Good evening, everybody, and welcome to the first County Council meeting of the year. Today is January
13th, 2026, and the time is now 4 or 5 or 4, and we are ready to start. And so we presently have all
council members present except Councilor Hawk, and I'm not seeing her
virtually just yet. So again, we have quorum, so we can go ahead and proceed. Before I do proceed, I
do want to take a point of privilege, because yet again, our county has lost another giant in the community.
And so we lost Perry Township trustee Dan Combs, affectionately known as Cart.
And it was an unexpected passing and our community is better because of how he cared so much. And it's
a huge loss for us right now. So I just want to have our colleagues and those that are present, whether
it's virtually as well, to take a moment of silence to remember Mr. Combs.
All right, thank you very much. All right, next up on the agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. So all
those able to stand, please stand for the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance
to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Thank you. All right. Next up is the adoption of tonight's agenda. Does anybody wish to amend tonight's
agenda? Yes. Council, I understand. Council, I move to amend the agenda by amending item 7C
to acknowledgement of a resignation, amending item 7D to citizen appointment to a board, to the capital
improvement board, and then renumber the remaining items accordingly. Second.
Are there any other amendments to tonight's agenda? OK. I got a note up here that, Molly, you have something?
OK. I will be requesting an amendment to the hiring freeze resolution based on circumstances that I
learned about today revolving around the court's law clerks.
I amended it, I placed a draft on everyone in front of everyone. And then I will display it once we
get to. Okay. All right, that works. When will it show up on the agenda? Put it under item number 12,
council business. Council business.
Are there any other amendments to tonight's agenda? All right. So seeing none and still not seeing Councilor
Hawk online since we are, we don't have anybody participating virtually. We can do this by voice vote.
So all those in favor of approving tonight's agenda as amended signify by saying aye. Aye. All those
opposed same sign. Okay.
motion carries. All right. Next up, we will go to item four, which is public comment. And so this is
an opportunity for public to come to the lectern here and then at you Hill room to speak on items that
are not on the agenda. But if you are not
You can also raise your hand via Teams, and each person will state their name, and they'll have up to
three minutes to make their comment for items not on the agenda. Looks like we got a friendly face here
already. So take it away. Thank you, Madam President. This is Christopher M.G. from the Greater Bloomington
Chamber of Commerce. I want to wish everybody a Happy New Year as we work our way through the ins and
outs of Monroe County government.
I want to recognize this body's steward of Monroe County's long-term health. It kind of goes hand-in-hand
with this little jobby, our 2026 legislative agenda that the chamber brought out last Friday at our
legislative preview. I guess it wasn't a preview, per se, for the General Assembly's been at work, but
we appreciate Councilmembers Henry, Iverson, and Deckard in attendance for that well-received Hilton
Garden and breakfast.
But one thing that comes clear from our legislative priorities, which we receive surveys from our members,
and then some things that are in there every year. But one thing that stands up is county growth is
no longer optional, it's a fiscal necessity. Under Indiana's income tax structure, counties depend heavily
on strength of their resident-based tax base. Attracting and retaining residents is essential to maintaining
the revenue
need to support core services. Without growth, costs rise, and fiscal flexibility narrows. We're already
talking about that crunch on personnel that Ms. Turner is going to amend. The reality is especially
important as county discussions hang around this justice system planning. The business community supports
a goal of a modern jail that improves safety and efficiency at the same time we recognize
the Council's responsibility to evaluate these investments through a disciplined fiscal lens. Long-term
operating and staffing costs, overall affordability and debt capacity, sustainability without overburning
existing residents. So the growth in the tax base ultimately makes these investments viable
over time. So the county growth, however, does not mean one size fits all. We get that. Our members
constantly support sort of that balanced approach that respects the rural character and agriculture
land of Monroe County. But the growth is aligned with infrastructure and service capacity. We know sewer
is an issue, but I think with collaboration we can solve that, and it reflects Monroe's
county's diverse sort of communities and economy here. The balance allows the council plan responsibly
while preserving what makes Monroe County distinctive. And across these issues, the chamber hears consistent
themes from employers regarding specifically the CDO.
Predictability matters, coordination matters, and fiscal realism matters. When the city and county work
together on land use, housing strategy, utilities, major capital planning, outcomes improve, long-term
risk is reduced. I want to thank all of you for your service and the opportunity to speak tonight. I
do appreciate that. I'm going to leave this agenda with Michelle. Thank you very much for that.
All right, there are any other members of the public here and present in the night you hill room who
wish to speak to items Not on today's agenda again. You could come forward to the lectern here in the
room or you can raise your hand via teams And Not seeing any more movement here We will move forward.
Thank you all for public comment and
Okay. All right. Next up is the department updates and again the department updates are where each department
has up to 10 minutes to speak on items that are not on the agenda. And we got some movement here and
it looks like I see Mr Jordan Miller, who is our jail financial manager coming. Present Hello. Welcome.
Good afternoon,
The balance as of October 1st, 2025 was $110,313.51. There was a total of $56,420.53 worth of receipts,
$298.47 worth of interest.
$47,235.97 in expenditures, resulting in a balance as of December 31st of $119,796.54. As you're aware,
IC 36-8-10-21 provides a list of approved expenses. And once again, the top item
of our expenditures would be the merchandise for resale, which was close to half. In total,
it was $21,434.85. And as I've mentioned in past meetings, this would consist of things such as our
Pepsi products, e-cigs, nicotine, things of that sort. Any questions I might be able to answer? Look
into council and see if you have any questions. Seeing none.
It may be, all right, Councilor Williams. I was just wondering, and this might be for Mr. Gibbons, that
if there was an update on the audit that was being performed? We did begin the process late December.
We're working hand in hand to complete the process. I've completed my own internal audit, kind of quite
a lengthy spreadsheet of all the receipts and expenditures and things of that sort, but we are making progress.
and we look to have additional information as soon as that takes place. OK, thank you. No other comments?
We appreciate it. Thank you much, Mr. Mellon. All right. Next up, I see Ms. Ferris coming present here.
Hello, welcome.
Hello, I'm Kylie Farris, Monroe County Election Supervisor. I wanted to come and give a couple of updates.
Candidate filing opened on January 7th and the last data file is going to be February 6th by noon.
See annual CFA fours are going to be due on January 21st, which is Wednesday next week by noon as well
And then the voter registration office will be moving to a temporary location On February 9th, and then
once the space that is downstairs and showers is completed. We will move down there And then in addition
click Brown had prepared a little small statement just to
prepare you guys for us coming to the council neck at the next meeting on February 27th. So the statement
is based on the clerks and the office's evaluation. It is simply not possible to run the kind of election
that Monroe County voters deserve with the amount of money that has been appropriated under the current
proposed budget.
Reducing the amount of money appropriated to our division will mean reduction in early voting hours.
Normal wait times will increase. Number of polling locations will be cut and an insufficient number
of poll workers at each location. Additionally, the reduction is funding
in funding makes our elections more vulnerable to emergencies. With little to no breathing room in our
budget, it will be impossible for us to make the security advancements that we believe are necessary
to provide Monroe County voters with the elections possible that we deserve and are accustomed to. At
its core, our concerns have to do with not providing the county's voters with a safe and secure election
process that is both the county clerk and election division staff school.
Thank you for your time, and if there are any other questions or concerns today, we'd be happy to answer,
but also we'll see you on the 27th as well. Okay, and you mentioned February 27th, January. January.
No, I just want to make sure. January 24th. Okay, yeah, because I know it was mentioned in some of the
headlines that council had taken some things away, and so I know it was
was repeatedly said during our council budget sessions that additional appropriations definitely could
be had once the clerk makes that request to the council. So it sounds like the ball is rolling, and
I appreciate that. And I saw a hand raised, and before I do, I see Councilor Hawkins live and in the
building, and her hoosierette. Welcome. I am happy to be here. You cannot imagine. Well, we are happy
to see you. Welcome.
Council Henry. Thank you. I just wanted to be clear when I heard it. I appreciate you delivering the
message and you are the messenger here, not the person speaking. So did I hear correctly that the January
27th, the clerk will be here to ask for that appropriation or to? I will be coming. Oh, you'll be coming
to ask for the appropriation? Well, that's outstanding. I look forward to having that conversation when
you come back. All right. Thank you. All right. Yes, Councilor Wilt.
You said you were moving to a temporary location until the bottom floor of showers is complete. Looks
like that's, I mean, it's moving quickly, but it's not quite ready for y'all.
Is the temporary location in showers? Yes. So the temporary location is suite 203. So it's going to
be on the other end of the upstairs hallway where TSD is. And then that'll be the temporary location
that we're moved to. And then once downstairs is completed, which we're thinking voter registration
won't move until June. I do have a question. Go ahead. Go ahead. Did you? It's OK. OK.
I'll come back. I apologize for being tardy, but I do have a question. When I go in to sign up and turn
in my reports and so forth, has this move, this move is immediate? No, so we will still be in the current
voter registration building until after candidate filing. We will move the Monday after the deadline.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much.
