- How is everybody doing tonight? All right, we're gonna get started. I'm gonna toss it off to our intro
- man. Thanks, Bryce. I am Brent. I am the co-chair of the Bloomington Democratic Socialist of America.
- And please, yeah, cheer it up for DSA. I'm gonna be talking a lot more about DSA in the next couple
- minutes, but welcome. Thanks, everybody, for coming.
- the first of our two part first ever candidate forum where we will be hosting tonight the Monroe County
- State and Congressional candidates. And I would first like to thank first all of our other DSA members
- for helping set up to organize this, for lending their expertise, sometimes their audio visual equipment,
- everything that went into this. Thank you guys.
- First United, of course, for hosting us here. And we have several co-sponsors to this event, including
- District Nine Indiana 5051, the Monroe County Education Association, Mask Block B-Town, Monroe County
- Young Dems, IU Bloomington College Dems, and IU Bloomington Young Democratic Socialists of America.
- And as the old Democratic Socialists of America,
- I just want to say a few words about our organization. While our co-sponsors and our candidates may
- have various views, the DSA does have some consensus viewpoints if you want to know about us nationally
- and locally. In a framework from our national, we believe that capitalism is the problem. Yes.
- Please hold your applause, there's several of these. And that we need strong labor unions. We need a
- Green New Deal to combat climate change. That healthcare is a human right and so we need single payer
- Medicare for all. That housing is a human right and we need redistributive social housing and tenant
- organizing. Pretend I got that word right. We believe in defending trans rights and bodily autonomy
- for all humans.
- And we believe in immigrants' rights and seeking to abolish ICE. And we believe in ending America's
- involvement in the Israeli genocide of Palestinians. More importantly than what we say we believe is
- what we do. And locally here, just over the last six months,
- The Bloomington DSA in August held the Bread and Roses Bash, where we raised $6,000 for Hoosier Oil
- Options and the Hoosier Abortion Fund. And it was also a lot of fun. When the Starbucks Workers Union
- struck, we gave material support and stood on the picket line with the union workers here. We organized
- volunteer work days at food banks and community gardens. We organized the Cut the Contract Anti-Ice and Flock
- surveillance camera demonstration at City Hall, and we continue to call for local non-collaboration
- with federal immigration enforcement efforts. And while we also work with existing orgs, several, but
- some like Bloomington Homes for All, Jewish Voices for Peace, the Indiana Department of Corrections
- Watch, Exodus Refugee Immigration, and many others to both educate ourselves and the community
- and to mutually strengthen each other. Our local chapter in DSA is entirely self-supported, and our
- membership has tripled over just the last year. So, about to be enough talking for me. I know nobody
- came to hear me talk, so I would just like to quickly remind everyone that despite the gravity of current
- events and politics, to please help us foster a respectful environment in here.
- The candidates have been gracious and brave enough, honestly, to come here. So please refrain
- from interrupting them during their allotted time, and please keep your feedback to submitting a question
- if you haven't already done so. QR codes are going around for that, and we will try to answer everyone's
- question. And I will hand it over to the person who is much better at talking than me.
- So besides being a grad school student, this guy finds the time to be a very active organizer, including
- in Bloomington, DSA. And this event is definitely his brainchild and could not have happened without
- his leadership and organizing. So please give it up for Bryce Green. Thank you for the kind words.
- And again, thank you all so much for coming.
- But just real quick, if you are a DSA member, you want to raise your hand? Whoo, yes. Now we'd like
- to see more and more of you as we go, of course. And if you're a member of an organization
- that's co-sponsoring, raise your hand. Yes, thank you all so much. So our candidate form is
- pretty straightforward. Each candidate will be given four minutes to introduce themselves to the audience.
- Then for about 25 minutes, we'll be asking them questions.
- Scannets will get 90 seconds to respond. And if they want to re-respond to someone, they can get 30
- more seconds. We'll have cards here to help people keep the time. If you, the audience, have a question,
- like Brent said, there are QR codes floating around here. Please scan a QR code. Your question will
- go into the question box. And we know we won't be able to get to everyone's question today just because
- we don't have infinite time, but we will try to get
- as many, like a wide variety of voices as possible to get the issues that Bloomingtonians care about
- heard. All right. Our first race of the day will be the county commissioner race. We'll have Trent Deckard
- and David Henry.
- If your microphones work, you guys can duel to the death over who's going to speak first. D comes first
- in the alphabet. I just don't know which you're going to go with. Well, if you're starting,
- you can go ahead. I'm talking. I'm already going. Good evening, everybody, and I want to thank the hosts
- for having us tonight. My name is David Henry. I am running to be your next Monroe County Commissioner.
- And I'm working for Monroe County for all of us. And I mean all. All means all.
- I'm a fact-based person. I teach at Indiana University. I like my facts, and the facts don't lie to
- me about the state of things in our whole community. When one out of every four of our friends and neighbors
- are living in poverty, when half the kids that went to the public schools this morning were on free
- and reduced lunches, we have thousands of people in our community on SNAP, and the vast majority of
- our community earning less than $90,000 a year, they can't make the rent without a roommate, let alone
- save up to buy a home in this community.
- I think we need a county government that's focused on those things first. Housing choices in our market,
- no matter where you are in your housing journey, if you are in transitional housing trying to get to
- your first rental, if you're trying to get your first starter home, if you're scaling up investments
- or trying to age in place, we need a county government that's saying yes more than no on those issues
- as we look to our community's development over the next few years. We also need good job diversity in
- our community.
- I'm not talking about gig jobs. The largest growth sector and jobs in our community in the past five
- years has been in service workers. And while those folks are working hard on their feet and with their
- hands, those aren't necessarily the careers that make for stability in our community. And we need a
- government focused very much on those things in the term to come. I would say the term to come, but
- it's really the next generation here. It is very rare that we have an open seat on the county commission.
- It's been about 15 years. And so it's not about the next four years. It's really about the next generation.
- and whether or not we go a new direction in this community. Now you're gonna hear a lot of that talk
- tonight, but I'm gonna be honest with you. None of that changes until we change the culture in our county
- commission. And many of you know what that means. It's a county commission that says no more than yes,
- that reveals its decisions only when you ask, that doesn't tell you what's going on until the press
- calls them on it. We need to turn a corner on that in this community. I'm committed to that work and
- that is what I will do when I'm your next commissioner. Thank you for having us tonight. I look forward
- to the questions.
- All right, then next we have Trent Deckard. Thank you very much. Can you hear me okay? All right, thank
- you so much for having me. Thank you so much. It's my rookie night. My name is Trent Deckard and I am
- currently a member of the Monroe County Council. I've been on that council since 2019 where I was selected
- in a vacancy role and then I was elected in both 2020 and 2024.
- You will hear a lot about us as candidates, and I think you'll find that David and I agree on a lot
- of different issues. I want to start by telling you just a brief story. My father was born in this county
- in 1947 out in Aline 2 near Lake Monroe. My mother was born in a house on Monroe Street near Cresmont,
- and she also born in that house, like my father, had a doctor next to her along with her parents.
- More and more folks in this community find themselves going backwards, not forward. Even though those
- two birth dates were 1947 and 1951, we're moving backwards and not forwards. Just as technology has
- changed, AIs come online, all these different things that have evolved in this community, we have moved
- backwards in so many different ways. And so I am talking about in this campaign a community of care.
- that I think we need to get back to. Somehow, if in 1947 and 1951 a doctor can get to a home for a birth,
- we can do better than what we're doing now, where folks are either triaged into need or they find themselves
- into more and more trouble. Now, I build upon what I want to do with this community, knowing full well
- that it takes a partnership of a lot of different folks.
- Too often, the county has been an answer no. The answer's been no with the city. The answer's been no
- with the towns. It's been no with the folks that are already here, the townies and the folks that are
- coming here. In fact, in this community of care that I'm talking about, I want to talk about affordability
- for reality for so many people in this community.
- The fact that is we have literally made this community into a country club of haves and haves nots.
- Some people can, if you're here, congratulations, enjoy that home, enjoy that value of that home. If
- you're looking to make a start like so many of the students I teach at IU, it's like a crap shoot. It
- shouldn't be that way. This was once a welcoming place. It should be a welcoming place again. We've
- gotta get real about health and all policies. Every decision the county makes,
- It should include considerations about proximity to food services, resources, transportation, and the
- county can get more involved in things like transit and other things that build upon people and assist
- them. And I do think, like David, that the culture in the courthouse has to change. I've never been
- a my way or the highway kind of elected official, and I learned this
- four years when I worked as a congressional district director for Barron Hill, when I was co-director
- of the Indiana Election Division, a bipartisan agency where you literally can't pay the light bill if
- both sides don't agree. And I learned that as a chief of staff for the Indiana House Democratic Caucus
- under then very progressive leader Scott Pilat. We can do better in this community, but it takes the
- right people in that job with the ability to work with all of our boards and commissions, other elected
- officials walking across the town to go to our city hall,
- colleagues and getting things done in an effective way. I think we can get to a community of care, and
- I'm not saying that folks are going to go back to having births in their homes necessarily. What I'm
- saying is if people want to see a doctor, they should be able to see a doctor. The county can no longer
- afford to say, that's just not our role. The county can be a convener for our federal and state officials,
- those who fight bravely for us and those whose offices can be changed by elections,
- to put people in there that will fight bravely for us. I think I can be a voice in that. All right.
