WEBVTT 00:00:07.330 --> 00:00:13.320 - Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annalise Poorman. The Monroe County Community School Corporation 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:19.370 - Board of Trustees met on August 25th. During this meeting, the board agreed to hold a work session to 00:00:19.370 --> 00:00:25.716 - formalize the school system's redistricting process. School Board President Aaron Cooperman said declining 00:00:25.716 --> 00:00:32.062 - enrollment and underused school buildings mean some kind of change to the district's boundaries is likely. 00:00:33.186 --> 00:00:39.855 - My position is that some kind of redistricting, reorganization, or restructuring is inevitable. Even 00:00:39.855 --> 00:00:46.722 - if we were willing to say socioeconomic balance is not part of our criteria, even if cost-effectiveness 00:00:46.722 --> 00:00:53.523 - alone were our only criteria, which I don't think it should be, but even if that were it, I think this 00:00:53.523 --> 00:01:01.182 - report said that our current utilization rate is 69% across the corporation, and at the industry standard it is 85. 00:01:01.506 --> 00:01:08.798 - even if we were only talking about redistricting, reorganization, and restructuring to adjust for declining 00:01:08.798 --> 00:01:15.685 - enrollment and financial realities, I personally think it's inevitable. So the way I would answer the 00:01:15.685 --> 00:01:22.910 - question is, if the question is, do we move forward with defining parameters and applying those parameters 00:01:22.910 --> 00:01:29.054 - or metrics to options for change, my answer to that would be yes. I am on board with that. 00:01:29.794 --> 00:01:36.533 - Cooperman proposed bringing the full board together to determine what criteria should guide the redistricting 00:01:36.533 --> 00:01:42.720 - process. In the past, we have sometimes made small task forces to bring something back to the board, 00:01:42.720 --> 00:01:49.214 - whether that's a resolution or, and it could be a working resolution that we take friendly amendments to. 00:01:49.634 --> 00:01:56.684 - Board member April Hennessy argued that the school district has not undertaken major redistricting steps 00:01:56.684 --> 00:02:03.532 - in a long time and urged the board to consider socioeconomic balance along with building capacity and 00:02:03.532 --> 00:02:10.582 - declining enrollment. You know, existing attendance zones I think should not be treated as an inherently 00:02:10.582 --> 00:02:17.363 - neutral position. You know, I think that there's this thought that like redistricting is like a is a 00:02:17.363 --> 00:02:18.974 - controversial decision. 00:02:19.490 --> 00:02:26.377 - But I would argue that maintaining the kind of status quo or the districts as they sit is also potentially 00:02:26.377 --> 00:02:32.814 - controversial, right? It is not a neutral position to say, we're just not gonna redistrict, we will 00:02:32.814 --> 00:02:39.251 - just stay as it is. The status quo is inherently sort of controversial as well, I think, especially 00:02:39.251 --> 00:02:45.688 - when we think about the fact that we truly haven't done or engaged in true redistricting in a very, 00:02:45.688 --> 00:02:46.718 - very long time. 00:02:46.818 --> 00:02:57.400 - And whether or not we're solving for population density, for moving populations of individuals or groups, 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:07.982 - whenever you have a district that has lagged for so long in looking at their boundary or catchment zones, 00:03:07.982 --> 00:03:12.574 - I think you're going to end up with problems. 00:03:12.738 --> 00:03:19.904 - Assistant Secretary Dr. Tiana Iruo-Jay says the district still needs to determine exactly what it is 00:03:19.904 --> 00:03:27.424 - trying to accomplish before evaluating potential redistricting maps. You're right. As a board, we haven't 00:03:27.424 --> 00:03:34.660 - made, like, decisions or even know what is the percentage of the socioeconomic status we're trying to 00:03:34.660 --> 00:03:40.478 - reach. I mean, I go back and forth. I've enjoyed reading this and reading all the 00:03:40.642 --> 00:03:47.089 - comments that people have made. But I think as a board, we have to know what are our clear financial 00:03:47.089 --> 00:03:53.600 - targets. I mean, what is the cost savings with this as well? Because I mean, as you all were talking, 00:03:53.600 --> 00:04:00.430 - too, about if