I'll look back to Councilor Wilts. No, I think that my questions about the statement that you read can
wait until you come back, because I do have questions about that. That and then I'm always open to emails,
so if you guys have any questions between then and now, that way I can get a head start to get answers
for you guys. Councilor Decker. I also look forward to you coming back, but I also want to thank your
folks who have the patience of Job in taking all of the public's questions, including public that might
be seeking office. And you all do a tremendous job with that and answer a lot of questions with smiles.
So thanks for all that and then managing us. Thank you guys. Thank you. All right. Are there any other
departments that are present here in the room or
I would like to give updates on items that are not on today's agenda. All right. Moving on. Thank you
all so much for your updates. Next up is the consent agenda items. Council, I move to approve the following
consent agenda items for January 13th.
The health department's request to fund 8111-9623 crisis coag support workforce for the creation of
account line 18001 full-time self-insurance and simultaneously approve a category transfer of $184,174
from the services category to the personnel category.
B, the highway department's request and fund 1176-0000 motor vehicle highway for the creation of account
line 20700 supply maintenance repair equipment and 24207 supply maintenance repair building slash grounds
and simultaneously approve a category transfer of $25,000 from the services category to the supplies category.
C, the highway department's request and fund 1176-0000 motor vehicle highway for the creation of account
line 38010 service maintenance slash repair equipment of $120,000.
from the supplies category to the services category. D, the county council summary minutes of September
23rd, 2025 county council meeting. September 30th, 2025 county council special session meeting. October
the 8th, 2025 county council special session meeting.
October 14th, 2025 county council meeting. October 28th, 2025 county council meeting. November 10th,
2025 county council meeting. November 18th, 2025 county council meeting. December 9th, 2025 county council
meeting. December 16th, 2025 county council meeting. Second. All right, we got a motion and a second
on our consent agenda items as presented. Is there any questions or comments from council on these items?
Yes, Councilor Wilts.
I have a question about our minutes and just in general about the minutes. So not really impacting my
vote on approving this but I did see an email about the change maybe in the protocol for producing the
minutes for us. Do you know what I'm looking at Michelle because I think it was a copy of an email.
that was about who is involved in the process, and I was never certain exactly since we moved away from
the verbatim minutes how these are produced. So the auditor's office starts the process, creates the
minutes, and then we have a process now where
When she's done with those, she lets us know. And then Lehua in the office will check those. I'll give
it one final check, and then they're good to go kind of thing. So there's like three sets of eyes that
will be on the minutes checking that kind of stuff. Have we ever had any issues with accuracy in the
minutes? In general, no pointing fingers. I mean, three sets of eyes.
on this, I'm just looking to save people time if you ever worked in them. And so I just kind of want
to know, is that really necessary? That's where I'm headed to have that many eyes on. We're starting
a new thing where it's, there is a, and I can't, it's called tracking changes. So that whoever is just
beginning the minutes, then
We'll see what's going on. So for the first couple of sets of minutes, we're going to do that where
I'm checking them, but then along with Lehua. But then after that, it's one person is going to check,
one person is going to review, and then we're done. So there'll be two sets of eyes, but right now we've
got three.
And it looks like you might have some time. Yeah, I was just going to say that. Yeah, in the past, the
council administrative assistant would create the minutes. And then either the chief deputy or the council
assistant's counterpart, the commissioner's assistant, would review. Because of the added layers, we
cut out that second layer review in my office. I just don't think it's necessary, just to save some
time and energy.
From my perspective, on the outside looking in, of course, because I'm not doing those minutes myself,
it seems like a lot of the changes have just been like preferential. And so however the council wishes
to have their minutes, that's absolutely fine. But we'll do that initial and then pass it on to your
office to make those adjustments as you like. All right. Appreciate that. Thank you. Yes, council hawk. Yes.
before we had the meetings recorded and we can look at what the written word is saying there. I think
that's important that we keep that. And also, not too long ago, the minutes were kept and it was up
to the office or whoever was putting it together to put in
comments that they thought was important, which I think is ridiculous because it's what we're saying,
not what they think. It's just I'm saying. So I'm glad they don't do that anymore. It should be either
it's going to be verbatim or it's going to be this is what the motion said and not what this person
thought this or that person thought that. You put it all in there, in which I don't know if there's
room for that. So I'm glad to see that's no longer
That was a lot of pressure as well when the person trying to put the minutes together. I will also say
that the recordings are available to the public and that the transcript is also available to the public
on that recording through Teams. There is a verbatim portion.
as long as for like accuracy on that, you know that it's not gonna be, cause sometimes they'll call
me, you say Miss Shell and my name becomes Michelle. So, you know, kind of thing. So, but there is a
transcript available as well, so. Yeah, and I think we all have to remember, like, that's a whole lot
of minutes, like a bulk of our packet was a lot of the minutes and my,
eight to five time frame there is the office that I work in. We primarily deal a lot with that and it
really managed to just really primarily be about motions and actions that have been taken and really
not into the weeds of who said what about what and how, when or where, because that gets really kind
of sticky and y'all are not transcribing the meeting. So that's for people who want to take a look at
what county government looks like.
20 years from now if they decide to go back. All right. But much appreciation to everybody that had
a lot to do with the meeting minutes as well. Yes, Councillor Hock. Right. Regarding the transfer in
the health department, and so it says remaining balance available is zero, and it says the fund cash
balance, but it doesn't say which fund balance they're talking about.
But what I'm seeing here is the self-insurance new account line, that that is going to be moved to,
it appears it's gonna be moving to a grant fund, is that correct? And so all of this statement, oh,
we can't move self-insurance into grant funds, well, duh, right there, it tells us something, because
it can be. Ms. Gregory.
If I may, it depends on the grant and, you know, specifically what the award is allowed to be used for.
So it appears in this case it is an acceptable expense. Moving on. Is there any other questions or comments
from anybody related to tonight's consent agenda items as presented? All right. And seeing none.
since we got everybody present. All those in favor of approving our consent agenda items as presented,
signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, same sign. All right, motion carries. Thank you. Next
up is item number seven. Oh, that's me. Oh, hey, yeah. Bless me.
Every year we do this thing called reorganization where the state statute requires us to appoint and
approve council president and pro tem as the first meeting of every year. And so now we open up the
floor here for nominations for president. Yes, Councilor Iverson.
Madam President, this county has been through a lot in the previous year. And so I move that Jennifer
Crossley remain as president of the Monroe County Council. All right, we got a motion and a second.
Sorry, who seconded? Marty. OK, thank you. All right, we got motion and a second.
I guess I have to accept the nomination first. So yes, I accept the nomination. Thank you very much.
Great. I know, right? I appreciate that. Yes, as we have definitely discussed, we have been through
a lot, but I'm a glutton for punishment, and I continue to volunteer myself to the Tribune. I thought
last year was not going to be
I mean, nobody thought 2025 would turn out the way that it did, but it just kept each month just kept
saying, hold my beer. So I am willing to continue to lead with our council members here. And I look
forward to continuing to work with my county council members, all six of you, as we continue to move
forward with the United Front, because we got a lot of stuff coming our way, as we've seen.
I appreciate that, thank you. Anybody else has any other questions or comments? Yes, Councilor Henry.
Thank you, Madam President, and I'm glad that I'll have another year of saying Madam President down
the line. We all know that not every Hollywood sequel is great, but may this be like The Godfather Part
II. Maybe that is intentional to say it that way, but I'm glad it'll be in the driver's seat for the
year to come. Thank you. My name is Jennifer Crosley, and I approve that message. All right.
Anybody else having questions or comments? All right. And seeing none, may we please have a roll call
on the presidency for 2026? Councilor Decker? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Wilts? Yes. Councilor
Henry? Yes. Councilor Hawk? Yes. Councilor Crosley? Yeah, yes.
Councilor Iverson yes motion passes unanimous all right thank you all very much for trusting me with
all of this all right next up is item B and that's where we elect our president pro temp of 2026 same
as before so look to see if there's any nominations from the floor here
I'll take a point of privilege here. I will make a motion as we continue to keep with the continuity
of council leadership for the year. I would like to nominate our current president pro tem Peter Iverson
to the same job. Yes. Second. All right. We got a motion and a second.
Thank you so much for your faith in my golden voice I pledge to continue to read what I have to read
with interest and I'm really looking forward to the coming year to tackling challenges with you madam
president I know we went through a lot last year and I have a lot of confidence and Optimism that we
will do very well this year. So thank you for your confidence in me All right
Any other questions or comments for Councilor Iverson? Yes, Councilor Wilts. I appreciate both of you
being willing to serve in our leadership for another year. I think it just bears repeating that it's
been a lot, and I've been in that seat, I've been in both those seats, and it's more challenging by the year.
I'm enthusiastically supporting you both and offering unsolicited advice to exercise some self-care
in the realm of how much you take on and lean on us as needed. You're here. All right. Any other questions
or comments for Councilor Iverson?
and seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Wilts? Yes. Councilor
Henry? Yes. Councilor Hawk? Yes. Councilor Crossley? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Decker?