- Thank you both. We will be moving on to our first question of the night. It's from Bloomington DSA.
- It's for both of you. What does democratic socialism mean to you?
- And what are concrete reasons that someone who is a democratic socialist should volunteer to knock doors
- for you or even vote for you? Who do you want to go first? Well, you did your introduction first, so
- you can go first. Awesome. What does democrat socialism mean to me? To me, it means in this community,
- folks that care and they step up.
- for a night like this, the weather's nice outside, but you clearly care about your community because
- you're here, and you're here in strong numbers, is folks that look out for food insecurity, for poverty
- in the community, that look out for all the things that folks should be thinking about when they have
- a heart. And one of the things I truly believe in my community care approach is that when friends and
- neighbors unite around doing things together,
- Magic happens, right? It's not an elected official waving their wand. It's an elected official saying,
- let's get in this room. Let's take our egos out. We've got a lot of egos in this community. Some folks
- know, if you watch public meetings, let's get our egos gone. Let's look towards solutions. And to me,
- the folks in this room are looking to do the grassroots, to roll up their sleeves.
- And I work with all individuals, and I have for a long time. I've got folks that they say, you know,
- I'm not sure what I am. I want to support you. I want to help. I've got others that say, I know what
- I am. I know what you are. We're a little different, and I want to help you. And so I think that that's
- kind of how I look at this, and I appreciate this leadership being the first forum of our season even.
- Thank you. Same question to you. Thank you.
- I won't go on to recite what you already gave us, Bryce. By the way, happy birthday. I don't want that
- to eat into my time, but I just wanted to say I got some word on that. Thank you. It is eating into
- your time. Yeah, that's fair. Because I don't even need that much time to answer this question. Look,
- the honest answer is our DSA community and those that are in the socialist part of the Democratic Party,
- give a damn.
- And you have done so in this community and demonstrated that as your words said at the beginning of
- this meeting. When I was chairman of the Monroe County Democrats, what I was proud about most is seeing
- how our community mobilized when we brought people that were left of center to Bloomington. You don't
- fill Dunn Meadow with moderates from Indianapolis. You fill it when Bernie Sanders comes to town. And
- we know those votes are here, and we know those values are here in this community. And my best candidates
- over the year when I was chairman ran on those issues and won. But it is a community that says, it's
- not good enough.
- It's a community that says we expect more in Monroe County government, one of the reasons why I'm running.
- That it's not good enough to sit in public meetings and have a half answer. That when our community
- is on the ropes and trying to figure out how to be constitutional in our jail, that we actually hear
- the people in this room that have filled our audience and say it's not good enough to build a building,
- but a system that respects the value of folks. You've been on the front line of that, and those are
- values that we need to keep us honest in the movement in our community. I thank you for that. All right,
- thank you.
- And I'd like to remind the audience that you can scan that QR code. You can flag down some of our members
- if you guys want to submit your own questions. But our next question comes from the Monroe County Education
- Association. For both of you, if you win the election, would you describe or would you please describe
- your subsequent relationship to our community's labor unions, including ISTA locals?
- What specific actions would you take to support their efforts? Well, I've worked with our ISTA friends
- for a really long time. When I was out knocking doors to return the Democrat majority to the Indiana
- House of Representatives, it was ISTA that was on the front lines. They made that happen. That was back
- in 2006. But specifically in this community, I think what we will immediately have to do, I have a meeting
- with the superintendent here in just a couple weeks, probably David has as well.
- The county has to be more involved in supporting our public education. Indianapolis has given up on
- public education. Indianapolis has waved a flag. And what they've said with current funding to local
- government, including education, is they've said, we really think that you're all just kind of dithering
- and not doing anything, so we're just going to cut your funds and your schools, and we're not going
- to look back at it. Now, they've done some pausing, but the inevitable is coming.
- The county can't again just say, well, you know, MCCSE, RBVCSE, we're really not in the role of funding
- public education or making sure that we're taking care of things important like teacher salaries and
- other key things that our students need in our classrooms.
- The county will have to jump in and say, how can we partner? How can we do economies of scale? How can
- we help you make sure that a bus gets where a bus needs to go? How can we feed empty stomachs that can't
- focus on a chalkboard, whiteboard, or a screen? Friends, this is our state. This is our community. We
- will all have to do this, or it won't end up well. And I don't mean to be dramatic, but these are our
- children, too. Same question. David Henry. Sure. Thank you.
- Let's talk about 2026. I appreciate Trent's work in 2006. During the last election cycle, we had a good
- opportunity to put a teacher in the governor's mansion with Jennifer McCormick. I was proud of our work
- in the party to try to do that. I was proud of our work to support candidates like Thomas Horrocks when
- he ran for the 62nd and, of course, Amy Oliver now running for the 62nd that have the support of local
- educators.
- take that message to Indianapolis that we need a significant change in attitude when it comes to supporting
- public education. I'm a K through 12 educated in public schools in northern Ohio. Those are golden years
- and memories for me.
- But I want to talk a little bit about what county government can do. It's a little more than just what
- Trent described. It's the fact that our job in county government is to figure out how to get more housing
- in our community and more jobs in our community to make sure that people can contribute to that quality
- of life. We don't have the tax base. Our middle 18 through 55-year-old demographic is winnowing out.
- They can't find opportunities here, and they can't afford to live here. A county government that's finding
- housing choices in our market where those folks are living in Monroe County instead of commuting here
- from other counties is half the battle.
- 15,000 people a day commute into Monroe County that could be citizens here, that have their kids in
- schools here as our enrollment declines here. So we have to get to work on that in a hurry in the next
- four years to get more Monroe County residents to share the burden and the quality of life. That's exactly
- in the wheelhouse, it's what county commissioners do. And that's what I'll commit to as your
- next commissioner. Thank you very much. Our next question comes from Bloomington Homes for All. According
- to, and this will go to
- David and then Trent. According to the city's affordable housing page, rents up to $1,740 a month are
- considered affordable. That makes the political use of the term affordable housing effectively meaningless.
- What actions would you take to ensure that new construction in Monroe County not only starts out meaningfully
- affordable but also stays meaningfully affordable for years to come?
- It's a great question because that number is not affordable. When I moved back from Washington DC in
- 2013, I was shocked to find that the rents were about the same here as they were in Northern Virginia,
- which is one of the most affluent counties in America. We have a serious challenge here. And we know
- folks are splitting the rent by pulling on roommates to try to make that number. It is not sustainable
- for our community.
- County government has been sitting it out for 20 years. We have a comprehensive plan in the county that's
- supposed to dictate how we grow and we've agreed to it was passed in 2012 and shoved in a drawer and
- forgotten about we have a county development ordinance that has so many
- steps in it that makes it impossible for our partners in public and private sector to develop in the
- county, including just outside city limits. This is going to take some serious work to undo the damage
- that has caused housing prices to rise in our community and priced people out in our community. The
- county has a role in it, and the biggest way to go at it, and the most important way, is this. For too
- long in the leadership in the co-workhouse and the county commission, it's always been county versus city.
- or it's been town versus gown. It's been country or urban versus rural. It's or, it's and. And we have
- to have a change in mindset to really put this to work. We're part, county is partners. Monroe County
- has the city of Bloomington in it. It's not an adversary in how we're developing housing in our community.
- But the bottom line on that is I do believe our predecessors who have run for office
- have abused that word housing affordability a little too much and we need attainability too much. We
- just need to get it in the arms reach of many people in this community and the way to do that is to
- partner up and stop treating it as an adversarial process moving forward. Thank you. Same question to
- you Trent. Thank you very much. This one's near and dear to me because the reality is the county currently
- doesn't even have a housing department. We're sitting there with no housing department. That means there
- is literally literally
- no requirement on what an apartment would look like, rental look like, et cetera. It could be, as I
- learned one time when I was going door to door in a different county, that we get out there and we would
- find in looking at a home or an apartment that there's a dirt floor. Now I don't think that that is
- happening, but the county wouldn't know. And so we have to begin to take the steps to leave this notion
- that county is just, we're off doing these things, and city is city, as kind of David just said.
- but county actually can do things like an apartment should look like this. Someone should be guaranteed
- that at the minimum it has this and these sort of standards for it. That begins with the commissioners
- creating a housing department, figuring out how that gets funded, how that is a supportive network to
- renters so they know here is what I can expect out there.
- So we've got to begin to take that step. The other thing that we've got to do is we have got to turn
- from that culture of, I don't know, bureaucracy, or let's worry about these three semicolons and inordinates,
- and we've got to make meaningful action that actually moves lives and welcomes people here. And I think
- that we can get that done, but it takes, again, a culture shift. 30 seconds.
- I appreciate the comment, and let's go a little farther. I sit on the plan commission now, and the devil
- is in the details and the colon and the commas in the county development ordinance. It requires a curiosity
- to get under the hood of what we've built in the county and what we're not building in the county. And
- I agree that while we do not have that housing department in the county, it's also about finite resource.
- We're a community that is getting gouged by the state house and tax revenue.
- We are going to be doing a lot more with less in the community. And it's really important that if those
- are our priorities, we have to find a way to fund that. And one of the ways to fund that is to make
- sure we're not overburdening this community by building a quarter billion dollar jail and putting that
- money to work and trying to answer some of those hard questions in the years to come. Thank you. Our
- next question comes from Mask Block. This is also to David and then Trent.
