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