Yes. Motion passes unanimous. All right. Your 2026 leadership of president and pro tem is approved.
Thank you very much, y'all.
All right, next up is item C here. And it looks like that we have, as a reminder to the public, we have,
oops, let me go back. We have an acknowledgement of a citizen appointment resignation, which is Mr.
Galen Cassidy from the Food and Beverage Tax Commission, or yes, Food and Beverage Tax Commission. So that,
is received, is there any objections from council on this resignation? All right, seeing none, we have
received that. Also along that same tone here, we did have Mr. Galen Cassidy apply to be our appointee,
the council appointee for the Capital Improvement Board. He would be completing the two-year term that
expires next year.
January 1st, 2027, because as you know, our former council member, Jeff McKim, who had that position
resigned to take on new position that he has. So I wanted to express that. Okay. And we just rolling
through all of this, right? Yep. We need to vote. Yeah, I need to vote. Oh, okay. I wasn't sure.
appointment to the Capital Improvement Board. Okay, so we technically need to make a motion because
there was no motion that was made. Okay. Correct. Okay, Councilor Everson. Council, I move to approve
the appointment of Galen Cassidy to the Capital Improvement Board for the completion of a two-year term
that expires on January 1st, 2027. Second. All right, we have a motion and a second. And I'm not certain,
I don't want to put him on the spot. I know he was on
a little bit ago, but Mr. Cassidy, if you would like to come off a mute, and if you want to, no pressure,
if you want to come off a mute and say something about this motion that was made, now is the time to
do so. Yeah, I'm happy to thank you for the time and consideration.
I just wanna say that I'm honored to be a part of this. If you choose to go this path, and I've been
very excited about this project from the get go, leading this bead advisory group. And I look forward
to continue to help and advise in this project the best I can from my perspective as a small business
owner in the downtown Bloomington. Thank you very much.
All right, is there any other questions or comments on this from Council? Yes, Councilor Decker. I just
want to thank Mr. Cassidy for this first prior service and this service. And one thing I want to say
is the amazing thing about this board, the Capital Improvements Board, is they truly are moving like
lightning on that project. And I can remember times
in this council when our discussions and frustration on the convention center issues that we were having
were to a proportion that everyone sort of rung their hands and said, how in the world will this ever
happen? But that capital improvement board and the collaboration between all parties, and I can recall
those days vividly, has got us to this moment so much that I believe this for this particular seat,
this is the third person in about
two years, but it's not a signal that things are going bad. It's just that they're doing the work and
people step off for other things. This is a model, friends, on how I think it can go. And I appreciate
very much that board's diligence on that. There's really nothing stopping them. And that might be give
us hope for a few other things we've got in our minds these days. All right. Thank you.
Yes, I appreciate your willingness to move forward with this and stay with us and use the experience
that you've already received on the Food and Beverage Commission. Just as a reminder, there's a lot
going on at the state right now having to do with expanded opportunities for
tourism and having to do with the innkeeper's tax and the food and beverage tax and so forth. And so
there's a lot that we have to continue to watch to see if there's opportunities for us to learn from
others and do better for ourselves. But happy to see that we have people who love the downtown and who
wants tourism to do well.
So because we need downtown to be successful so that the county can be successful. And so it reflects
well that we have downtown businesses that want to participate.
Council Henry. Thank you, Madam President. And I thank you, Mr. Cassidy, for stepping into the role
in the CIB. You're filling several sets of big shoes between Mr. Spoonmore and Mr. McKim that precede
you. I agree with my fellow councilor's statements on the vitality of that board. As this council's
member on the capital, I'm sorry, the visitor's commission for the county, the CBC, we're in the phase
now where we're booking.
for that facility now. So when folks in the community see the steel going up, we're already booking
ahead to when we finally open those doors and those thousand plus conferences come to Bloomington, which
is exciting. So having you there now that we've moved through a get the thing going phase and with Mr.
McKim's fiscal acumen getting us to shovels on the ground and now with your eyes as a small business
owner in the community,
of the bookings to come. I appreciate your service, so thank you for signing up for it. All right, yes,
and thank you very much for all the work that you will continue to do. All right, without any other
further questions or comments from council on this, Michelle, can we please have a roll call vote? Councilor
Iverson? Yes. Councilor Deckard? Yes.
Yes. Councilor Wilts? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor Hawk? Yes. Councilor Crossley? Yes. Motion
is approved, unanimous seven zero. All right. Thank you very much. And thank you, Mr. Cassidy. And with
his resignation from the Food and Beverage Tax Commission, there is now a vacancy that we will have.
So those that are interested, please go to our county's website and apply.
Yes counselor will. I think this particular position on the food and beverage tax advisory commission
is it has to be someone who is a restaurateur and maybe Molly could clarify that.
Mr. Cassidy was fulfilling one of the three spots that are filled by owners of retail facilities that
sell food or beverages subject to the county fab tax So his replacement would have to also meet those
qualifications Okay, so you're listening or watching Um, and if you meet those requirements definitely
apply Okay. All right next up we have a
the current county council vacancies for boards and commissions. And just as a reminder, we have the
ones for the Sophia Travis Grant Committee. Again, that is a two year term. And again, if you are interested
in applying for those vacancies, services, definitely something that we would love to do or have you
And you can click on community and click on board and commission page. And on that page, you should
be able to click apply and apply for those vacancies. All right. Next up, we have item D, which is the
reappointment of the various boards and commissions.
Thank you. Council, I move to approve the following citizen reappointments to the Alcoholic Beverage
Commission. Anthony Satili, one year term expires December 31st, 2026. Board of Zoning Appeals skip
daily a four year term expiring January 1st, 2030.
The Library Board of Trustees Jennifer Whitley a four-year term expiring January 31, 2030. The Redevelopment
Commission Colin McCarty a one-year term expires January 1, 2027. Also to the Redevelopment Commission
Iris Kiesling a one-year term expiring January 1, 2027.
to the Traffic Commission, Reid Adams, a two-year term expiring December 31, 2027, and two appointments
to the Women's Commission, Tiana Eriuli, a two-year term expiring January 1, 2028, and Juliet Hardesty,
a two-year term expiring January 1, 2028. Second. All right. We got a motion and a second for all of
those. Any questions or comments from council related to the Boarding Commission? Yes. Apologies to
any mispronunciations of names.
I apologize. It's okay. It's all right All right, um any other questions or comments from council again
want to take the point of privilege to thank those that are Continuing to serve the community and those
that will continue to do so without that me or Any other further questions or comments? seeing none
and we usually don't have public comment on a
Okay, because I see it listed here. So I will go ahead and have a roll call vote on the reappointments.
Councillor Henry? Yes. Councillor Hawk? Yes. Councillor Crossley? Yes. Councillor Iverson? Yes. Councillor
Deckard? Yes. Councillor Feidl? Yes. Councillor Wilts? Yes. Motion is approved unanimous 7-0. All right,
thank you very much.
Yes, Council. Can I ask a question about the current vacant council boards or commissions for citizen
members up above where it talks about the Capital Improvement Board? Kate and I were just kind of wondering
when we approved Galen Cassidy, whether that still should be on there, right? No. No. That's... Ms.
Turner, can you...
Originally, the agenda had the appointment of Mr. Cassidy, but we had to remove it, and then I discussed
with him, and so we added it back. And so when we removed it, we put on the agenda appointment to the
Capital Improvement Board. But with the appointment of Mr. Cassidy to the Capital Improvement Board,
there is no longer a vacancy on that board. It does create a vacancy on Fabtech. Right. That's where
I was saying that. OK. Thank you. All right.
Any other questions or comments before we move on? All right. So this is the part last year where we
really got stuck.
the agenda was going so fast until we got to this point. And so we as liaisons to various departments
and to the various boards of commissions of the county, I think we've done a really good job this year,
and I appreciate all of my council colleagues for stepping up and doing that. I know some of y'all had
some really daunting task and did a lot of hard work, and I appreciate all of that. So I would like to take
this a different direction. So instead of going through and kind of do a roll call on who wants to do
what, is there any objections to anybody staying with their current liaison assignments? And some people
kind of want to move around. Yes. Counselor Wilkes. First, I do not have an objection to any
of my appointments. Thank you.
I would, again, just offer that perhaps the president and president pro temp think about whether or
not they should offload a spot from their duties. Just a suggestion, not that I'm angling to get anything
or anything like that.
I just know how busy you are. Okay, thank you. I appreciate that. Yes, Councillor Decker. I am not that
I don't enjoy this service, but I think Councillor Fiddle, who has done some pinch hitting for me with
the BDC, let me say it long ways for the public
Bloomington Economic Development Corporation's membership, liaisonship. I would recommend that I come
off that and she go on. I'm happy to do that. Okay. So it seems like for 2026, we will have Councilor
Feidl step in for the BD membership.