- How do you view indoor air quality as a public health issue, and would you support funding for HEPA
- filtration and ventilation upgrades in county facilities in coordination with Monroe County schools
- to prevent the spread of airborne viruses? That's a good question.
- county as a whole, we should just talk about county buildings in general. Over the past 20 years, our
- county commission has neglected some of our county buildings, not least of which is the Justice Center,
- where we have poor air quality in that building as we speak due to a continuing mold growth. I mean,
- we've got to get our own house in order first. And that is not just providing the resource to take care
- of our buildings before they fall into irreparable repair, but changing the filters every once in a
- while. And I know I've got some folks in the courthouse that are here with us that know that story.
- When it comes to the health of our community, there are foundational things. We have aspirational things
- we can try for, but the foundational thing of being able to have a home that is not covered in black
- mold, to have a home that is able to filter correctly to have a job or you can afford to maintain that
- care is really important. And we do know that once you get out of city limits,
- As Trent mentioned, we don't have that program in the county to check rental properties in the county.
- We have neighborhoods in the four corners of the county where the conditions that people are living
- in are shocking. And it's only our deputies that are stopping by every once in a while on their sheriff
- runs to see how people are doing as they're aging in place and their record conditions. This might be
- a place where
- An incentive from a health department that is functioning could deliver that for our community. But
- I'm sure we'll get to our health department and some of the challenges there this evening. But until
- we get to that point, we have a lot of mountains to climb with that. But I, as a former public health
- employee in this county, am very keen on the idea of just the fundamentals. And that makes sense to
- me. Thank you. Thank you. Same question.
- Well, absolutely. I support any resource that makes indoor air quality, outdoor air quality, and even
- remediation of land possible. And wherever we look for a partnership to do that and get that done, I
- think that's absolutely huge. One of the best things about being in a county position is you get to
- learn the expertise of a community as it starts to move you towards resources, towards things that maybe
- you're not thinking about the busy day of kind of putting out fires and trying to plan for the future.
- but helps you do that, so I wanna work on that. The other thing I wanna say is one of the things I notice
- a lot is when we have discussions on our county buildings, we start talking about how the justice and
- correctional center costs ballooned up and how that got out of trouble. The reality is, as every county
- employee in this room knows, that the justice building has massive issues. That project ballooned up
- because we can't just say I'm building a constitutional jail
- and begin to disregard or not look out for our workers. As the son of a court reporter who retired from
- the county and worked in that building and who saw it, right, we want our employees to work in good
- conditions as well. So I think sometimes when we talk about that ballooning up, we kind of make very
- disreputable what people actually go through in a day-to-day job. The county should be about modeling
- how we treat our employees the way we would want to be treated ourself
- We should set that standard for our citizens as well, and not kind of hold that back. Thank you both.
- In a related question, Monroe County residents have overwhelmingly voiced opposition to the construction
- of a new jail. How do you feel about that issue, and would you oppose the construction of a new jail
- as county commissioner? Yes.
- Having toured our jail numerous times and toured that jail with Ken Falk of the ACLU, one of the things
- that has been repeatedly brought out is despite the efforts of our sheriff, despite the efforts of the
- jail commander, not everything that they're doing can get that facility to constitutional care compliance.
- And I'm still an elected official while we have a constitution that believes in one. I took an oath
- to it, both state and federal,
- And we've got to maintain, again, how you treat people, how you take care of them. It models for the
- least of these and those among the least of these type situation. But beyond that, how do I feel about
- that facility? That's got to be the order of the day to make sure that folks are in a constitutional
- care facility. I know that we have had a lot of great discussions about what size looks like and how
- that manifests. But making sure that folks that are in there now
- have as much right to constitutional care as anyone else, that is our priority. And I'll continue to
- listen to the public as we navigate our way through the difficulties on that. It is a hard subject,
- where it goes, how it goes, what that looks like. But ultimately, someone in there tonight needs to
- have constitutional care. That was the guarantee that was given to them by being in this country. And
- that still has to mean something to people that are in office and have the ability to do something about it.
- Thank you. David. Yeah. Thank you. Let's start with what constitutional care means in the lawsuit. It
- means having the space because it's overcrowded or has the potential to be overcrowded and also the
- space for recreation and education in the program. That's in the building. That's what we've been under
- litigation for for more
- I have a third of, I think 16 years of transplant in office or about a third of that. I'm fairly new
- to counsel, but I was obviously a citizen before that and a party chairman before that watching this
- conversation happen on the outside as a stakeholder. I have long believed that the answer to the criminal
- justice system problem in our community is a system and not a building. And we should be working most
- certainly to make sure we're not filling the jail, whatever it may be.
- at the end. And that means investing the amount of money that has been proposed for that in things like
- prevention and restorative justice and diversion and our Democratic Party's values of being toward a
- program that moves us away from punitive bond, which is practiced, of course, in Indiana. That's something
- I said as party chairman in 2023 to the
- stakeholder engagement groups, the CJRC and others, and when the decisions were made by the county council
- at the time and the county commissioners went behind closed doors and came back with a plan that represented
- none of those values to our community, and in some ways still don't. This is still the battlefront for
- our community. Yes, we can do constitutional care, but if we have to build a new facility, we should
- be very much working hard not to fill that new facility. That's a position I've been consistent on.
- I do not believe we should max out the county's credit card for the next 20 years and taxing everyone
- in this room $5,000
- ahead just to build that facility in the years to come. Thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate
- the answer David, but one thing I want to say is since 2019 I've been on a study commission attempting
- to figure out our next steps. We were stopped by a pandemic during that. We've been stopped by state
- law, state bonding changes, but yet we persevered. Even two nights ago we persevered on that issue.
- The other thing I just want to say is
- Sometimes when I hear folks like David in elected office talking about our judicial system and how judges
- do their job and prosecutors do their job and probation officers do their job under Indiana law, which
- is given to us by the legislature, it sounds like we're doing the sentencing. We're doing those things,
- releasing people. And ultimately, our job is to collaborate with them in that system to try to make
- change, but it's not a commissioner that is going to
- make that. They're doing that work, doing that diversion that you described so eloquently. Thank you.
- Our next question comes from Bloomington DSA. Would you commit as commissioner to prevent ICE from using
- county resources or removing county resources that could be used to aid ICE like flock cameras and other
- mass surveillance tools? Absolutely.
- I want to say this. I'm a member of the Bloomington Faculty Council. I was elected by my non-tenure
- track lecturer colleagues. And one of the proudest things that I have done is to vote with the Bloomington
- Faculty Council against ICE doing recruitment on campus, Homeland Security doing recruitment on campus.
- And we took a firm stand on that. It was a proud vote. I don't want ICE doing anything here at all.
- And I don't want ICE.
- coming in here, friends, I read a lot of history books, right? We read this. I'm a collector of comic
- books. I read a lot of comic books about this. They still make them. This is a fight between good and
- evil. And occasionally, an elected official like me has to stand at the door and use nine generations
- of being a Monroe Countian to stand for those who cannot stand for themselves. What surprised me in
- all of this that more elected officials aren't jumping out saying, I, too, disagree.
- with ICE doing things in this community. And if that means flock cameras not being used until our nation
- gets back to regular order of people being decent, kind, following and honoring a constitution, then
- that means we stand in the door. I'd love to have a lot of you standing in that door with me. I think
- we can do it. And there should be a resolution from every local body saying just this. Thank you.
- I'll speak to my expertise. I think we just had a question about whether or not county commissioners
- should have expertise. It's no secret that I founded the Homeland Security Program at IU. I've worked
- around that topic since September 11th. And I've seen the best of people that have been trying to protect
- our country and the absolute worst. I left federal contracting over it this past year. And we made sure
- when we started that program on campus that it was the only one in the country that makes sure that
- if a kid's going to take homeland here, they have to take ethics.
- They should know what they're getting into. And I'm proud of the 2,000 students that have taken my course
- that have not gone to work for ICE. I've also never contracted with ICE as a choice, but I do know what
- we're facing. The question about flawed cameras is important. We've got to get under the hood of this
- for real. So it's one thing to talk about it, so let's fix it right now. Our county government contracts
- on six cameras. There are more cameras in the county, but there are six that were signed in by Commissioner
- Thomas and the previous sheriff.
- And I've talked with experts at CISA. There's absolutely no way we can guarantee that that data is not
- used in the cloud in ways that you all do not want. And I'm happy to walk with Trent to the Commissioner
- Thomas tomorrow and cut up the contract on it. It's that simple.
- But when it comes to the future of this community, we already know what this is going to look like.
- Senate Bill 76 is up in the Senate right now. It's going to the governor's desk. We're the only county
- in Indiana that has stood up against the cooperation with ICE. And that's going to be put to the test
- in a matter of weeks. So it's not a hypothetical situation.
- And I'll just end with this. I mean, this is the truth. And Trent already used the line elsewhere. But
- I did take an oath of the Constitution. It has a Fourth Amendment in it. And I'm not going to violate
- the due process of anybody. And we're going to have to have that argument. So it's time for County Legal
- to get ready for good trouble. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much. Our next question comes from
- folks from Help Ourselves Mutual Aid. Help Ourselves recently mounted a protest to prevent the mass
- eviction of an encampment
- of unhoused people, though a task force that was put together to address these issues has not yet convened.
- How will you prioritize caring for our unhoused neighbors and what specific critiques do you have of
- existing county council policy or county commission policy? Thank you. It's an important question. I
- thought the first thing I needed to do on county council was to see with my own eyes what we were about
- to do to the unhoused in our community.
