continues. Those requests will come back to the Board of Public Works for approval. The Alexville Town 00:12:23.072 --> 00:12:28.756 - Council met on August 10th where they heard comments focused on complaints from residents living near 00:12:28.756 --> 00:12:29.982 - the SIP, a local pub. 00:12:30.946 --> 00:12:37.599 - Neighbors cited loud music, lighting, trash, parking and traffic through a private easement. Tyne Council 00:12:37.599 --> 00:12:44.314 - said they are aware of the concerns and are working with police and planning officials to find a solution. 00:12:44.314 --> 00:12:50.904 - Tyne Manager, Mike Farmer, said that Tyne wants the business to succeed while also addressing the impact 00:12:50.904 --> 00:12:52.222 - on nearby residents. 00:12:52.546 --> 00:12:58.571 - We've got civilians running up against commercial and it's a problem so I hope to be able to come up 00:12:58.571 --> 00:13:04.834 - with a solution that'll make everybody happy. The Oldsville Town Council will meet again on August 24th. 00:13:04.834 --> 00:13:11.097 - The Monroe County Commissioners met on August 13th. First, Becca Street, Executive Director of Community 00:13:11.097 --> 00:13:17.300 - Corrections, gave an annual report. Street reported on how their funding from various sources was being 00:13:17.300 --> 00:13:22.430 - used and stressed that the program would suffer from lack of funding in future years. 00:13:22.722 --> 00:13:30.616 - So in 2025, we received about $1.5 million from the Department of Correction, and that funds our community 00:13:30.616 --> 00:13:38.362 - corrections program, specifically our home detention, our drug treatment court, and mental health court, 00:13:38.362 --> 00:13:45.813 - and then our pre-trial services. The Department of Correction has flatlined our grant funding for, I 00:13:45.813 --> 00:13:52.158 - believe it's now six years, and, spoiler alert, for 2026 and beyond, it unfortunately 00:13:52.386 --> 00:14:00.046 - the funding is reduced and it gets worse. Our Community Corrections Program also receives funding from 00:14:00.046 --> 00:14:07.484 - the Indiana Office of Court Services through the Indiana Supreme Court. That specifically funds our 00:14:07.484 --> 00:14:12.318 - Veterans Court, part of our pre-trial services program, and then 00:14:12.578 --> 00:14:19.007 - all four of our problem solving courts receive some money, not for personnel but for bus tickets, what 00:14:19.007 --> 00:14:25.375 - we call barrier busters, incentives like gift cards for our problem solving court participants, staff 00:14:25.375 --> 00:14:31.617 - training and drug testing supplies so that our participants in problem solving courts don't have to 00:14:31.617 --> 00:14:37.984 - pay for their drug testing. For Indiana Office of Court Services, that's the part where we don't have 00:14:37.984 --> 00:14:41.854 - news yet for 2027. This is just a visual to let you know that 00:14:42.274 --> 00:14:48.830 - Grant funding by the state has been flatlined. It is not keeping up with program needs, with personnel 00:14:48.830 --> 00:14:55.259 - costs. We have been, across the state, we're being very vocal up at the state level, but this is the 00:14:55.259 --> 00:15:01.688 - reality of what's happening right now. The commissioners also approved two contracts with the Bounds 00:15:01.688 --> 00:15:06.398 - Flooring to repair flood damage to the Charlotte-Zitlow Justice Building. 00:15:06.850 --> 00:15:12.531 - On July 24th, there was a sewer line backup in the justice building that affected both the 00:15:12.531 --> 00:15:19.085 - court's administration area and clerk's office. The backup resulted in damage and replacement of carpet, 00:15:19.085 --> 00:15:25.452 - drywall, ceiling tile, and light fixture lenses that were affected in both offices. That brings me to 00:15:25.452 --> 00:15:31.757 - a pair of agenda requests before you today. The first is the request to ratify an emergency contract 00:15:31.757 --> 00:15:34.878 - with bounce flooring in the amount of $23,682.50. 00:15:35.074 --> 00:15:40.625 - for the replacement of carpet in the court's offices following damage caused by flooding at the Charlotte 00:15:40.625 --> 00:15:46.124 - Zitlow Justice Center on Friday, July 24th. The commissioners also approved contracts for a surveillance 00:15:46.124 --> 00:15:51.413 - system in the voter registration office at the County Government Building. Election Supervisor Kylie 00:15:51.413 --> 00:15:54.398 - Fierce discussed the purpose of the surveillance system. 00:15:54.722 --> 00:15:59.645 - I just want to say thank you so much to Richard Crider and the maintenance department for ensuring that 00:15:59.645 --> 00:16:04.378 - this is going to be taken care of. I want to say thank you to each of you as well, but also just to 00:16:04.378 --> 00:16:09.443 - make sure that this is being very clear and comes across as we are ensuring that there is as much security 00:16:09.443 --> 00:16:14.223 - measures as possible for all of the election equipment, but also for the staff in our office. We are 00:16:14.223 --> 00:16:17.726 - still waiting on a couple of more things to be completed in the office to 00:16:18.018 --> 00:16:23.675 - finished that security measures. And once everything is completed, we believe that we will be in one 00:16:23.675 --> 00:16:29.556 - of the most safest options and offices within the county for voter registration for the first time since 00:16:29.556 --> 00:16:35.270 - I've been here for three years. Commissioner Jody Madeira shared a statement on claims made by Monroe 00:16:35.270 --> 00:16:36.894 - County Consular David Henry. 