Councilor Hawk does, see your hand go up over here. I mean, if for some reason there would be a council
member that later would decide they would like to be moved or relieved of one department or the other,
we could do that without taking three hours. Exactly. That's why you're setting the Airbnb president
again. We don't want to do that again. We want to go home and
and get ready for next week in Miami, or in my case, the Bears. All right. Yes. I would just say,
I actually, the approach of kind of keeping it how it is really pleases me. And the reason being is
because we're not in normal budgetary times. And a familiar face in a department is not the worst thing
among things that are not feeling the best.
And I think until we get to the other side of whatever this is, that would be, it's probably the wisest
course for now. All right. So again, this isn't something that's set in stone right now. But as Councilor
Hockin mentioned, if we
The only change it looks like we'll do currently is from Decker to Fido for the BED membership.
And of course, if any of us find that we need to make some changes, we can do so at future meetings.
Yes, Councilor Hawke. Right. I would just like to use this time as a reminder that any one of us can
call any department head and ask for questions to be answered. And they should show each of us
the same kind of respect as they would their liaison because we should not any of us have to wait until
someone else has a time to ask a question and our question might be more relevant just to what we need
to know. So agree. Thank you very much for that. All right. Yes. Councillor Henry. Thank you madam president.
So do we just need an amendment to adopt the 2020
2025 list as amended for 2026 or is that required? We do. We just. Yep. All right. So that was easy.
All right. Moving on to the next item. I can't believe how fast that went. Knock on wood. Council I
move to open for discussion possible approval of the highway department's request.
Oh my goodness. They're hiring him way too young. To be exempt from the hiring freeze and be allowed
to hire and fund 1176-0000 Motor Vehicle Highway, a mechanic position. All right, we got a motion and
a second and I see a future council member in the making with Ms. Ridge. Hello, welcome. This is not
the mechanic. Hi.
Good evening. So I know we're under a hiring freeze, but we did have a mechanic give their notice at
the beginning of the year. His last day is this Friday. So with having 134 pieces of active equipment
between trucks and dump trucks, grade all sweepers, excavators, skid steers, back trucks, we need to
get that second mechanic. We have one master mechanic and then two regular mechanics. So we're just
here. I'm here to request to
that position. All right, thank you for that. Any questions or comments from Council? To the left here.
Yes, Councillor Hoff. Yes, as a reminder, this position is paid for out of the highway's revenue. And
as long as their revenue covers and they know how to watch their budget, it is quite different from
the hiring freeze that we have on the other budgets.
just it just is. Thank you for that reminder. Anybody else have any questions or comments for Miss Ridge?
Seeing none, we will move to public comment. If you have public comment on this item, you can come forward
to the lectern here or you can raise your hand via Teams. And seeing none, may we please have a roll
call vote?
Councilor Crossley? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Deckard? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor
Hawke? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor Wilts? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. All right. Thank you
very much. Thank you. Thanks for coming. All right. Next up is our new business. Council, I move to
approve the Jail Slash Correctional Center's request to amend the following in the 2026 salary ordinance.
First, in Fund 1170-0380 Public Safety Lit Jail, in Account Line 17101 Overtime, the range of $40.93
to $65 hourly. Account Line 17801 Part Time, the range is $14 to $30 hourly.
In the second fund, fund 1000-0380 County General Jail in account line 17101 overtime with a range of
$40.93 to $65 hourly. Second. All right, we got a motion and a second. We have Mr. Miller here along
with our jail commander. Welcome. Hello again. Yes, as you can see, this is kind of a housekeeping item.
We've got three different accounts in the salary ordinance that we're interested in increasing the max
range to, starting with our part-time hourly. Historically, part-time correction officers are earning
the same hourly base rate as our new full-time, and this year, of course, that increased to $27.29.
As you can see, we also added a little bit higher than that amount with the potential for future increases.
theoretically not having to come do this each and every year. That one also kind of turned into the
others needing to be adjusted as well with these increased rates. The overtime lines for both our public
safety lit fund as well as our county general fund are in need of some changes to account for the potential max
pay in each of those. The difference from the Public Safety Lit Fund to the County General Fund is a
matter of the Public Safety Lit Fund only houses COs, the correction officers, and the County General
Fund contains sergeants, which of course have a higher base rate, and these as well have a little bit
higher, a little bit of a cushion for the potential for future increases. Any questions?
Any questions for Mr. Miller from council? Seeing none. OK. Self-explanatory. All right. If there is
public comment on this item, you can come forward to the lectern here in the night UO room, or you can
raise your hand via Teams. And as a stall so that we can have Michelle come. Yeah. I can do the roll call. OK.
All right, maybe please have a roll call vote. Councilor Hawk? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor
Iverson? Yes. Councilor Deckard? Yes. Councilor Wilts? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Crossley?
Yes. Motion passes 7-0. Okay, thank you very much. Next up item B.
Council, I move to approve the request to amend the following in the 2026 salary ordinance. First, in
Fund 1000-0380, County General Jail, and remove the following account lines. 16031, Captain, at 41.25
hours, jail cap exempt. In Line 16032, Captain, at 41.25 hours, jail cap exempt. And finally,
in Line 1603, Captain, at 41.25 hours, jail cap exempt. And in the second fund,
Fund 1233-0000, correctional lit. Add the following account lines. 16031, captain, 41.25 hours, jail
cap exempt. 16032, captain, 41.25 jail cap exempt. 16033, captain, 41.25 hours, jail cap exempt. Second.
Okay. And this one is looking to
Michelle for this one. Yes, Jordan contacted me and let me know that the salary ordinance didn't match
the budgets. We had made those corrections and that was just one of, we had moved those three positions
from general fund into that correctional lit. I missed putting that into the salary ordinance correctly.
So this is just to correct what we or
we council approved budget wise. So that's what, so we just need to make those two things patch. Okay.
I appreciate that. Okay. All right. Counselor votes. Yes. Um, you have under the county general, um,
the remaining balance available, it's in red and parentheses, which usually indicates an issue. Um,
That comes from the auditor's office and that's probably when, you know, we hadn't updated, there's
that rollover. Yeah. Yes. Okay. It's not something to be freaking out about. Okay. No, there's when
we... It's one we're removing lines from anyway, but I... When we move one year budget into another year,
some lines look negative. I was hoping this was the answer. We're kind of in that crossover right now
until they get their annual report done. Yes, until we finish the annual financial report, which is
due end of February, we have two accounting periods open, which makes things kind of hairy sometimes
for reporting. Got it. Thank you. Any other questions or comments on this item from counsel? Counselor Hawk.
like to say that on this agenda and in the packet, it should have said something about that. So when
the public was looking at it, they would not think that we were that far in the red. So I just think
it needs to be a very transparent to the public and for us.
And looking around for final questions or comments from Council. And seeing none, we'll move on to public
comment. If there's public comment on this item, you can raise your hand via Teams, or you can come
forward to the lectern here, and then at you Hill Room. And seeing none, maybe please have a roll call
vote. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Wilz? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor Hogg? Yes. Councilor
Crossley? Yes. Councilor Iverson?
Councillor Deckard. Yes. Motion passes unanimous. All right. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
All right. Next up, we have County Council business because we don't have any presentations or discussions.
And so that was amended to add the higher end freeze for Ms. Turner King. Do we need a motion? I don't
think so. Do we need to? I think it might be easier for me to explain it and then a motion to amend
if you agree. Okay.
All right. So go ahead. This afternoon a question came about regarding the court's law clerks and I
did some digging into how law clerks going to say employed by the county but kind of maybe not
Floyd is the best word. So the courts, each judge has the opportunity to select a law clerk. And I use
select because there's not a job description and there's no application process. What happens is if
there is a law student who wants to serve as a law clerk for the judge, they email court services and
expresses their interest. That email gets forwarded to all of the judges. And then if a judge likes
that candidate or student, they select them.
The law students, interns, they're paid through the court's part-time line. They are submitted, a new
employee paperwork is submitted to employee services. These individuals, some are paid, some are not.
If they are paid, they're capped at 10 hours per week and they're paid at the lowest part-time rate.
For the individuals who
do not receive pay, they typically receive credit hours through the law school. And how much they work
really varies depending on what the judge has them research. So some weeks they might hit their 10-hour
cap, and then it might go another month before they do anything. And so it's more of an internship,
but we pay them through payroll. And so there was a conversation of how does this
Was I employee in turn position relate to the hiring freeze given the fact that the judges just select
these individuals. And so share my screen. What I did was prepare a proposed amendment to the already
in place hiring freeze resolution that would exempt
the judges from having to go through the hiring freeze process to select their law clerks. So what I'm
displaying is it says resolution 2025-42. I did not get a new resolution number for 2026 because
This document is so fluid that I think it would be confusing to get a 2026 number. So what I did was
I'm just now calling them A, B, and C. And so this is 202542A. And it adds the language in red,
which reads, in addition to the above exempted positions,
The Monroe County judges may select law clerk interns who are paid as part-time employees and whose
hours are capped at 10 hours per week as an exemption to the hiring freeze. The Monroe County judges
may select law clerks without seeking permission from the council pursuant to this amended resolution.
And then on the last page, I added the potential date of amendment. That's the only changes. Okay. Thank
you for that, Ms. King.