- Commissioner Madeira and I headed out to Thompson property to take a look at that as guests of the on-house
- that were there to see what was really going on. And to have people in the NatU Hill room in the county
- courthouse describe the space as a cesspool, with my own eyes I can tell you that was not the case.
- These are people that were trying to survive the winter. And we almost unhoused them with no plan whatsoever
- before Christmas. Now this issue makes me a little upset because to this day, I still don't know what
- the plan was for before December with the people that lived there.
- And many people in this room gathered in the Natu Hill and confronted our county commissioners to say,
- what are you doing, please stop. And as you just said, the promise of a task force, which yes, has not
- met and it is now going into March and we're a month away from having this conversation like Groundhog
- Day all over again. I'm appalled by this. We have service providers in our community that are on frontline
- work. They know what the conditions are in the camps and how to work with them. But this is where we
- put our ethics to the test.
- And I would like to see us work with our service providers more closely to listen to what frontline
- staff are telling us and to make sure that we are doing no harm as a county. That is the, when I talk
- about culture change in the courthouse, this is exactly what I'm talking about. And it's what I will
- do when I'm your next commissioner. Thank you. Thank you. Second question? Thank you. You know, you
- can't have a community of care if you don't see the dignity of all people in the community. And so I
- think it truly begins with seeing people
- beyond here's a demographic swath or a description, but seeing them, listening to them, talking with
- them. And so when this issue developed, kind of to my surprise and to my shock, although I knew that
- we have various folks in different encampments, when this developed and the eviction began, I joined
- the chorus of individuals that said, let's not do this. Let's not do this. We're in the dead of winter.
- This is inhumane in every way that inhumanity exists.
- And I think it starts with seeing people there in their role, talking to them. I sat down at Blooming
- Foods, Councilor Kate Wilts and I sat down at Blooming Foods with some advocates and some individuals
- affected. And we did this novel thing in government called listening. And we listened to their experience,
- to their life, to their thoughts, to the strategies they thought the county could go.
- go and develop and do and be humane. And one of the big things I would just point out is if the county
- doesn't have a housing policy that lets them do rental inspection, why would we think that we would
- be experts on relocating people, period? So we've got to do top to bottom, taking the county to the
- sophistication of seeing the dignity of life at all times. Sometimes when I say that, folks will say,
- well, the county's just rural, you know? They're not really built for that. And that's a bunch of crap.
- The reality is people living in the county may not have been able to get in the city, or maybe they
- didn't think about it. It's our job to think about those things, treat people with dignity, and see
- all lives as they matter, as they function, as they have need. And that's what I'll do in the community
- of care, friends. May I have a rebuttal? 30 seconds. Thank you. I appreciate Trent's concept of the
- community of care. I just think we already have it. And the question was from Homer.
- When I see people in Seminary Square feeding our unhoused neighbors, that's a community of care. When
- I see activists in this room on the county square protesting Washington and Indianapolis, we already
- have a community of care. We have a community of care when our neighbors help each other out during
- a tornado or snowstorm to take ourselves out. County government's job isn't to be another nonprofit.
- It's to set the standard in our community and meet it every day. And it's one thing to join the chorus.
- It's another thing to get in the front line of leadership and get involved in these issues up front.
- Thank you. All right. Thank you. Our next question is from an MCPL worker in the audience. Public libraries
- are increasingly serving as daytime spaces for people experiencing homelessness mental health crises
- or housing instability. County level funding decisions and state policies like SB4 can affect how library
- budgets are reviewed or constrained.
- How do you see the county's role in ensuring public libraries have the resources they need to serve
- the community, especially as demand for social service-related support continues to grow? This is addressed
- to... Who went first last time? I'm sorry. It's Trent. Well, one thing I want to say, just really, really
- quickly, David, the system we have currently is not working given this question, given what's happening.
- The county's got to step up.
- County has to look at the dignity of life beyond what they see downtown. And then when, well, we're
- out in rural now, we don't think about those things. We've got to step up. And stepping up means listening
- to our neighbors in our library communities. If we don't step up, places like the library continue to
- have to put themselves out doing things maybe beyond the capacity that they can fund or can even speculate
- as the library becomes a treatment community.
- And one of the things that I did in my service on council is supported that south side library coming
- in, much like when I was a kid, I benefited from the library over in Ellesville. The libraries where
- I literally finished my master's thesis in the silent reading room, maybe a few people here have been
- in there too. But the libraries serve as the original co-work space, the original place where you can
- get your resources. It's natural that people are turning to that.
- Because the county, again, has no housing department. We don't have organized matter. What we have is
- legislative fiat. Where elected officials say, oh, here's a problem. Let's do this. Let's do that. The
- community of care I'm talking about means getting people to the table, including the libraries, to say,
- let's figure this out together. Let's get our business community in here. Let's get our residents in
- here. Let's get all individuals affected, rather than telling them, here's what you'll do. Here's how
- this will go. I think that's how it works.
- Thank you. The library challenge is a new challenge for us in the wake of SB4. And I appreciate that
- we're getting into some details here about what it means to listen to the community. I just want to
- know where that listening was in 2023 when the Monroe County Democratic Party and the NAACP and others
- went to the courthouse to say do something differently with the jail and we ended up with the plan that
- only Governor Braun disrupted and prevented us from putting a quarter billion dollar facility on the
- north part of town.
- Okay, but we can talk about the jail or the library a little differently for a minute. Our job in the
- county is to not consume every last tax dollar for programs like the very large justice center to make
- sure that we have the tax base to continue to support our libraries. And what I mean by that is this,
- there's only so much pie to go around. And the more percentage that we take out of it to fund
- county projects that maybe the majority of the community doesn't want to see, that means there's fewer
- resources for folks like our library. So we do need to listen to them in those moments because that
- is going to be a
- cornerstone for how we really rebuild our civil society after the fascism that we've been dancing around
- to talking about this evening. And for me as a young kid as well, growing up in rural Pennsylvania and
- Appalachia, the library was my window into the world. Without that, I'd probably still be a 10th generation
- Russ Moreland County resident and not very literate. But we need that as a cornerstone as a foundation
- point in our society. We just can't
- pick the pockets of our libraries by rating that tax base for projects the county should be putting
- aside and listening to the whole community on how to move forward. All right, thank you very much. Our
- next question comes from Homes for All. My neighbors and I lived in a county-owned affordable housing
- unit at Second and College. One of my neighbors is expecting a second child. Another is a retiree living
- on fixed income.
- All of us just received notices that we will be expelled from our apartments in July. What is your position
- on the county destroying affordable housing. Well I think affordability begins with looking at every
- single thing that was just described in that question. So let me break this apart here. It looks it's
- looking at where people live where will they go if they're not in the place they're in. Do we even have
- maps for that. Again we need a housing department.
- We're overdue. We have a health department. That should be part of it. It means that looking for folks
- that are expecting children that we actually think about something that is massive in cost in this community,
- and that's childcare. Childcare has become this frenetic pace that people literally fight over, like
- it's a summer camp placement or something else that's special. It's almost like a lottery.
- And it's awful, the burden that we've placed on families. The county should be in that discussion saying,
- where can that kid go? Can it be afforded?
- And then for retirees, what are we looking out for senior care in our community? Our laws on senior
- care, on how senior care is reported, on violence, on assaults on them. Where that is managed has changed
- in Indiana. We don't know where that ultimately, how that is going to map out. And so I want to keep
- people in homes, but I want to try something novel. I want to make it so that when you come here for a home,
- for childcare, to have quality of life, that it's not this lottery ticket that says I got in the country
- club, no one else does. That can change, and I think that we can do it by being a little bit different
- thinking on all this. David? Well, let me try to address your actual question there for the people that
- are directly waiting on their fate as to whether or not they're gonna have housing due to the county's
- choices. When I talk about changing the culture
- We have unelected people in our legal department that have basically come to a very conservative conclusion
- that we can't be in the rental business as a county government. You want to talk about a different approach.
- You would be saying, is this a test case for what
- a housing authority could look like in Monroe County, but instead we've been chasing people
- out of county-owned properties that we've acquired over the past year. We received a 400-acre gift to
- add yet another nature preserve to the county, which has its value, but we evicted people who were living
- on a farm before we are now evicting people that are living near the construction of the convention
- center. This is a wrong approach. I want to thank people in the community, and it's the business community
- that have actually stepped up on this, to help find housing for those
- apartment dwellers that are in the area just south of the new convention center. Without them, some
- of those folks wouldn't be transitioning, but it shouldn't be the responsibility of our private sector
- to clean up a mess made by our board of commissioners. So moving forward on that, a lot of great ideas
- that we heard from Trent there, but we've got the test case right in front of us, and that's human beings
- right now trying to figure out by July if they're gonna have a roof or they're going to be seeing that
- $1,700 a month rent bill that you just talked about. We gotta do better with that, and we have facility
- already in the county to manage
- like the office to manage that, and it could be treated as a public health issue. It could be treated
- in a variety of ways. But this is one of those get it figured out and lean in and get it done issues.
- And to those folks that are experiencing that, it's not my apology to give, but I'll do it for our county
- government. We should be doing better. Thank you very much. And unfortunately, we don't have time to
- get to all the audience questions, and this will be our last one for this race. And in knowing that, and in
- Also, in knowing that we didn't budget for a closing statement, we'll be a little bit more flexible
- on the time. But to wrap it up, could you summarize your thoughts on solutions to the housing crisis,
- and especially in the context of Indiana state law, things like rent controls, subsidized housing, loosening
- zoning laws, or any other concrete solutions to this issue?