you move students to another school, are schools going to close? I mean, what's the capacity 00:04:00.430 --> 00:04:06.366 - of that building? All of that, too, I think is something that we should think about as well. 00:04:06.498 --> 00:04:13.404 - The board eventually asked Superintendent Dr. Markay-Winston to organize a comprehensive work session 00:04:13.404 --> 00:04:20.310 - on redistricting, reorganization, or restructuring. For now, it remains unclear when the work session 00:04:20.310 --> 00:04:27.148 - will take place or what specific attendance zones or schools might ultimately be affected. The MCCSC 00:04:27.148 --> 00:04:30.398 - School Board will meet again on September 22nd. 00:04:31.650 --> 00:04:38.481 - Monroe County Council met on August 25. The meeting opened with a vote to table the 2027 target fund 00:04:38.481 --> 00:04:45.245 - balance resolution until September 8 and to move up several other budget discussions. During public 00:04:45.245 --> 00:04:52.008 - comment, Christopher M.G. from the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce warned of looming fiscal 00:04:52.008 --> 00:04:58.366 - choices urging counselors to challenge longstanding spending habits. Good stewardship doesn't 00:04:59.906 --> 00:05:05.387 - It doesn't always mean just spending less. Sometimes it means saying no. Sometimes it means redirecting 00:05:05.387 --> 00:05:10.711 - resources. And sometimes it means making a substantial investment now instead of failing to act that 00:05:10.711 --> 00:05:16.139 - will cause taxpayers considerably more later. And from the Chamber's perspective, we also have to keep 00:05:16.139 --> 00:05:21.515 - our eye on growth. We can make better choices about how we divide the pie, but over the long term, we 00:05:21.515 --> 00:05:26.997 - need that pie to grow larger through more jobs, more investment, more housing, and a stronger tax base. 00:05:26.997 --> 00:05:29.790 - What matters is that those decisions are deliberate. 00:05:30.114 --> 00:05:36.419 - measurable and tied to the county's most important responsibilities. The council then heard concerns 00:05:36.419 --> 00:05:43.098 - from the planning department, which has lost three of its eight employees in the past nine months, largely 00:05:43.098 --> 00:05:49.590 - over pay. Planning director Jackie Scanlon addressed the staffing losses and presented a proposal aimed 00:05:49.590 --> 00:05:55.582 - at resolving the issue. The number one reason for losing those key people have been for salary. 00:05:55.778 --> 00:06:04.947 - and two of those people left to the city of Bloomington to take a lateral position that paid $18,000 00:06:04.947 --> 00:06:14.298 - more. Monroe County Plan Commission President Scott Ferris followed, echoing Scanlon's concerns. Those 00:06:14.298 --> 00:06:23.831 - disparities are pretty gross. I mean, 20, 30% for like positions. That impacts, like most of you already 00:06:23.831 --> 00:06:25.374 - know, the morale 00:06:25.570 --> 00:06:32.368 - the quality of life and retention, as well as keeping the doors of the business open for a planning 00:06:32.368 --> 00:06:39.574 - department that is currently overworked and understaffed. Later, during department updates, Monroe County 00:06:39.574 --> 00:06:46.712 - 4-H highlighted how county support affects the program and its participants. Recent high school graduate 00:06:46.712 --> 00:06:53.918 - Correll Patnode described her decade-long experience with 4-H as both educational and community building. 00:06:54.690 --> 00:07:01.462 - 4-H is not just a great organization. It is my life and my family. I don't know what I would do without 00:07:01.462 --> 00:07:07.518 - it. And it was such an honor to represent not only Indiana, but our great county. Thank you. 00:07:08.162 --> 00:07:13.888 - The council meeting then turned to homelessness with heading homes Mary Morgan discussing a 00:07:13.888 --> 00:07:20.237 - county appropriation that would help expand a housing first pilot program for people currently living 00:07:20.237 --> 00:07:26.711 - outside. The funding debate came just hours after the county cleared a large encampment at the Thompson 00:07:26.711 --> 00:07:32.126 - power line property. Council member Pete Iverson criticized how the eviction unfolded. 00:07:32.450 --> 00:07:39.180 - we need to have a much more robust plan. We cannot steal people's stuff, put it at the highway garage, 00:07:39.180 --> 00:07:45.715 - and not have a way for them to get out there to get it. That is unethical. It's unmoral. We cannot. 