Is there any other questions or comments from Council? We'll go to Councilor Iverson first, and then
I'll come to Councilor Vido next. I support this. This seems very rational and well thought out. My
only question to any of you is, are there any other positions like this where we have interns, fellows,
or other IU students, Ivy Tech students, or anybody else who are on payroll? I don't know. I mean, I
wouldn't be surprised if they are.
I think this one just came up because the students are scheduled to start on Thursday to meet law school
requirements. And so it was just one of those things that came about this afternoon. But I wouldn't
be surprised if there are other interns in the same situation. So I have two questions. One is, so what's
in red now?
your addition about the red date on the end makes sense. Will that stay red for the permanent record
so people can see that that's what was changed on that date? It can. We usually don't. But I don't think,
given how fluid this document has been, I think it might be easier to track if we have the versions
in red. Yeah. Thank you. And then also, when I see the language, I wondered if there was any
finite number or is this unlimited number that we would be approving here? From what I got from court
services is it varies by semester. They really don't, it just depends on the number of students that
reach out to them and them being the court. So I think it varies by court and by semester. Okay. So
there's certainly a, sounds like a past practice or doing this, right? Yes. Correct. Thank you.
Yes. Councillor. So I need a compelling argument to exempt these positions but not other part time positions.
And what is that argument. I don't think these positions are similar to other part time employees given the
limited work schedule that they have and that, I mean, a judge just, the third body of government just
picks these individuals. Unlike other part-time positions, there's no application, there's
no job description, it's just a judge picks them. I was just going to say, do they have some sort of
arrangement with the law school to make that happen?
do if they're getting credit hours. And for the individuals who are getting paid, I'm not 100% sure,
but I'm happy to inquire with the courts. Councillor Henry. Yeah, thank you, Madam President. And I
appreciate that question, Councillor Wilts, because, OK, they're still drawing a monetary paycheck of
some kind from the county. That's why you're asking. We're asking for the exception here.
Now I'm wondering, and I appreciate that there's some independence there from the Board of Judges, but
they're still pulling a paycheck from the coffers of the county. So I also agree with Councillor Wilts
on this because seasonal employment of part-time nature and compensation is, I'm having a hard time
understanding the difference between that and a election poll worker or a parks worker for the summer.
If they're getting paid by the county, they're getting paid by the county.
I also, I guess, if this is an issue of expediency, is that really, so Ms. Turner-King, is that the
question? Because it's a 16 week semester and the clerks are, they're overlapping with their academic
year and by the time, let's, if we play this out, by the time we have a request for hiring freeze, lifting
the hiring freeze on these positions, they're two to four weeks into their 16 week semester, is that
what we're talking about?
Is it a duration issue? I think it does typically go by semester. And summer is three months too,
I suppose. I bet three months. Let me follow up question. When are clerks, do we know when
they're interviewed and offered employment? I do not. Because I'm presuming that process occurs before
the first day of showing up on the job for the semester, right? Like there must be a month or two of
selection or something going on, like any other hiring?
We don't know. Yeah, I don't know that. OK. Thank you, Madam President. I'll go to Councilor Huck and
then Councilor Wilts. I'll circle back to you. Yes. Can you tell me is this the payments made under
the unappropriated fund or from what fund are they paid? General fund or part time? Under part time. OK.
It's just a part of their part-time. And how do we know that that part-time number is what you're referring
to as being the lowest paid? What is the lowest paid? In talking to the courts, I think it's $14 an
hour, and it's just historically how they've always paid them at the lower end of that part-time.
And as a reminder, in everything we're doing with the courts this year, we have to recognize that next
year we're not going to have one of those courts, so we need to be cutting back on the expense of that
court that we'll no longer have. Great. Councilor Watz.
You mentioned that some of these positions are doing it for credit through the law school. Maybe I'm
wrong, but it seems like to me that would imply that there is some sort of memorandum of understanding
at the very least between the law school and the board of judges.
all for that type of professional development. I certainly don't want to cross something that's put
in place formally like that. I don't have any problem with those that are doing it for credit. I think
that's great. I guess I would encourage the Board of Judges, I mean, not understanding much else about it,
I would encourage them to think about not paying for this type of position, allowing them to do it for
credit, expanding that agreement if one exists. And maybe it's something that the law school is willing
to fund on their end if they want that type of experience for their students as well. But I'm still
missing that compelling argument part that I was looking for.
I just want to clarify, the courts have one part-time hourly line. It is in the general fund. The range
is from $14 to $17. So that's the range rate for their part-time hourly. I guess the other question
that I have for this, since Ms. Turner-King, you had mentioned, like, you don't, like, we don't know
what else is out there that is like this.
Is there any way that we could try to do an audit of some sort to just kind of figure out, like,
what else, you know, putting our crystal ball in front of us, like, what else this could also, like,
something like this could also be the same thing, if that makes sense. I'm happy to send, like, an email
to department heads to ask if there are, like, paid intern positions that we don't know about.
If there are, they're being paid through payroll. And I don't know if payroll has the capability to
run some type of report, because I think they would just come up as part-time employees, unless they
knew the name of the person. So I think the easiest way is to send a department head email. OK. And
then I'm going to look at Ms. Gregory, because is there something that you might have on your end?
I think Ms. Turner-King covered it. I was just going to recommend that we talk with employee services
to see if they have this information at their fingertips. Got it. OK. All right. I appreciate that.
Thank you.
Councilor Decker. One of the worries I have on this a little bit is sometimes when credit hours are
involved with individuals, that is a very premeditated process where someone says, I'll do this then,
or I need to do this then in order to meet whatever goals, academic or individual or otherwise. And
I'm a little worried that our timing here on some of these individuals
disrupts that on maybe a thing that's not been thought through, but I'm also, on a flip side, a little
bit worried that it also disrupts our system, because I think that they're drawing from this research,
the judges are drawing from this research, et cetera. I guess, what's our timing look like for what
we have to do tonight or not do? Because it doesn't sound like counsel's heading towards keeping that
language and that resolution, unless I'm hearing this wrong.
I believe one was scheduled to start on Thursday and then a second law clerk was starting next week.
This is the timeliness goes beyond the resolution. It's how do these things happen Thursday and a second
one next week. There's just two law clerks.
There are nine judges, so presumably you could have nine or multiple in a court. I just know of the
two that we received paperwork on today to start Thursday and next week. All right. When you say received
paperwork on, were they requesting an exemption to the hiring? No, they submitted it to employee services.
We've had a hiring freeze for months. Right. And so it was submitted to employee services.
And then they reached out to me saying, was there anything sent from, you know, approved by council
from the courts? And I went through my stuff and no, there wasn't. So then that's why we're here tonight
because there wasn't anything and they've got people starting. That's what I'm looking for.
potentially have we have two that are in the pike but then we also have more that potentially could
be coming or are already in place you know because if they're on what is considered like a I think I
remember Molly saying something you know maybe it's like a two-year kind of thing so
The paperwork that was submitted is the first day of employment for this one person is January 15th,
so that's Thursday. Say what? Yeah. And then... They've done it in previous academic years, the same thing.
The courts have always had law clerks. That's the only one I have on file. I don't know anything about
one for next week, so they haven't submitted paperwork that I can access. Yes, Councilor Henry.
Thank you. I didn't think we'd have this kind of heartburn this evening, but here we are. I want to
echo Councilor Deckard's sentiment about the
When we start talking credit hours and students that have come to the county in good faith to seek out
a position and do work for the county as they understand it you know we're talking about human beings
here at the end of a process that.
that our decision tonight either delays their start and shortens their work, and potentially it sounds
like there's others in the pipeline coming on board into the county. So there's that end of this. On
the other end of this, the resolution that we've amended now several times is starting to take on that
camel feeling, you know, the course designed by committee where we keep adding things to it.
I really think this is a message for department heads that I'm speaking about right now. Part of the
reason why I do believe we did return council leadership as is is we faced a very hard last year and
we're facing an increasingly harder fiscal climate moving ahead. The way that we've conducted business
in the county is changing and we can either adapt to it or decline.
And that is what's before us when it comes to our revenue. This is before us when it comes to our tax
rates. And so if it is business as usual for departments to say, well, you know, they meant a hiring
freeze, but, you know, there's always an exception. We have this special thing going on. We'll get around
to letting you know. This is changing. And so to put before us this evening to fix a problem,
that we had been communicating to the county department heads for months that we meant a hiring freeze.
And then we find the variables keep getting thrown at us. There's seasonal and there's exempt and there's
now this. This is going to break at some point. And so I guess where I'm at, not necessarily to maybe
to answer Councilor Duckard's comment, I'm not necessarily against voting for this this evening, but
because there are humans at the end of the line that didn't ask to be caught up in the grist bill here.
We cannot continue just the yes but approach to the hiring freeze. And yeah we are debating over $14
an hour position right now. But if this is the first meeting of the year and here we go this is going
to be a very long year of us wrestling with every last what abouts that comes before here.
Times are changing. There is absolutely no way our budget process is going to happen the same as it
did last year with forecasts and revenue projections and what's going on at the State House right now.