- I'll keep it brief, I appreciate that. Thank you for being here this evening. I can tell we're gonna
- have a spirited few 70 or 80 days here, and we should.
- because this is about the future of our community. It's about where we're taking our county, and whether
- or not we get there gently or in a hurry, and I'm in a hurry. We have a lot of time to make up for,
- and there are a lot of people counting on our county government to catch up. When it comes to the housing
- issues in our community, look, the party of home rule, the Republican party, has a completely different
- idea when it comes to Monroe County, and time and again, our home rule has been taken from us. My argument
- and approach is very simple. We keep testing the edge, we pass the ordinance to try to make things happen,
- and we make them take us to court over it, so yeah, we can't do
- rent control, but we can definitely do a lot of things in county government, planning for micro homes
- in the county, planning for affordable housing in the county. I was on the Affordable Housing Commission
- in this county where we declared once upon a time in 2021 that housing is a human right in Monroe County,
- and we haven't done anything since to move that needle. We are well behind on that, and we have a lot
- of work to do, but it's gonna take creativity, curiosity, conviction, and the courage to stand up to
- the state house and even people in our own community and in our own Democratic party
- to finally get stuff done. Find me at VoteDavidHenry.com. Thank you very much. So I've watched commissioner
- races for a little over 20 years. When I was a kid, I saw a few of them. But lately, in the last 20
- years, I've watched them. And about every four years on some of these seats, we see someone that comes
- forward as a candidate that says, it's going to be my way, my change, my way, or the highway.
- And I would ask you to look at the results of that over the last 20 years, where we put people in who
- rule by legislative fiat, and we gotta move quick, and here we go, I figured this all out before I've
- even listened to everybody. Friends, we gotta try something different. What if we had a commissioner
- that actually listened to the people in that apartment and said, rather than issue a press release on
- how I'm gonna fix this, let me figure out what I can do, or at that nature preserve,
- What if we had someone that said, you're a developer and you're a person that likes historic neighborhoods,
- let's sit down at a table and figure out what can we do? You're a person looking to rent here, we're
- going to make some rental standards so that you have some idea what you're getting out there. And then
- we might do a rental inspection just to keep that process honest. That we might actually figure out
- what economic development looks like beyond when it comes to as conveniently at the courthouse.
- Friends, it starts with listening, it starts with planning, it starts with bringing people to the table.
- We've had an experiment where, again, we've looked for these legislative fiat leaders that give us their
- plan. But here's the thing, to get a plan through, you have to sit at a table, persuade people, listen
- to people, alter plans, and get it to move forward. Otherwise, you just keep repeating the same cycle
- over a vilification on one side,
- vilification on another. I do believe in a community of care. I don't think we're there now, not by
- any stretch. I think we depend on our not-for-profits, like that is their job. I think they've made
- it the order of the day. We've got to help them out. Check me out, trentdeckard.com. I would love to
- have your help on this journey, and I just appreciate you all so much caring enough to ask questions,
- to rally out here tonight, and do big things. Thank you. All right. Well, thank you both.
- So this is the end of the county commissioner race portion of this evening. We're gonna recess for about
- five minutes. We're a little bit behind, but we're not terrible. We'll reconvene at, let's see, 7.05,
- 7.04, so that we can get started close to when we started last time. All right, so we are in our second
- race of the evening. Thank you all for continuing to be here and continuing to listen to this.
- It's important, you know, like one of the things that we are, our big tagline of the night is fighting
- fascism starts at home. So you guys are all in the front lines of that fight by being engaged. So our
- second race, we have the same rules. Is there any clarification needed on the timing? I'm good with
- the rules, thank you. All right, outstanding. Does this work?
- It works. We're good. Thank you. All right. So if our candidates want to introduce themselves, we can
- get started. I believe in ladies first. All right. Well, since assuming the Office of Prosecuting Attorney
- in 2019, I've proven my commitment to community safety, compassionate justice, and constitutional values.
- I am confident that Monroe County voters will recognize my experience and temperament and retain me
- in office in this year's election. In my first term, I was able to get additional funding for the prosecution
- of sex crimes and domestic violence and add an additional victim assistant to our office. In 2019,
- My child support division was recognized with the Haynes Turner Peacemaker Award for some of our restorative
- justice practices in our child support division. And that award was awarded by the Community Justice
- Mediation. I collaborated with the stakeholders who were able to develop and implement the Stride Crisis
- Diversion Center, which is a
- where people experiencing mental health or substance use crises can be diverted away from hospitals
- and jails and connected with care. In my second term, I was able to establish the Monroe County High
- Tech Crime Unit in partnership with Ellisville Police Department. The unit processes forensic digital
- evidence and it serves 11 counties to improve prosecution outcomes.
- However, I am most proud of my work to identify and address racial and ethnic disparities that may result
- from prosecutorial decision making. In 2022, I was able to secure an Arnold Ventures grant,
- and in partnership with Monroe County branch NAACP, Lake County prosecuting attorney Bernard Carter,
- and Indiana University,
- We engaged in a three-year research project. The study was nationally groundbreaking for bringing in
- a community partner to help improve local prosecution, and our NAACP partner was really invaluable to
- us. For that work, I was awarded the 2023 John L. Kraus Award for Public Policy Innovation from Indiana
- University. And as part of the project, we do anticipate launching a dashboard very soon. It's been
- developed. We're testing the code.
- But what this will do is we will collect and display our data publicly so that we can be Improve our
- transparency our accountability and test our policy updates against the data The next four years will
- require strong skilled leadership. We're facing state and federal attacks on home government governance both from
- threats by Republican leaders and from changes in tax code and federal grant programs that limit our
- resources. And I'm the only candidate who's managed an office and handled the difficult decisions required
- by the job. You can rest assured that I will stand for the Constitution and do what is right, no matter
- what the outside pressure is. I've demonstrated my values time and again in our community, and I will
- continue to do so.
- supporting and partnering with organizations and coalitions in our community who serve those with substance
- use, mental health, housing, and other critical needs, expanding diversion opportunities to prevent
- collateral consequences of convictions, spare jailhouse and courtroom expenses, and reduce recidivism,
- focusing limited litigation resources on repeat and violent offenders who do the most harm in our community,
- and engaging in work to make our system more fair and just.
- I have served in the Monroe County Prosecutor's Office here for over 16 years, and I will always work
- to improve. We are, after all, an office that is meant to serve our community, and I want to ensure
- that our community is safe for all people. Please vote Eric Oliphant for prosecutor on or before the
- Democratic primary on May 5th. All right, thank you. And then Ben Arrington.
- Hello. Hello, everyone. My name is Benjamin Arrington, and I am running to serve as your next prosecuting
- attorney because I believe we can take a stand for justice by taking a stand against injustice. Now
- more than ever, we need to make our voices heard that enough is enough and that we as a community are
- not going to tolerate criminalizing personal medical decisions. I was born in Northern California, but
- grew up in central Texas.
- I moved to Chicago for undergrad and finally found my home here in Bloomington, Indiana, where I attended
- law school at Indiana University and fell in love with B-Town. I am now the proud father to the light
- of my life, my four-year-old daughter, who was born right here in Bloomington in the torn down hospital
- as one of the last babies born there. She was nearly one of the first babies born at the first hospital,
- at the new hospital. When I take great joy
- and raising her with my partner here in this wonderful community that I've fallen in love with. But
- I want to share with you that I am in fact a high school dropout. Working, starting working at age 16
- at a flea market. Turned fast food worker, turned call center worker, turned vacuum cleaner technician,
- turned assistant store manager, turned 18-wheeler over-the-road truck driver,
- turned pizza restaurant shift manager, turned deputy prosecuting attorney Monroe County. The honor and
- privilege to serve you. And let me veer off script slightly and just say that I went to law school for
- criminal law because that's what I'm passionate about. So my first job as an attorney was deputy prosecutor,
- turned staff attorney with
- Department of Child Services turned administrative law judge after serving at Lawrence County as a deputy
- prosecutor, now serving as staff attorney and local clinic director for family and eviction law, providing
- no cost legal assistance to low income family residents. I am the product of a single mother of five
- children who understands poverty because I have lived in poverty and I have been unhoused more than
- once in my life. My father went to prison when I was a child
- And I stand before you as a person who's been through adversities, who's had struggles, made mistakes,
- and is not perfect at all. Which is why I sit in a unique position to have a unique lens when making
- prosecutorial decisions. If elected on day one, I will stop the discriminatory prosecution and wasteful
- prosecution of simple possession of marijuana of one ounce or less. In 2019,
- Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears made the decision that his administration would not prosecute one
- ounce or less. Monroe County can and should be a leader for progressive policies in the state of Indiana
- right alongside Marion County. The reason to support marijuana decriminalization start with compassion.
- Imagine for a moment a patient undergoing chemotherapy attempting to have an appetite.