00:16:37.154 --> 00:16:42.888 - Every employee has the right to a safe and clean workplace. When employees raise concerns, these concerns 00:16:42.888 --> 00:16:48.676 - deserve to be heard, investigated, and addressed. But hearing an allegation isn't the same as establishing 00:16:48.676 --> 00:16:54.139 - that allegation is fact. And that certainly isn't evidence that commissioners knew about a hazardous 00:16:54.139 --> 00:16:59.710 - condition and chose to ignore it. So I think Dave, Councilor Henry's arguments rest on two unsupported 00:16:59.710 --> 00:17:05.174 - leaps. The first is that reports that the Justice Center was, quote unquote, not cleanly established 00:17:05.174 --> 00:17:06.526 - that remains unsanitary. 00:17:06.754 --> 00:17:12.295 - They don't. Iosha's letters related to employee allegations. The letters themselves expressly stated 00:17:12.295 --> 00:17:17.835 - that they were not citations and that Iosha had not determined that alleged hazards existed. Iosha's 00:17:17.835 --> 00:17:23.321 - visit is part of determining the facts and should not be represented as proof of a violation before 00:17:23.321 --> 00:17:29.191 - a process is complete. The second and more serious leap is the suggestion that if some area still requires 00:17:29.191 --> 00:17:34.238 - attention, the commissioners must have known about it and deliberately chose to do nothing. 00:17:34.338 --> 00:17:39.886 - That's not logical or accurate. And so before accusing public officials of knowingly allowing employees 00:17:39.886 --> 00:17:45.221 - to work in unsanitary conditions, one should establish what condition existed, when it was reported 00:17:45.221 --> 00:17:50.609 - to whom, and what happened in response. The documented response was definitely not nothing. So after 00:17:50.609 --> 00:17:56.051 - the July 24th incident, the building was closed for four working days. Professional remediation crews 00:17:56.051 --> 00:17:58.398 - were brought in an hour after the incident. 00:17:58.498 --> 00:18:03.799 - damaged carpet drywall and other materials removed as necessary and affected areas were cleaned, sanitized, 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:08.708 - and dried. And the cause also matters. The sewage backup occurred after materials were deliberately 00:18:08.708 --> 00:18:10.622 - flushed to the jail's plumbing system. 00:18:10.722 --> 00:18:15.268 - The later drain cleaner exposure was a separate incident involving an operational decision 00:18:15.268 --> 00:18:20.313 - by jail maintenance staff to use an unfamiliar product. The commissioners didn't direct or authorize 00:18:20.313 --> 00:18:25.409 - that substitution. These events have to be assessed and prevented from occurring, but they should not 00:18:25.409 --> 00:18:30.404 - be collapsed into a narrative that the commissioners knowingly chose to tolerate unsafe conditions. 00:18:30.404 --> 00:18:35.400 - Employees reported that representatives of IOSHA and the State Board of Health commented on the air 00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:37.598 - quality in separate tours off the building. 00:18:37.858 --> 00:18:46.209 - the state did come down and do their assessment. That was done prior to the sewage event. So that was 00:18:46.209 --> 00:18:54.478 - prior to that. But their report was that the air quality in the building was appropriate. One of the 00:18:54.478 --> 00:19:03.239 - things that they looked at was the, they looked at the mold spores and everything and they were acceptable 00:19:03.239 --> 00:19:04.958 - as per their report. 00:19:05.090 --> 00:19:14.506 - They also look at the CO2 levels. And again, all the levels that were checked were, I think, between 00:19:14.506 --> 00:19:24.108 - six and probably 807-something high numbers. The 11 to 14 is, I think you actually had 700 to your 700 00:19:24.108 --> 00:19:32.126 - number. And that gives you what is not acceptable. So we were all fine on that level. 00:19:33.538 --> 00:19:42.461 - We brought the State Board of Health in to do this assessment to help support all the work that has 00:19:42.461 --> 00:19:51.652 - already been done and to show that we are in fact trying very hard to ensure a proper and adequate and 00:19:51.652 --> 00:20:01.022 - acceptable air quality. There is no defined numbers for that, if you'll find out, other than CO2 levels. 00:20:01.538 --> 00:20:08.008 - We're trying to show that we are taking all of these concerns seriously and we want to have the most 00:20:08.008 --> 00:20:14.863 - safe environment for our employees. Commissioner Thomas also spoke about the state of the Justice Building 00:20:14.863 --> 00:20:21.589 - and the public response to it. I really wish people would not talk about things they don't know anything 00:20:21.589 --> 00:20:28.187 - about. And what it highlights for me is the fact that this Justice Building doesn't need quote, a lick 00:20:28.187 --> 00:20:30.814 - of paint and new carpet as has been said 00:20:31.426 --> 00:20:39.876 - previously, this building is in terrible shape. We are continuing to work with VET, as you can see by 00:20:39.876 --> 00:20:48.823 - the Curry Building item on our agenda, but we are continuing to work with VET on every one of our buildings 00:20:48.823 --> 00:20:57.522 - to keep the mold counts down for all of our employees and for all of our visitors, for all the residents 00:20:57.522 --> 00:21:00.670 - of Monroe County. We are working with 00:21:01.570 --> 00:21:10.030 - a terrible building, structurally HVAC-wise, functionality-wise, everything is wrong with that building 00:21:10.030 --> 00:21:18.409 - that you could name. I don't think there's much right about that building. And this is a good reminder 00:21:18.409 --> 00:21:24.510 - that we need to move forward as quickly as possible with our jail project. 00:21:25.154 --> 00:21:31.323 - Commissioner Thomas finished the meeting with a series of announcements urging community members to 00:21:31.323 --> 00:21:37.862 - fill board and commission vacancies, sign up for the resident alert systems and the Ivy Tech blood drive. 00:21:37.862 --> 00:21:44.093 - The Monroe County Commissioners will meet again on August 20th. And that's all for Cats Week. Thanks 00:21:44.093 --> 00:21:47.486 - for joining us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Martin O'Neill.