So I want to fix this for the people caught in the mill here, but the Board of Judges must understand
that the hiring freeze process applies to their third branch of government too. And we need to work
through that. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you. Appreciate it. Yes, Councilor Feidl. So I think
that would be my question is what didn't the Board of Judges understand about
them not being a part of that, right? I don't think they think these are employees. It's more of an
intern. And our resolution, I think, says employees. I see. So it's a category issue. If they're unpaid
interns, this isn't a problem. If they're doing it for credit, this isn't a problem. But if they're
being paid by the county, they're employees, and it's a problem. I'm sorry. That's sort of where I land.
And I am sorry that there was a misunderstanding. I can certainly see it opening up a whole can of worms
from here on out. Councillor Hawke. Yes, I have concern that departments might think because they have
budgeted under part-time that they can just go ahead and hire part-time people because they've got a
line item that says part-time, this is where we're going to pay them.
But that's just not the way this is going to work. If we're going to do the hiring freeze, we have to
recognize that all those lines that we did approve, we could approve all of those positions. And if
that position becomes vacant, that doesn't mean we're going to fill that slot. And so I think we have
to be cognizant of what the department heads
Might perceive this to be and and rightfully so I understand that they've not had to face something
like this with us before and We have to just do this together And we haven't either so and that's what
we're trying to go through right now So, okay. Yes counselor vital. So one more question, maybe I
What might it be that the judges might not be able to do if they don't have these clerks helping them?
I think, and I'm going to speak from experience in the past, typically your law clerks will help research
motions to suppress or unique legal situations when either the prosecutor or the public defender brings
up a nuanced argument.
Typically law clerks will draft memos so that judges can rule on those motions. And then who might be
doing that work instead if this doesn't get passed. I guess I don't know the answer to that because
for all the time that I've been an attorney there's a law clerk doing it. So I don't I don't know the answer.
So because we have a couple of individuals that are stuck in the matrix of all of this, could we, unbeknownst
to them, I guess, could we try to make amends to something like this and then freeze everything else
until they can abide by
I'm just trying to think of like a solution here since we got a couple of people, since it's been mentioned
that we have a couple of people that are stuck in the crosshairs and thought that they were starting
in the next week or so. Councillor Decker. So for instance, if Councillor Decker were to offer a motion
that the council approve these two law clerk,
positions and discussion to move forward with our approval and hold off on resolution language, could
that at least move that forward, having been the council's now discussed and debated it? Wait, do we
even have a motion on the floor? No, because we opened it up as a discussion. So I'd offer that one.
I'll second that one. And let's get, let's move this forward and figure out the rest.
So we're on discussion now for that, right? Well, because there was now a motion to figure out where
to move these two individuals through, and then Councilor Iverson seconded. Right. If information, can
you state the action? What's the motion? Yeah, I think we need to restate. So Councilor Decker, if you
want to restate your motion. Madam President, I move that the two law clerks in our discussion this
evening be given the approval of the County Council for
movement in county service for this spring With the courts Henry does that yeah, that's clear clear.
Okay. Thank you. And I saw again counselor Iverson second it. Yes counselor fight on so Okay, so it
seems to me like with the language originally and even now it seems to me like there could be more in
the pipeline that we don't know about
Am I making that assumption probably? So what do we do then when we have those, right? Come back.
Come back. Ms. Turner-King, were you about to say something to that? But it was just, okay. All right.
Councilor Wilts. I appreciate that my colleagues are trying to protect the innocent by standards caught
in the fray here.
but I'm, I think it's bizarre that we would approve positions with no submission or request to do so
from the department and I'm not going to support that. So just letting you know where I'm coming from.
All right, Council Henry. Thank you. And I guess we are talking about the motion,
I guess on that point and maybe another way to think about it would be to amend the resolution before
us to put a date on the exemption to the hiring freeze. So if we for example said something like in
the red language here whose hours are capped at 10 hours per week as an exemption to the hiring freeze
through January 30th which would give two weeks to catch these two people. But otherwise
I see where Councilor Wolf is coming from in terms of making a motion without a request from the department.
I also would like the Board of Judges to sit here and make their request for the hiring freeze for the
positions they'd like to bring on for the rest of the semester, which is more our custom. So I appreciate
the strong effort by Councilor Decker and Iverson here, but it might just be as easy as amending the
resolution to a date on these two and then encouraging the Board of Judges to come in to explain their
rationale for this as a line item in our next meeting. That's a thought on this. Thank you. Okay. Okay.
Okay. Anybody else have any questions or comments on that?
Council the Decorate made the motion but council Henry is it it's what we are talking about here and
it does have something somewhat to do with the motion. So are you saying about changing the language
and read and put in that date that would still argue that allows the two individuals to come through?
I think it's an idea. It's another way to go that with the document before us because that's the discussion
point is the resolution and not I guess trying to approve a Appropriation without a request. Does that
make sense? So it's more of a technical comment on on that at this point Yes, I see the council members Wilson
title are the liaisons for the courts, and did they discuss this with you at all? I've not heard anything.
Well, I think that's rather egregious, but then I think that's because they don't understand the hiring
freeze. Yeah. It's kind of obvious that they don't, yeah. Okay. So we got the motion on the floor. Can
we repeat it one more time? I'm sorry.
Councilor Deckard made a motion to approve the amendment of resolution 2025-42A, the temporary hiring
freeze, to include the exemption of two law clerks for the spring semester. I was just, if I can clarify,
I was just saying, just this council sitting here, absent the resolution, just says, we're gonna approve
those two positions and kind of leave it alone so that maybe liaisons can go figure out other things
and perhaps we revisit this. But if it's just about these two, at least right now, and I bet my mortgage
that's not completely the case, but for now we know of two, I think piecemeal, I'm just saying two in
my motion. So does the motion then
to keep the red language or not? I'm confused. Motion doesn't have nothing to do with independent of
the red line. This or scrap paper. So technically the motion could be voted on. And then it sounds like
potentially maybe counselor Henry could have a possible amendment to the language that was presented
by Ms. Turner King to kind of coincide with that. Am I?
Okay. All right. So any further discussion on or any clarification on the motion as presented. So will
there be further language or not I can't tell. So this is just to approve the two individuals that are
stuck in the matrix right now. Thank you. And then after that if you know if
anybody would like to, then we can make that motion to amend the language that Ms. Turner King presented
to reflect what we as a council would like to see moving forward. Thank you. All right. So no other
further discussion on this. If we have any public comment on this particular item, you can come forward
to the lectern here in the night, you know, room or raise your hand via teams.
All right, and seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councillor Iverson? Yes. Councillor
Wilts? No. Councillor Hawke? No. Councillor Crossley? Yes. Councillor Feidl? Yes. Councillor Henry?
Yes. Councillor Deckard? Yes. Motion passes majority five to two.
President, I would like to offer a motion to amend resolution 2025-42. Okay, the motion is to, in the
language added by Ms. Turner-King in section one of hiring new employees, the sentence that reads, in
addition to the above exempted positions, the Monroe County judges may select law clerk interns who
are paid as part-time employees and whose hours are capped at 10 hours per week as an exemption to the hiring
freeze to add the language through January 31st, 2026 to the sentence and to strike the last sentence
of that red line addition as an amendment to the resolution. Second. Okay. And is that something Ms.
Turner-King that we can see presented on the screen?
Council Henry, is that what you? Yeah, that would be it. I mean, this is in good faith to hopefully
cap the two. If I find out they ram date through between now and the 31st, I guess we'll have
that conversation. But I would very much encourage our colleagues to come before us and really walk
through this. It's very important that we maintain consistency. So this is just to cap the resolution
as is to put a date on the freeze.
the through basically two weeks to let these in the resolution allow that to go through. Okay. Yes.
Councilor, if I don't so I still went earlier on I asked about a finite number and I still don't see
a finite number here. I'm not sure how that fixes any of that. We can add to I would say I would accept
an amendment to to actually say the two higher up. So I'm sorry we're cross talking but would you want
I would offer if you have a friendly amendment to
limit the number of clerks. I don't know if I have the amendment, I have the issue. In fact, I think
it ought to say something about the fact that the ones that are in the pipeline, but not put that way,
you know what I mean? The ones that are going to be starting, the two that we know are going to be starting,
right? Something about that.
Yes, I would accept that friendly amendment if offered. I would offer that. Okay, so is that clear then?
The beginning of it goes along with the last part of it? I know the last part of it wraps it up the
way I'm thinking, but still the first part of it to me says they can still do this. You know what I'm saying?