- or a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. The list goes on as we are surrounded by
- Illinois, Michigan, and now Ohio, all with legal marijuana, let alone recreational, medical. A survey
- from Safe and Regulated Indiana states that 70% of Hoosier respondents said they support legalizing
- marijuana for residents over the age of 21. 49% said they strongly support it. I will stand with women
- doctors and nurses safeguarding that private medical decisions remain private. Reproductive medical
- decisions do not and should not be criminalized. I will be compassionate in understanding poverty and
- approach each case with the perspective of how can the Monroe County's prosecutor's office best serve
- our community. I ask you to take a stand with me. I ask you for your vote. Thank you. All right.
- Thank you, guys.
- Our first question will be the same question that we asked the last group of candidates. What does democratic
- socialism mean to you and what are concrete reasons that someone who is a democratic socialist should
- knock doors for you or even vote for you? Democratic socialism to me is really important because as
- a democratic socialist, I believe
- in fairness and as a long-term Bernie Sanders supporter and someone who believes in capping salaries,
- why does someone need more than 10 million a year? And having a livable wage, not a minimum wage. I
- believe that if somebody wants change, somebody wants to be progressive, somebody wants a prosecutor
- that's willing to take a stand for what is right, then you would want to rally behind
- a true democratic socialist, such as myself, who wants to enter politics and really make a change to
- serve our community, to give back, to be a leader, and to have a voice for the people, power to the
- people. Your prosecutor is your last chance to protect you from unlawful, unright laws that may be on
- the books from a super powerful majority of Republicans that are in the General Assembly.
- but your prosecutor if elected, I will stand for you and do what's right and have a conscience.
- All right, same question to you, Erica. Thank you. You know, I think democratic socialism means making
- sure that everybody has an opportunity to thrive, that we don't have to worry that our next medical
- emergency or our next busted pipe or broken
- down car is going to mean that we're bankrupt or unhoused. Clearly, we want to make sure that everybody
- is treated equally and with dignity. And I really value the work that you all have done here locally
- to stand up for the causes that mean a lot to you all and to me as well. I can say that I have
- I've often done things to support the unhoused community. I have done things to develop resources for
- those experiencing mental health and substance use crises. As the prosecutor, we get a lot of social
- issues foisted upon us because we haven't solved them sooner through better healthcare and
- better opportunities for people. I am also an unequivocally pro-choice woman.
- I was at the bread and roses bash back in August. It was very hot, but it was very fun. Making these
- categorical statements that we're not going to prosecute cases isn't going to have any practical change
- on the way my office operates or the cases that we're actually focusing on, but it will draw attention
- from state and federal Republicans who will put our community in danger.
- All right, thank you. The next question comes from the audience. What role do you believe the prosecutor's
- office should play in supporting successful reentry and diversion programs, particularly for people
- experiencing homelessness or mental health challenges? How might your office collaborate with community
- spaces like libraries in those efforts? This question is going to you, Erica, first.
- All right, I'm going to take just a moment to talk about some of the things we've already done. I've
- already mentioned the Crisis Diversion Center at Stride. I've also worked with Mobile Crisis Unit to
- have an alternative to call instead of the police when someone is experiencing mental health or substance
- use crisis. I've also got a robust diversion program in my office that's been proven to reduce the instances
- of new cases within a year after the case that someone does diversion on.
- I served for five years on the Monroe County Problem Solving Courts, Drug Court, Mental Health Court,
- Veterans Court, and Reentry Court, making sure that we were using evidence-based practices to give people
- a fresh start to have them overcome some of the issues that lead to criminal activity.
- I am always open to partnerships. I've been summoned by some of the unhoused services providers to come
- and try to help them make sure that their programs succeed.
- Also try to work with I've worked with township trustees to try to get people representative pay ease
- when they couldn't manage their Social Security funds in such a way that they were not being able to
- pay their bills and keep their housing. So you know I've really I think demonstrated that I can think
- outside the box and I am
- open always to hearing new ideas about how we can support people in not coming into contact in the first
- instance with law enforcement, but then also having a chance to avoid it after they've come into contact
- with us. Thank you. Thank you. Same question to you, Ben. As a person who's been unhoused, I believe
- that I'm in a unique position to be able to help by working
- and sending a tone that's saying, you know, if you work for the prosecutor's office and word gets out
- that my office is draconian and we haven't seen this much request for prison time since the Republican
- was in office and things of that nature, that's not gonna happen with my office. My office is gonna
- be working with the Monroe County Public Defender's Office.
- You're gonna hear that there's a new era of cooperation and that my office is reasonable and not seeking
- to punish and seeking to harm and seeking to injure our community because there's gonna be now a new
- way of doing things. And one of that we're gonna do is partner with all communities to work together and
- strive to be just better as a community. And one way is telling law enforcement, hands off our people.
- Your new chief law enforcement officer is a person that represents the people and is going to work to
- help all of you. And that's by telling law enforcement, we're not going to be charging bull crap. And
- that's how it's going to be. May I respond just briefly?
- Thank you. First of all, I would say that when law enforcement sends us something that is, to use Mr.
- Arrington's words, bull crap, we do have about a 15% to 20% declination rate, meaning those are cases
- we do not charge that are referred to us by law enforcement.
- It's hard to say that my office has been more draconian than the Republicans when the jail population
- has gone down since I've taken office. And I think the last time Judge Stafford may back me up on this,
- the last time I looked at the DOC numbers, we are seventh in the state, lowest at sending people to
- the Department of Corrections, but we are not the seventh lowest in population. Thank you.
- The next question is coming from the Monroe County Educational Association. In the current session,
- SB 76 would force K-12 schools to comply slash cooperate with ICE and or federal agencies should they
- come for our students and families. What advice would you have for teachers and school administrators
- dealing with this chilling reality? Ben, this is to you first.
- What I'm witnessing with ICE is despicable. And that children are now afraid of our government is so
- sad. As a father and a parent, this is near and dear to my heart. And my instructions to teachers are
- stand up for your little children in your class. We are not going to be helping ICE.
- And when I saw the district attorney from Philadelphia stand up and say, Ice, you come to this town,
- you know what's going to happen. I would have used a bully pulpit had I been in office and said the
- same thing for Monroe County. Because we need to take a stand and do what's right. And no child should
- be in fear because of Ice, nor should a teacher. And I will be there to stand with them.
- Question? Thank you. You know, unfortunately, as prosecuting attorney, it's unethical for me to provide
- legal advice to anyone other than, you know, my deputy prosecutors who work with me. But what I would
- say is there
- There is a lot of good resources, there are a lot of good organizations such as Exodus and others that
- are offering some advice on safety planning and what to do when you encounter ice. The unfortunate truth
- is we have an overreaching enforcement of
- immigration, where we're not narrowly targeted towards those who are committing criminal offenses at
- all. And we have this broad recruitment of new people who are not trained, who are given unconstitutional
- directives to go out there and just knock heads and cause a ruckus. And I just want to say that if I
- have credible evidence that someone has broken an Indiana law, and I can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt,
- no badge of authority is gonna keep anybody safe from prosecution. So I would say, you know, it's incumbent
- upon you to use the safety and planning resources that are available to you. Be a good documentarian.
- You know, just be a good historian so that when people are overreaching and violating the law, that
- we can hold them to account. Thank you very much.
- The next question is from DSA. SB 285 is making its way through the Indiana State House and would effectively
- criminalize homelessness by making camping on public ground a classy misdemeanor. This policy is clearly
- an attack on the unhoused and seeks to use the punishment bureaucracy as a substitute for other more
- evidence-based measures. How would you respond to this or similar legislation as a prosecutor? This
- is going to you first, Erica.
- Thank you. Well, I think it's going to be a continuation of collaborating with our services providers
- to make sure that we have a solution that doesn't involve taking someone to jail. But instead, we're
- working to connect somebody with services and make sure that they have some options besides sleeping
- in public. I think it's an awful law. I don't think it's going to do anything to help the homelessness crisis.
- You know, I, like as I had mentioned earlier, have engaged in a lot of work and support with, you know,
- I'm on the capital campaign for Beacon Inc. and I have met with the heading, I'm sponsoring the 2026
- Heading Home Summit. You know, there are a lot of things that I'm doing to try to bolster personally,
- in my personal capacity, these organizations that are helping to serve these folks so that
- Truly, jail is not the answer. We don't have the resources to fix the problem. It needs to be done with
- our social network and support system. Same question. Thank you. Jail is for people that are criminally
- violent. That's who my office will be locking up, only violent people who break the law and are violent.
- Homelessness and being unhoused is not violence. And in fact,
- How many of us are how many paychecks away from being unhoused ourself? So what is the solution? We're
- not going to prosecute it. That's it. I stand and say no. In honor of Black History Month, it's worth
- noting that at one point in time, I would be prosecuted for using a whites-only water fountain. And
- I would hope that we'd have a prosecutor that would choose not to prosecute that law out of their conscience.
- because their conscience knows what's right. And that's why I'm willing to take a stand. And you know
- what my position is. Thank you. We have another question from DSA. Bloomington residents and DSA members
- have overwhelmingly demanded an end to the use of flock cameras in the city and county. Will you commit
- to ending the use of flock cameras owned by the county
- as well as taking steps to curtail the growth of a generalized mass surveillance state which
- disproportionately criminalizes immigrants, people of color, and the unhoused. This is going to you
- first, Erica. Thank you. You know, I will say that flock cameras, they're license plate reader cameras
- for those of you who don't know. We have six of them that are county-owned. There are more that are
- Bloomington-owned that are placed mostly at major corridors throughout the county.