00:07:45.715 --> 00:07:52.380 - There's just so many problems. Are we changing the date without giving people a time when we're going 00:07:52.380 --> 00:07:58.718 - to be there? These are residents in our community. This is wild that this happened this morning. 00:07:58.914 --> 00:08:07.927 - So I thank you for being here and trying to answer the questions the best you can. I'm at loss of words. 00:08:07.927 --> 00:08:16.768 - We need to do better. I understand that it was a really rough decision to make, and I don't think that 00:08:16.768 --> 00:08:25.438 - there were, I don't see answers just as there aren't to any of these situations. So yeah, I do think 00:08:25.438 --> 00:08:27.326 - we need to do better. 00:08:27.810 --> 00:08:37.449 - Addressing questions from the council, Morgan explained some of the limitations of the community's current 00:08:37.449 --> 00:08:46.458 - housing and shelter options. Extreme barriers to housing that people cannot overcome by themselves. 00:08:46.458 --> 00:08:53.214 - And all of that really was evident in a very visible way at the power line 00:08:53.442 --> 00:09:00.770 - Thompson encampment. And I don't have a good answer for you. We did have staff out there working to 00:09:00.770 --> 00:09:08.245 - try to encourage people to go into shelter, to try to connect them with other services. But if people 00:09:08.245 --> 00:09:15.720 - were not willing to go to shelter for a variety of reasons, some had animals that they didn't want to 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:22.462 - leave, some were couples that there's no sheltering available for couples without children. 00:09:23.074 --> 00:09:32.265 - And it's just a really challenging situation that this new initiative is trying to prevent from happening 00:09:32.265 --> 00:09:33.566 - in the future. 00:09:33.954 --> 00:09:40.338 - Despite concerns about long-term funding, a slim majority of counselors backed the heading 00:09:40.338 --> 00:09:47.493 - home appropriation. The meeting then moved to county employee pay. While the council signaled support 00:09:47.493 --> 00:09:55.139 - for a raise, members stopped short of final approval, instead voting to build a 2% cost of living adjustment 00:09:55.139 --> 00:10:02.014 - into draft 2027 budgets. Contingent on using economic development income, tax dollars to fund it. 00:10:02.658 --> 00:10:10.103 - Finally, the council took a step toward convening a municipal unit strategic task force, or quote, must, 00:10:10.103 --> 00:10:17.264 - unquote, this fall. The process is optional under state law, but opens the door to renegotiating how 00:10:17.264 --> 00:10:24.354 - local income tax revenue is distributed between the county and its cities and towns. Council member 00:10:24.354 --> 00:10:31.870 - Iverson emphasized his desire for broad participation. It is my desire, and I'm speaking just for myself, 00:10:31.970 --> 00:10:38.969 - This includes all Monroe County taxing units. I want everyone to be invited to this party. The resolution 00:10:38.969 --> 00:10:45.770 - to form the task force passed unanimously, setting up negotiations over local income tax shares as the 00:10:45.770 --> 00:10:52.769 - county enters its own budget season. The next Monroe County Council meeting is September 8th, with budget 00:10:52.769 --> 00:10:55.806 - meetings scheduled for September 2nd and 3rd. 00:10:57.122 --> 00:11:03.398 - The Monroe County Board of Commissioners met on August 27. During public comment, local resident Don 00:11:03.398 --> 00:11:09.737 - Cross said that while he praised the staff at the Justice Building, he is concerned about the working 00:11:09.737 --> 00:11:16.076 - conditions inside the building. I and a few others pray with people at the Justice Building from time 00:11:16.076 --> 00:11:22.476 - to time for the past 10 years. We are genuinely impressed with the staff that we have met and who work 00:11:22.476 --> 00:11:24.030 - in the Justice Building. 00:11:24.802 --> 00:11:31.808 - the clerk's office, prosecutor's office, judges, courts, public defenders in the jail and others. We 00:11:31.808 --> 00:11:39.021 - found them as friendly, diligent servants of our county who really care about their work and the people 00:11:39.021 --> 00:11:46.097 - that they serve. Many of our prayers over the years and especially lately have been for health issues 00:11:46.097 --> 00:11:52.478 - related to negative physical conditions in the justice building, some of them very serious. 