This may seem like a hammer, but I think it just needs to be clear that this is it. Okay. Yes, Councillor
Decker. But my question is, council, before we go down this route, are we sure this is it? And the reason
I say that is if you think about it, counties that have a law school in them are not plentiful. So we
actually have
resources here where these folks help ease our court system. I mean we're all the time here talking
about diversions and anything that keeps people out. I worry that we may be the only county that's saying
for labor that's at least until they get those degrees it's costing us a little bit less. I'm a little
bit worried about saying it's it and then tomorrow morning eight judges are going to say oh no.
you just shut us down. We'll have court reporters at Pickett out there. I've recalled law clerks in
those offices since I was a kid in those offices. So I'm worried that this, I don't know that this language
gets us where we're going. I'm also a little bit worried that we're gonna have to figure out whatever
is not out there beyond the two anyway, which we just said,
Let's go with those two and then figure out the rest. I just am worried. Sometimes we do things and
then we have to deal with it later. We obviously are dealing with things with the budget that we had
to deal with last year and we'll deal with again later. I just get a little bit worried on this one
and that we will, we're gonna be back here anyway on this. I believe that. Yeah, we definitely will be back.
of this, but I think what we're trying to get at is just moving these two along and trying to get the
Board of Judges to come back to talk to us like everybody else in a higher end freeze to
you know, to, again, to state their case with this. And I, yeah, we for sure will be back with this.
And then, of course, the two liaisons could be working with the board of judges, since it sounds like
there was a misunderstanding of if they were originally a part of this exempt status to begin with. So, yeah.
So I just wanted to say, I wonder what will happen. So if we put it through the 21st, what happens if
however many judges there are left that still need to do this, get all their stuff in now by the 21st.
Does that mean they're all in too? 31st. They've got till the 31st. Why did I write down the 21st? She's
got the 31st on their screen. Well, that's even more time. So now it seems to me like we have judges
then can go between now and the 31st.
to get how much money they need to get where they need to have them, right? Right. The process that
we have in place right now is if they make a request, it is put on the next agenda. If they make a request
now, it will be put on the January 27th agenda. Which begs the question. I don't know. You know I'm
not in favor of this, but may I speak?
I'm sorry. Yeah, go ahead. And then I got you and then I got Councilor Henry. So I'll go Wilt Henry
and then back to Decker. I apologize. Obviously, this is not something I'm going to go with. I just
I'm not sure how much it's helping. Yes, it will allow somebody to start next week. We would be putting
that off a week.
Perhaps if they're coming back on the 21st, 7th, sorry. So that's maybe, I don't know, week and a half.
But I mean, presumably what we want them to, I mean, to your point, they're coming back. Something's
coming back. This doesn't solve it all. Let's have them come back with what we want them to do, which
is request and tell us why this has to be this way. So what you're saying is, if I hear you correctly,
is regardless of the fact, we're making them come back. So the two that are in here will be on hold
until the 27th. Yeah. I mean, that's the default. Yeah. OK. OK.
Yes, Councillor Hannon. Thank you. I don't want to belabor it. I mean, the design of what I'm proposing
dysfunctionally is it does compel that someone needs to come here, right? And while there may be possibly
hires between the moment we vote and the 27th, we just need them in the room. This just reminds me of
my helping my dad clean out his garage. He has like this old sausage, this mill, and I should just bring
it here and put it here. We are making the sausage alive here this evening, but it is
there's a there's an outcome that I'm after here. I think we all have heard it. I mean we definitely
need to have this conversation if this is what it takes to get folks in the room to say here's our plan.
We have 12 interns or whatever. We've got this budget. I think the counselor hawks point I think it's
clear that while we have had this resolution for months it's just not sinking into department heads
what it really means. And this is why we have that variable. So I what is is is again seems like a hammer
at the same time. The twenty seventh is just
a few weeks away. That's it. Hopefully between the 27th and the 31st we've got an answer if there are
people coming in the pipeline. That's it. I'll go to Decker next. Yeah, so when I'm looking at the resolution
and my eyes are straining just a little bit, but when I look at the resolution, this resolution basically
codifies what we just did on the two, right?
Because for a second I was looking and I was thinking, is this saying two per judge or is it just saying
those two that we just did plus we want you to come back here? Am I reading that right or is it literally
saying the two that we've already approved you can do and then we want you to come back here? Because
I don't know that we need to even say the two. I think maybe we just need to say, judges, we tonight
said you did
You can't do two because we understand there's a situation with Thursday and Tuesday. We want you to
come back here and talk to us about it and maybe that's what we're looking for because I can't tell
if this is saying the traditional two clerks per judge, if that's what it is, I may be wrong on that.
Or what is this saying? Because they're going to ask that same thing. I think if I understand it, the
intent is to limit it to the two that your motion addressed and
not and that's it. And we passed that motion. So basically this is just saying this is the two this
is it through the 31st and then this is also pushing board of judges to come back on the 20 or on the
yes on the 27th. Yes. Councilor Wilts. Is there an appetite to just table it table this amendment. You
already passed the thing for these two right. If we just
tabled this, they can't. I mean, I think we've made it pretty clear. And if not, Liz and I can follow
up with them and make sure that they understand that, hey, you got to ask. Okay. At the risk of analogies,
I mean, the two that got out of the barn, we caught and we just blessed, right? I don't know how many
more are coming.
And so without it, I mean, the hiring freeze is an instrument of our body, right? So this is the only
thing we've got to say stop, all right? So without it, again, bar an analogy, there could be other horses
on the way out that we don't know about. So let's hope that's not the case. But if we're back here in
two weeks and it's aw shucks, we hired six more.
And we let us I mean we didn't really we didn't tell them no we just said these two were fine because
we know about them. We have we're not stopping the pipeline. They could still be interviewed as we speak.
Do we know that we don't know that 100 percent. Right. I thought we we know of two. Are we 100 percent
sure there's no one else that's been interviewed offered. No no no no no we don't know. We don't know.
No no no. OK. So there you have it. I'm so frightened.
Also, with the date of January 31, it seems to me, like I said, that they would have time to get their
act together and get even more in by January 31. I don't think this prevents that. So by tabling, just
getting clarification, because we've had somebody inquire about tabling this, even though that's spent
all the time talking about it, is this
What does this do for us if that were to be the case? Theoretically, Counselor Deckard's motion allows
for the hiring of the two law clerks that we know about. What would happen if they're trying to do more
law clerks is exactly what happened this time. Employee services would receive paperwork, and we would
all know about it. And they would not?
complete the paperwork because they know about the hiring freeze. Yeah, employee services would notify
presumably Kim and I, and then we can say, oh wait, we talked about this. And make them bring it back.
So table in this, and what we did previously would basically say the two are good to go, but
If Employee Services gets anything else from the Board of Judges for any positions that are paid interns
via law clerk, that will flag something that will kick into what we already have implemented to begin
with. We would tell them to hold on, yeah. And then that would kickstart them to come back to the meeting,
potentially here on the 27th, should that happen in between that time. Got it.
I still have a question about the language about the date, which is January 31st. Does that date still
stay there? I mean, that was, I believe, what Mr. Henry stated. If we're going to move forward with
the possible amendment to the resolution, or you could amend the date. OK.
If we for sure know, if we are okay with this, since we've spent a lot of time in talking about this,
I would recommend if we hear, and this is correct, since the issue is from council members, is that
we are trying to prevent more things to come, or more things to happen without approval of council due
to us enacting the hiring freeze, then I would say that
then why don't we table this discussion? Yeah, let's just table this. And then that will allow the two
liaisons to work with them to figure out some things. And then it sounds like potentially a
strong possibility that they will be coming on the 27th to talk about anything else, because it sounds
like they will probably have more law clerks that will be coming.
Does anybody have any objections to that or any questions? Don't move to table till next meeting, which
is January twenty seven. Yes. OK, I have another statement. And to it. Oh, one second. I'm sorry, Council
Hawke. So Council will to motion to table until January twenty seventh. I didn't hear a second.
I'll go ahead. So we got a motion and a second to table into the twenty seventh.
Yes, now, Councillor Hawke, sorry. Well, if we've got a motion table, I'm not sure we're supposed to
discuss it. I just want to make sure that we send out a direct message to all the department heads.
Remember. Stop it. Yeah, remember. Right. Now, get that sent out no later than tomorrow morning. I would
agree. And I think along the line, it would be nice to work with employee services to try to do some kind of
of numbers to see who else could be in this type of position, so we don't have a 12-hour surprise, so
to speak. So we got the motion and the second to table this discussion until January 27, 2026, which
is our next meeting. Is there any further discussion from council on that motion? I hate to beat it
to death, but I just want to make sure that that
Are we leaving the red language in or out? This is just table. We're not voting on that. Exactly.
Thank you. All right. So motion and second. Further questions, comments from the peanut gallery?
All right. Any public comment on this item? Come forward to the elector here, the Notting Hill room.
Raise your hand via Teams.
All right, and seeing none, we can do this by voice vote. So all those in favor of tabling this discussion
until January 27th, which is our next meeting, signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, same sign.
Abstain. All right, we got. I need a signature page for that, is what I'm saying.
So we got a majority, and then we have one abstention. Okay. All right, motion carries. All right, so
next up on the agenda, we are at the end, and we have council liaison updates and comments. So I'm just
gonna start down here with the lady in red. Councilor Hawk, if you had anything to add? I feel like you do.
Yeah, it sort of goes like hoo hoo hoo. I'm sorry, but that's all I got to say. That's your official
comment? That's my official comment. You know what that means? That means money coming in. Oh,
yes it does. You believe it. It means money for Monroe County. Absolutely. Agreed. Council Henry, what say you?