- They are a law enforcement tool, and when they were installed, I believe that they have been used to
- make sure that we are able to apprehend and prove criminal cases. I can say I have prosecuted one case
- where someone was charged with attempted murder. He shot somebody in the chest. He was identified because
- of a flock camera.
- So it is a law enforcement tool, however, I understand we have a lot of concerns where we cannot control
- the use of that information once it's collected, where ICE is going to be able to have access as long
- as these cameras exist. So I think it's great that DSA, through their protest action, has started this
- community conversation about what we should do with flock cameras. And so I would submit that I believe
- that we should have
- a public debate about whether it's worth having this tool or not. And if it's not, we should get rid
- of it. So thank you. So any question you've been? I'm saddened to hear that she wants to have a debate
- about this, because the answer is clear. We do not need a surveillance state monitoring everywhere we
- go. Flock cameras need to go. Flock cameras need to go. What in the flock is going on here? This is
- outrageous.
- You know, we wouldn't need flock cameras if we had a cooperating community that worked with law enforcement
- because they didn't feel like law enforcement was against them. So we don't need flock cameras because
- we can use the community together. That's what amber alerts are for. That's what we can work together
- as a community. Instead, we can
- have a debate about whether or not it's a good idea to monitor everywhere you go and to keep track of
- it and have AI notice to keeping track of your license plate when you come and go out of the county.
- I think that makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't
- want a supervisory state monitoring everything that I do. We need to work together as a community. And
- if we work together as a community, we'll have a strengthened and powerful community emboldened to work together.
- It doesn't matter that we live in a super majority Republican state, we can be better and we can be
- leaders. That's what we need to do. All right, and this is just a reminder to the audience that if you
- want to submit a question, we have a QR code that you can use to fill out a question, quit our form.
- And our next question comes from the audience. We're combining a couple questions.
- How would you use your position to advocate for poor and working class Monroe County residents? And
- could you use your position as a prosecutor to push against abusive landlords or other businesses? Oh,
- this is going to Ben. Sorry. You know, I come from a unique background, as you've heard. There's such
- thing as K through JD. That's kindergarten to law school.
- and then you immediately become a prosecutor, maybe. I was really poor, and I grew up struggling and
- had cockroaches, and it was different. And so I believe that one way I can reach out and be a beacon
- of support is I plan to go to the elementary schools. I plan to be hand-in-hand with MCCSE to show that,
- hey, you can be a high school dropout and still become your elected prosecutor. You can still do things
- with your life, even if you mess up.
- And so that's one way is I'm going to be a leader by showing people that it's possible. And regarding
- landlords, I believe that we can be enforcing laws that are unethical business practices type of laws.
- We could be looking into things that say, hey, if you're going to be a capitalist trying to push people
- around and take advantage of them, the prosecutor's office is watching out. You break a law, that's
- going to be something that's going to get prosecuted.
- I'm gonna stand for poor people, I'm gonna stand for against abusive landlords and tenants.
- It's the rights. Second question. Thank you. So most landlord tenant rights are actually contained in
- civil law, and most of their actions, though they may seem criminal from a perspective of just moral
- indignation, they aren't necessarily criminal offenses. Certainly, if someone was
- violating the criminal code, I would hold them to account. But I think we have to be careful to stay
- within the confines of our constitutions and the roles that we have. So I would not be trying to prosecute
- landlords if I could not prove that they violated the criminal code. That said, I just want to say one thing.
- you know, really interested to hear Ben say his life story, because though I worked with Ben for a little
- bit, I'd never heard it before. And it's really impressive that he's sitting here next to me today,
- absolutely. But I just want to say I also was homeless for a period of time, and I also had a struggle.
- I was a farm kid in Versailles, Indiana, and I came up
- with a single mom who was never around and an abusive father. And, you know, I think it's... we all
- have stories to tell, and I just want to say I've had abusive landlords, I've had great landlords, and
- I think that one thing that we can do is make sure that we look at the resources we have in our community,
- like Landlord Tenant Assistance Project and our townships, to make sure that people can stay in their
- homes. Thank you very much.
- Our next question is also from the audience. Do you engage with harm reduction in your work as prosecutor,
- and if so, how do you do this? This is to Erica. Thank you. Yes, I do. So I have long been a financial
- supporter as well as a volunteer occasionally for Indiana Recovery Alliance. I was
- a deputy prosecutor of the office when they first developed their syringe services program. And I developed
- the policy that said that we would not charge syringe services program participants with possession,
- unlawful possession or use of syringe or possession of paraphernalia. So I have a tight knit with that
- community. I obviously, as the prosecutor, I can't show up to all their events because
- That's going to chill participation and the important work that they do. It's really unfortunate that
- our lawmakers are choosing to try to restrict the syringe services program so that it's not evidence-based.
- They're trying to say it has to be a one-to-one exchange and otherwise just kind of rein it in.
- because there's this view that these syringes are causing a public health crisis, but actually these
- syringes are preventing a public health crisis. These syringes are shown to reduce the instances of
- hepatitis and HIV in our community, and the Indiana Recovery Alliance and other similar programs connect
- people with treatment and give them a chance to avoid coming into contact with me professionally.
- Thank you. Same question for you, Ben. I absolutely believe in harm reduction. And that begins with
- choosing to not prosecute marijuana. OK, look, we look at who historically is going to get pulled over
- and mess with by the police. OK, is it somebody in a brand new car, rich student, or is it somebody
- who's driving a broke down car or a person of color?
- And that makes it to where you're now gonna get introduced to the criminal justice system with a criminal
- misdemeanor. Ryan Mears choosing not to prosecute the same year that Erica took office in 2019
- is commendable, courage, courage. And that's what you'd be electing if you give me an opportunity to
- serve you. And so I believe harm reduction starts with making a conscientious decision on what is right
- You don't just say, oh, I'm bound. Oh, I have to, you know, in essence, that means that no, no, no.
- You need to have a voice and stand up for what is right. And that way, at the end of the day, you can
- at least say you stood up for what is right. Thank you. May I rebut that, please? 30 seconds. In 2025,
- we had two convictions for possession of marijuana in my office.
- I think in both of those cases, there was something else going on, like impaired driving, which would
- be prosecuted in Michigan, Illinois, and yes, even in Marion County. Unfortunately, due to Mr. Mears'
- public declaration, there is now a noncompliant prosecutor law that fortunately has no teeth, but is
- actually trying to limit the discretion of prosecutors who were elected to
- respond to the values of their communities. I'm out of time. Thank you. Thank you. And our next question
- gets at this issue a little deeper. Ben, you've made your position clear about emulating Ryan Mears.
- Erica, the question is, can you explain a little bit more about why you disagree or if you disagree
- with what Ben is proposing? What Ben is
- proposing is making a public declaration that he will not prosecute a criminal law that is on the books.
- We have taken oaths to uphold the Constitution and to uphold the law. It is the Indian General Assembly's
- sole discretion of the Constitution to decide what is illegal and what is legal. Once we have prosecutors
- who are willing to decide what is legal and what is illegal, that can work in your favor or it can work
- against you.
- You know, we, as a practical matter, I just told you we had two convictions for possession of marijuana
- in 2025. It is not something that is aggressively prosecuted. It is not something that we spend a lot
- of resources on. However, by making a public declaration, we draw the attention of the Republican
- supermajority to our local resources.
- It doesn't really change. By saying this, it doesn't really change anything that's actually happening
- as a practical matter. What we should be doing instead of making public declarations that put us all
- in danger from state and federal intervention and home rule is make sure that we continue to focus our
- resources on those violent and repeat offenders that cause the greatest harm in our community. Ben,
- you have 90 seconds on this same issue. It's not exactly the same question.
- Thank you. Yes. Prosecutor Mears is seeking re-election for his third term and is still in office and
- everything is working out just fine. Marion County is not prosecuting one ounce or less of marijuana.
- We need to be doing the same. I believe prosecutor Oliphant is being a little disingenuous when she
- says two convictions. Two convictions? How many marijuana charges were filed throughout the year of
- 2025 is what I would like to know.
- not the number of convictions. Convictions occur after someone is charged with a crime, after they've
- pled guilty and they've gone through a complete conviction. Few cases actually get to that point because
- you have to pay her $550 pre-trial diversion fee. That money is expensive for a lot of people who cannot
- afford that. We're not gonna do cash for play. We are gonna stand up for what is right. You know, being
- drawing attention of the super majority Republicans good,
- Maybe we can show them what is right. Maybe we can show them what needs to occur, what is honorable,
- what is honorable people do that care about their community. And so let us be a leader. Let us stand
- for what is right. Thank you so much. May I read about that? About 27 cases did pretrial diversion for
- possession of marijuana in 2025 and maybe
- 30 were just outright dismissed. I just, you know, I wanted to make sure you had those numbers since
- he brought it up. Thank you. Thank you both. Our next question also comes from the audience. Losses
- from robbery are $482 million. Losses from wage theft is more than 100 times that at 50 billion. These
- are national figures. Are there a proportional number of cases that pass through the courts in this county?
- What can your office do to empower employees to hold their thieving bosses to account? I'm sorry, this
- was going to Benjamin. Well, I believe my position is pretty clear that my office, as I already stated,
- you know, if I were to find out that a landlord's committing fraud or conducting any type of illegal
- business practices that would meet a statute,
- That would also occur where I would want workers to feel empowered to contact the prosecutor's office.
- We'll create a tip line that will allow you to inform us of wage theft, inform us of unethical business
- practices. Let us know how we can help you. Because you know now that you have a prosecutor
- who's progressive, who stands for the people, who believes in power to the people, who believes in change.