00:11:53.954 --> 00:12:03.028 - As Monroe County resident, it is deeply disturbing to me that many justice building workers must deal 00:12:03.028 --> 00:12:12.280 - with and endure such negative conditions on a day-to-day basis year after year. Conditions that I would 00:12:12.280 --> 00:12:21.354 - not want to work in, nor would I want for people I cared about to work in. I urge that positive steps 00:12:21.354 --> 00:12:23.934 - be taken as soon as possible 00:12:24.162 --> 00:12:31.280 - to relieve this situation short-term and long-term for the sake of the people who serve our county so 00:12:31.280 --> 00:12:38.397 - well. County Commissioner Julie Thomas responded that she considers the building structurally unsound 00:12:38.397 --> 00:12:45.655 - and wants to move out. It is a failing building and we'd like to move out of it. And we've been stymied 00:12:45.655 --> 00:12:53.470 - in that effort. And that's unfortunate for everybody that works there and everybody that is housed in the jail. 00:12:53.634 --> 00:13:03.147 - or works in the jail. And we actually hear a lot of these issues raised in the media and elsewhere. 00:13:03.147 --> 00:13:13.517 - And the thing is, we continue to have mold remediation and testing done in every one of our county buildings 00:13:13.517 --> 00:13:18.654 - because the mold levels are very high in this county. 00:13:18.978 --> 00:13:26.487 - in the summer anyway. But the situation last year led us to have an ongoing contract. That work goes 00:13:26.487 --> 00:13:34.220 - on and it continues. Next, the commissioners discussed ongoing impacts from the June tornado that swept 00:13:34.220 --> 00:13:42.101 - through the area. Thomas said the county has signed a letter of intent to seek grant funding for clearing 00:13:42.101 --> 00:13:47.454 - creeks and removing log jams. This is related to the June 2026 tornado. 00:13:48.130 --> 00:13:57.874 - and the hope is that we can get some good creek clearing of log jams and things which will help keep 00:13:57.874 --> 00:14:07.907 - everyone safer and it will also keep our roads lasting longer. So that's one of those long-term impacts 00:14:07.907 --> 00:14:13.406 - of a tornado. We just had a grant related to Clear Creek 00:14:13.538 --> 00:14:21.247 - from previous tornadoes. So this one is new and very exciting opportunity and I hope it works. I hope 00:14:21.247 --> 00:14:29.258 - it happens and it would be great if it did. Commissioner Jody Madeira addressed criticism that the county 00:14:29.258 --> 00:14:37.043 - did not do enough to help in the aftermath of the June tornado. She defended the county's response and 00:14:37.043 --> 00:14:41.502 - the work of emergency responders. So the June 26th tornado 00:14:41.698 --> 00:14:47.772 - June 2026 tornado brought criticism that I think we had not done enough. The facts do tell a different 00:14:47.772 --> 00:14:53.847 - story. I think we had done our part that just as we do with every single disaster community faces. And 00:14:53.847 --> 00:14:59.803 - so we issued an emergency declaration and we had done things like consider and approve contracts for 00:14:59.803 --> 00:15:05.759 - roll off dumpsters. We received updates, we asked questions, and we offered assistance. In short, we 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:06.526 - did our job. 00:15:06.946 --> 00:15:12.410 - Also the Monroe County Fire Department, the Highway Departments and Emergency Management also performed 00:15:12.410 --> 00:15:17.664 - admirably immediately following the tornado and throughout the days of recovery that followed. They 00:15:17.664 --> 00:15:22.971 - did their jobs and it's important I think that we really keep the record straight and give credit to 00:15:22.971 --> 00:15:28.382 - the people and the departments who do respond effectively when our community needs them to. The County 00:15:28.382 --> 00:15:32.638 - Commissioners will meet again at 10 a.m. on September 3rd in the NatU Hill Room. 00:15:33.858 --> 00:15:41.108 - The Ellisville Town Council met on August 24th. The agenda started with an ordinance regarding the commercial 00:15:41.108 --> 00:15:47.764 - use of public records. Town attorney Darla Brown walked the council through the details. So the town 00:15:47.764 --> 00:15:54.421 - is receiving more and more requests for public records that appear to be requests for information so 00:15:54.421 --> 00:15:58.046 - that the requester can use it for commercial purposes. 