How do you follow that? I don't. I mean, just Happy New Year, everybody. I mean, I want to start with
maybe more of a sober thing and then just maybe a light thing. So Happy New Year. This past week was
National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day in the United States on January 9. I want to thank our local
law enforcement and our partners in public safety for the good work they do. There are good cops out
there, and we need to honor that when we can.
Of course, the other part of that is when we have challenges in our nation that we have to pay attention
to when cops aren't so great. We had an officer involved shooting in Minneapolis that made national
attention, and many in our community had bear witness on that for Renee Goode on the square over the
past weekend. And I think as we go into this year, we're dealing with the good and bad. We have to make
sure that we can balance those two ideas at the same time and not paint with the broadest brushes that
we do in this year. So I'm hopeful that we can keep that nuance and celebrate those that do hard work
in public service and hold those accountable that have not done so in our nation and in our state. So
there's that sobering thought. And I guess this is somewhat sobering too, but not really, because I
appreciate Councillor Crossley starting with honoring Carp Combs. You know, Dan was trying really hard
over the last quarter to come in and talk to us about his extensive work.
In the township in support of the victims of the tornado last spring, and we just couldn't get him in
here to read that report out, there was always something. And I will admit, maybe Dan and I had more
than a passing interest in meteorology in this community, and I feel compelled to take up his torch
on that issue. Our townships, especially as we're watching the state house move to eliminate them, Dan
was not only the trustee in terms of his exemplary service over 40 years in this community,
was in a lot of ways the first responder for so many people in Perry Township. The fact that I woke
up Sunday morning and there was no Dan Combs weather report on my social media about the snow, I knew
he was really gone.
crushing, but that's the sad part about Karp. The fun stuff is what people need to know. He was a prolific
texter. This guy would text at two in the morning about whatever was on his mind. The last things we
talked about were emergency management and things that aren't appropriate for this microphone. And I
want to share at least two world according to Karpisms, because I just got to get this into the record
somewhere. Karp once told me that all he ever wanted was academic honors,
to do noble deeds, and to live in a girl's dorm, which he managed the latter for four months when he
was a student at IU. That is Carp Combs in a nutshell. He told me when I took the interest in running
for county council that six months on the county council and your time as chairman of the Democratic
Party will feel like the golden days. You signed up to say no.
And I don't know if I've done that enough for Dan's satisfaction. And when it comes to public policy,
he would say, here we must take the bull by the tail and face the wet of an ugly situation. And he would
say on all these issues, I think, as he said, undercover hippiness. Rise up, citizens. And in the words
of his generation, eat the meatball. And I'm going to miss every last minute of that stuff.
You know, Levi was telling me his son that, you know, as they're going through the stuff, that they
found a story that he wrote about when he first ran for office. And he approached Pat Williams, the
chairwoman of the party at the time, and said, you know, I've got these two things about my background.
I'm a leftist and I had a pot. I was arrested for possession. And so Pat met with the Republican chair
at the time. And I don't know if, Marty, you remember who the chair was when, who was it, 1986?
And Pat brought the story to the opposite side and said, well, we're going to run combs for trustee.
And they said, well, we know about his pot conviction, and we know about him being leftist.
And Pat said, of course, who also passed last year, Pat Williams told the Republicans, and that's why
we're running him. And of course, he won that race by, I believe, only 14 votes, or something very small,
and then stayed put ever since. So thank you for letting me indulge on this a minute or two.
A good friend. I'm going to miss him greatly, but thank you. Thank you for that.
All right. Going on down the line. Councilor Decker. Hard to follow that. On Dan comes a legend and
we will miss him so greatly. I told a couple of students this story. I'll be really quick. One time
he and I had some some words over an issue and I'll never forget his response to me when I was just
saying but Dan did you think about this. He said all right you've got your job.
And I've got mine. And it sounded like a Western movie. And I was like, I don't have a six gun. There's
nothing I can do. Don't be mad at me, Dan. You know, this community's lost some legends in the last
months. And it just, and sometimes in those moments, you can really get down on it and think about,
Who's going to do those things? But I think we all have to kind of figure, first we have to look at
our fading eye vision and know that it's probably us moving into some of those roles to try to fill
those shoes. But also we just have to figure out the right things to do and do them. One thing I wanted
to mention here is Councilor Wilts and I had a meeting with our friends in care not cages who are here
more often than most elected officials.
And one of the things that was really refreshing in this age is it was just a meeting where people that
really care about the community have dialogue about the community to talk about the issues. A lot of
times we hear that phrase a lot. Let's get out there and talk about the issues. But that group has been
showing up for a long time to have that discussion. And I appreciate that greatly. That kind of patriotism
towards your community when you're not getting paid, that's a big deal.
And if nothing else in this community, we always have folks that show up and that honors kind of the
freedom that we have. We're in times like this where you're worried about the strangeness of many things.
It's something to focus on and go, you know what, we can figure this out or we can do it or we need
to work harder. So anyway, happy new year, friends. It's good to be back here doing the people's work
with this leadership team. All right, Councilor Wilks.
Thank you. Wow. So people already said a lot. And so I won't repeat all of the sentiments I share, including
the Hoosiers, as well as the more somber ones. And in the appreciation for the community meeting with us and
just having discussions and I just want to reiterate that that is welcomed. I think every person on
this council shares that viewpoint. We enjoy talking about the issues or we wouldn't be here. So invitation
there I guess to bend my ear if needed and
I need to say that we are still searching on the Monroe County Waste Reduction Board for members for
our Citizens Advisory Council. It's actually a pretty interesting and low stress kind of position, but
we would really like to add some folks. We have lots of openings, so don't be shy.
We've just established a small grant program for waste reduction projects in the county and the Citizens
Advisory Commission will be reviewing applications for that. So it's kind of neat. Anyway, please, if
you're interested, just go to Monroe County Waste Reduction Commission and go to the website and you
can apply right there for the CAC, Citizens Advisory Commission. And that's all I have.
So I go to many meetings, and I've been to 11 so far this calendar year, and I'm enjoying every one
of them, and including BEDC, DBI, Memorial County Women's Commission, the Fair Association. I've gotten
myself involved in, and I'm glad I'm going to
almost all, I think about all of them actually, the Ellisville Richland Township potential discussion
about what's gonna happen out there. I live in Richland Township, so I have a vested interest and I
care about what's gonna happen out there. It'll be interesting to see what does happen. There's a committee
and it's fully formed now. They have meetings, I think the first Wednesday of the month, I went to the
last one. Then I found myself involved in a Kirkwood Avenue,
meeting group which I had just started recently in the last couple of months. And that's a group that
is not my council appointment but I do enjoy going. And there is one other elected official from the
city there that goes it's her district. So it's good to hear what the people are thinking on the ground
in those areas when they get together and talk what their concerns are. There's there's probably going
to be news kind of soon I hope.
about what's going to happen out at the airport. There may be some employment news out there, and things
are moving along with that. I'm not at liberty to say a whole lot about it publicly yet, but it's quite
interesting work, and I think it'll be really good for the community when it does happen. So that's
it. Thank you. All right. And to wrap up real quick, I wore red for a reason.
I never would have thought in 25 years step in on IU's campus in 2001, after the firing of Bobby Knight,
that I would sit here and say that the Hoosiers are in the national championship. My times have changed,
but I am just so grateful the energy that they brought and the economic vitality that that has generated
throughout our city and county by way of good football. So we appreciate that.
I think it's a good time to travel and go kick butt. The other thing that I wanted to say is if you
are like me and had a real live Christmas tree this past year and are trying to figure out what to do
with it instead of keeping it in your house or having the dog pick at it or throwing it out on your
front lawn.
collecting at the recycling centers This is a personal reminder for me, but other people as well now
through January 17th Which is just in a few days that you can drop those? live decorations like the
wreaths and the Christmas trees for free and you can go to the website and check out the
the different recycling centers for that. Lastly, as we do mention there, you know, January definitely
is coming in like a lion, you know, national level and on a state level too. But one of the lights that
we have to remember is the fact that next in addition to next Monday of it being a big day
for our Bloomington community, there is the King holiday celebration that is happening. It's a day on,
not a day off. And those that need to remember is actual
that we can still continue to do so- so I would just like to say that- again remember. King's
the quotes that you have seen from King and go around and do the exact opposite of what he preached
for and Again, there is a celebration at the buzz Kirk Trimbley this Monday at 6 p.m. So you can dress
in red and immediately leave after
That is done to go celebrate. And the last thing I was going to say is I got invited to the North-South
game by way of MCCSE. So I appreciate.
the superintendent, Dr. Markay Winston, for that invitation. It was nice to get interaction with our
local leaders on our superintendent level, as well as our board leaders. And there were some other people
that were there. I know the sheriff and team were there yesterday, too, and Go Panthers, because they
won. So without that being said, we bleed purple in our house. So without that being said, thank you
again for counsel, and without
Nothing else? We are adjourned. Thank you.