- And so, absolutely, if you are aware of something that is wage theft, if you have a boss that's doing
- something unethical, you'll have the opportunity to call law enforcement to have a tip line
- in the prosecutor's office. And I will be there to stand for you as your prosecutor and to serve the
- people of Monroe County.
- Same question, Erica. Thank you. So in my nearly 17 years in prosecution, I've actually prosecuted one
- wage theft case where somebody withheld a paycheck illegally from somebody. And you know, theft is theft.
- It's a very broad statute. You cannot take the money or property of someone else. It's particularly
- atrocious to steal someone's labor.
- You know, I think that the real problem is going to be having somebody who is experiencing wage theft
- report that to an investigative agency and have a criminal investigation that can be presented to my
- office. We are not an investigative agency. We simply don't have the resources to do this thorough criminal
- investigations. But certainly, if you needed to be pointed in the right direction, you could reach out
- to our office and we could put you in touch with someone.
- But, you know, theft does have a real cost for people. Sometimes having property stolen is the difference
- between making rent and not making rent for a month. So they are very serious cases, and we do have
- to make sure that we hold people accountable, try to get restitution when we can. All right, thank you
- very much. The next question comes from DSA.
- What are your views about the biggest flaws within our punishment bureaucracy in Monroe County, Indiana,
- and the country at large? What specific steps will you take to address what you see as the biggest problems?
- Yeah, so I think that the biggest problem we probably face is that we have a very limited set of tools.
- You know, we have incarceration, we have some community corrections options, we have some probation,
- but we have
- a lot of different individuals with individual needs and criminogenic factors that need to be addressed.
- And frankly, as I said, you know, the criminal justice system becomes sort of the last resort solution
- for people who have been repeatedly failed by the safety networks such as they are.
- In Monroe County, we are very fortunate to have a lot of treatment resources. We are fortunate to have
- drug courts, diversion, and other opportunities. At the state level, I think there is a lot more emphasis.
- You can see it in some of the new criminal laws that are being passed that there's a lot more emphasis
- on using incarceration as the means to address the problems.
- proven that it only increases recidivism and puts people behind socially and financially with their
- family and in every real practical way that we live our lives. And I believe that varies from state
- to state. I can't necessarily comment on every state's resources, but that's my time. Thank you. Same
- question to you.
- Our biggest flaw that I see in our criminal justice system starts at the top, and that's that we do
- need change in prosecution. And I'm not just saying that because I'm running for office. I'm saying
- that because status quo is just not working right now. We need to have someone that's willing to take
- an active voice for standing for the people. You know, prison is appropriate for people that want to
- harm other people.
- You know, we do need to lock people up that want to be violent and want to bring harm to our community.
- But we need to stand as a community and say that we need to stand for what's right and stand for the
- people and make the right choice and a conscientious choice. And that starts with the right leadership.
- And that starts with telling everyone that works below you that, look, I want to hear on the street
- that the public defender
- loves the prosecuting attorney's office. Now, that's a strange thing. And why? And that's because we
- work together to reduce the jail population, to reduce the harm of the criminal justice system on the
- average citizen. And so that's what I want to work for. And that's what I want to see. And I want to
- see change in our biggest flaw. May I just briefly rebut that?
- I would say that I do overall have a good relationship with the Public Defender's Office. You know,
- especially the leadership in that office. There are, of course, going to be complaints about the work
- that I do. We're in an adversarial system, and we very often disagree about what is the best outcome
- in cases. So, of course, there's going to be times when we are not going to be friendly, necessarily.
- But overall, I do work with the Public Defender's Office to try to address things with such as delays
- in case processing and creative solutions to some of our bigger challenges. Thank you very much. Our
- next question comes from the audience. The Trump administration has taken steps to repress and criminalize
- acts of resistance to the spread of fascism.
- How will you protect residents of Monroe County who exercise their right to speech and protest? This
- is going to Ben first. What I see going on currently with this administration is really sickening, and
- we need to take a stand again. It's my theme to take a stand. I kind of want to stand up right now,
- actually, but, you know,
- When I saw a sniper on the roof, because students were out protesting, I thought to myself, you know,
- if I was the Monroe County prosecutor, I'd go out there and stand up there with them. Because that,
- are they going to arrest me? Come on, point the sniper rifle at me. So what I'm going to take steps
- to do is I'm going to be out protesting with the people.
- I'm gonna be out with the people, and I'm gonna be out there showing you guys that I'm willing to stand
- with you. And so, you can count on me, if you elect me, to be there with you. Thank you so much. Same
- question? Well, ever since No Space for Hate, I think I have a track record of not charging people who
- are peacefully protesting and standing up for their First Amendment rights.
- I believe very deeply that our constitutional rights are the only thing that keep us safe from oppression
- from our government and I'm going to defend them. You know, one reason that you won't find me out on
- the picket lines when you all protest is because if I am there and I'm a witness and you are arrested
- illegally or otherwise,
- that would be grounds for a special prosecutor to be appointed. And the special prosecutor pool is typically
- older, white Republicans who aren't from this community. And I just don't think that's what you all
- want. I mean, maybe it is. But I have a track record of defending people's right to peacefully protest.
- All right, thank you.
- And this will be our final question of the evening. And so you can include your closing remarks in this
- last question. But it comes from DSA. What progressive prosecutors around the country do you hope to
- model? And what sort of policies do you hope to recreate in Bloomington, Indiana, and Monroe County?
- This is going to Eric first. Thank you.
- It's a funny question that you should ask. I've had my eye on a lot of them, but Beth Hamlin and I are
- particularly fans of Larry Krasner. We have met with his data guru, Oren Gur, to try to see if we can
- collaborate on some data research projects and try to find a way to adapt to this new landscape where
- federal grants are drying up and a lot of the private foundations who have funded this research
- and change agency in various areas of criminal justice and otherwise, those resources are spread very
- thin and those grants aren't as available as they used to be. So we looked to Larry Krasner's office
- to try to collaborate on how can we continue the good work that we're doing on
- trying to recognize and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in our office and be more fair, make sure
- that we are focusing on those crimes that do the greatest harm in our communities. I've been serving
- this community. I love this community. I've been serving this community for over 16 years.
- the experience, I have the temperament to do the job. I can make tough decisions in the face of extreme
- pressure. And in a world where our state and federal leaders are trying to attack our home rule and
- are coming for those who label themselves as progressives and who are trying to do good things in their
- communities, we need somebody who has experience, who is not afraid to have
- you know, the superintendent of the state police be smirching them in the press and other things. So,
- you know, I am confident that the Monroe County voters are gonna end up returning me to office because
- I've proven that I will work for this community. Thank you. All right, Ben, you can answer the question
- and give your closing remarks. Thank you very much, and thank you for everyone who's come to listen
- today. It's really important to be active in your democracy, and it's amazing to see people showing
- up to listen
- I mentioned Ryan Mears. I think that being a progressive prosecutor in a red state like Indiana
- is commendable and Ryan Mears as seeking his third term deserves that and I hope he's re-elected. I
- have reached out to him to hopefully meet with him.
- I looked up to him and his years of, I looked at his resume, I couldn't believe it, like 100 jury trials
- and all of this stuff, and he made the courage, the commitment to do that for Marion County, to not
- prosecute marijuana one ounce or less. That's what I want to bring here. I want to bring that here.
- Erica talks about, we're worried that the federal government might, or the state government might target
- us more because we're taking a stand.
- Minneapolis took a stand and the government left. They failed because Minnesota and Minneapolis people
- stood up and said, we're not going to allow you to push us around ICE. We're not going to allow you
- to tell us what to do. And what happened? The Trump administration left. They left because they took
- a stand. They didn't let them bully them. And so we can do that here in Monroe County. We can stand up.
- We can do what's right. I would not be the first person to be a prosecutor in a red state to stand up
- for what's right and not choose to prosecute something like marijuana or reproductive rights for women
- and doctors and nurses. However, you would be electing your first black Monroe County prosecutor if
- you gave me a chance. I think I'd be the third ever in the state of Indiana
- in the hundreds of years. There's the Lake County prosecutor that Erica talked about. He's serving now
- in Lake County. But it's in the profession generally. I mean, it's like 1% black or something, 3%, something
- along those lines. So if you decided to elect me, you'd be making a choice to stand up for what's right.
- You'd be making an amazing choice to stand up to elect your first
- a person of color to serve here as your elected prosecutor in Monroe County. And I would ask that you
- vote, I ask you take a stand for what's right, have a conscience and do what's right. My office is gonna
- work diligently to make sure that we stand up for victims, we stand up for everybody. And you're not
- gonna hear about my office dropping the ball
- and somebody gets their case dismissed because I didn't prosecute it in time or things of that nature.
- If I have to prosecute myself, I'll do it, but I'm not going to allow criminal rule four to run. And,
- you know, my office is going to be different. And so I just want to tell you that right away that on
- day one, we are going to have a new administration if elected. And it's going to be day one every day because
- We need to take a stand, and we need to do what's right as a people. Arrington for Prosecutor.com, thank
- you so much. Take a stand. I ask for your vote. Thank you so much. Power to the people. And thank you
- all so much for attending our candidate forum. There are some materials for the candidates on that table
- back there, but other than that, I think we're done. Thank you all so much. Give yourselves a round
- of applause.