00:15:58.274 --> 00:16:05.937 - and there is a section under the access to public records statutes which allows for a municipality to 00:16:05.937 --> 00:16:13.450 - pass an ordinance which prohibits the information being used for commercial purpose and that is the 00:16:13.450 --> 00:16:21.563 - purpose of this ordinance. If the town council passes this ordinance then any requester seeking information 00:16:21.563 --> 00:16:23.742 - that appears to be requested 00:16:24.226 --> 00:16:30.719 - for use for commercial purpose will be required to sign a certification under the penalties for perjury 00:16:30.719 --> 00:16:37.212 - that they will not use it for commercial purposes. Okay. Just by way of explanation, this is incredibly 00:16:37.212 --> 00:16:43.642 - burdensome for our staff because some of these record searches go on for years that they're asking for 00:16:43.642 --> 00:16:50.198 - data. They're asking for some very arcane data that is, of course, public record, but on the other hand, 00:16:50.198 --> 00:16:53.694 - we're not able to charge for the data that our staff is 00:16:54.274 --> 00:17:00.215 - producing so that these people can turn around and then make a profit off of it. So that's what this 00:17:00.215 --> 00:17:06.627 - ordinance is intended to prohibit, not to prohibit you from getting the data you need for your own purposes, 00:17:06.627 --> 00:17:12.628 - but for someone turning it into a for-profit industry at our expense. Councilmember William Ellis and 00:17:12.628 --> 00:17:18.687 - Attorney Brown discussed what would happen if a citizen did use public records for commercial purposes 00:17:18.687 --> 00:17:22.334 - should the ordinance pass. Darla, what is the penalty if they 00:17:23.106 --> 00:17:30.204 - say it's not for commercial uses and they use it as a perjury or was there another? Well, you can certainly 00:17:30.204 --> 00:17:36.907 - decline to provide them any records in the future. If you could prove perjury in a court of law, that 00:17:36.907 --> 00:17:43.150 - would be great. Okay. Chances are it'll be more just realistically for time, money and effort, 00:17:43.150 --> 00:17:49.788 - just say, right, you're done. The ordinance will be posted on the Alexville Town Council website for 00:17:49.788 --> 00:17:51.102 - the public to read. 00:17:51.234 --> 00:17:57.703 - Later in the meeting, Chief of Police Jimmy Durnall spoke to the council about a conditional offer of 00:17:57.703 --> 00:18:04.171 - employment to fill a vacancy in the police department, as well as the transition plan for when he and 00:18:04.171 --> 00:18:10.640 - Chief Deputy George Robinson leave the department. Deputy Chief George Robinson and I will be leaving 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:16.981 - at the end of January in 2027. So we want to make sure you were clear on that. We've got about four 00:18:16.981 --> 00:18:19.518 - and a half, five months for transition. 00:18:19.874 --> 00:18:25.570 - I think President Oldham has a plan to do that tonight. But again, I just want to thank my officers 00:18:25.570 --> 00:18:31.323 - for coming overnight. It really means a lot to me. Thank you. Well, first off, let's start us with a 00:18:31.323 --> 00:18:37.019 - thank you to both you and Deputy Chief Robinson for absolutely making sure the state on track for a 00:18:37.019 --> 00:18:43.227 - long time. And you've really been able to do some wonderful things with the department. We deeply appreciate 00:18:43.227 --> 00:18:48.126 - it. And I'm sure they have a whole lot more nice things to say later in the year, but 00:18:48.258 --> 00:18:53.905 - For now, just suffice to say thank you both. It's really been a pleasure. In the back of my head, even 00:18:53.905 --> 00:18:59.443 - back when I was trooper in Connorsville District, I always thought, I saw Don Kooster driving around 00:18:59.443 --> 00:19:04.926 - here. I know I'd like to be him. I want to be him. But he ended up in Chief of Police over here. So 00:19:04.926 --> 00:19:10.574 - it worked out wonderful for me. Thank you so much. Thanks, Jimmy. Congratulations. Thank you. The next 00:19:10.574 --> 00:19:14.686 - meeting of the Ellitsville Town Council will take place on September 14th. 00:19:15.682 --> 00:19:22.014 - And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annalise Poorman. 00:29:40.866 --> 00:29:41.982 - Summer of 83.