Driver cards for Indiana’s undocumented residents: Bloomington council adds to statewide local support

Councilmember Jim Sims (Jan. 7, 2023) .
Bloomington city councilmembers (June 7, 2023)
Indiana state senator Shelli Yoder (June 7, 2023)
Ed Rodriguez with La Voz Unida addresses the Bloomington city council (Jan. 7, 2023).
Bloomington city council chambers (Jan. 7, 2023) .
Mayor’s office chief of staff Josefa Magridal (Jan. 7, 2023) .
La Voz Unida in Bloomington city council chambers (Jan. 7, 2023).

On Wednesday night, Bloomington’s city council chambers were packed so tight that the upstairs balcony had to be opened to fit everyone.

The big crowd was there for two reasons. First, the council’s meeting was the occasion when Bloomington’s human rights commission announced its annual awards. One human rights award went to Beacon, Inc. executive director Forrest Gilmore. The other award was given to the Monroe County Community School’s Corporation equity ambassadors.

The other big draw was a city council resolution in support of future state legislation to allow undocumented immigrants living in the Hoosier state to get a driver’s card—which would make it legal for them to operate a motor vehicle.

The resolution had unanimous support from the city council. Continue reading “Driver cards for Indiana’s undocumented residents: Bloomington council adds to statewide local support” →

Showers West prep for police, Hopewell owner’s rep: 2 RDC projects take steps forward

The image is from the master plan for the redevelopment of the Hopewell site, which is the former site of the IU Health hospital. The view is from the southwest.
The view is from the west of the Showers building. The pink outline shows the portion of the building that Bloomington has made an accepted offer to purchase from CFC Properties. The image is from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s property lookup system.

At its Monday meeting, Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC) took incremental steps on two of its projects.

First, the RDC ​ approved a $479,000 contract with U3 Advisors to serve as the owner’s representative for the redevelopment of the Hopewell neighborhood—which is the former site of the IU Health hospital, at 2nd and Rogers streets.

On a second item, the RDC approved a $100,000 contract with Axis Architecture for some preliminary design work on the western part of the Showers building—where city hall is located. It’s the portion of the building that is the planned future home of Bloomington’s police station and fire administration. Continue reading “Showers West prep for police, Hopewell owner’s rep: 2 RDC projects take steps forward” →

Lease to housing nonprofit for apartments, daycare on former water tower site OK’d by Bloomington

2014 flyover image from Monroe County online property lookup system.
2022 flyover image from Monroe County online property lookup system.

Just east of the Crestmont neighborhood, on Bloomington’s north side, a new two-story building with three income-restricted apartments on the upper floor, and a licensed daycare facility on the ground floor, could soon start construction.

It’s the location of the old water tower at the corner of 14th and Monroe streets.

Clearing the way for that project was the approval on Tuesday night by Bloomington’s board of public works of a 99-year zero-cost lease. The board of public works is the owner of the property. Summit Hill Development Corporation is the future tenant that will have the project built. Continue reading “Lease to housing nonprofit for apartments, daycare on former water tower site OK’d by Bloomington” →

Bloomington council set to give symbolic support to driver card legislation for undocumented residents

Cities where mayors signed in support of driver card legislation. Red indicates Republicans, blue Democrats and I independents.
Screengrab of Feb. 7, 2023 senate committee hearing.

Just one item appears on the Bloomington city council’s regular Wednesday agenda for final action.

The council will be asked to vote on a resolution in support of future state legislation that would allow undocumented Hoosier residents to get driver’s cards—which could be used only for the purpose of allowing them to drive.

Proponents of this kind of legislation typically frame it as a public safety issue. The idea is that if there’s a legal path to driving, even for undocumented immigrants, that means the government can at least require minimum driving skill levels and insurance.

Opponents typically cite the fact that those who would qualify for such a driver’s ID card have broken immigration law by not having obtained the required documentation before arriving in the country.

Also at its regular meeting on Wednesday, the council will get some updates from Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s administration, including a report from public works director Adam Wason on the results of a street and sidewalk condition assessment.

Wason will also be front and center at a committee-of-the-whole meeting that is set to follow the regular meeting. The one topic on the committee meeting agenda is an increase to curbside trash and recycling fees. Continue reading “Bloomington council set to give symbolic support to driver card legislation for undocumented residents” →

Miller-Showers showdown: great blue heron versus redwing blackbird

Miller-Showers Park (June 4, 2023)
Miller-Showers Park (June 4, 2023)
Miller-Showers Park (June 4, 2023)
Miller-Showers Park (June 4, 2023)
Miller-Showers Park (June 4, 2023)
Miller-Showers Park, on Bloomington’s north side, is wedged between College Ave and Walnut Street.

The public park is home to lots of redwing blackbirds—which will defend their nesting territory in a pretty aggressive way. The B Square got a heads up from a reader that they’ve been pretty aggressive in the last few days. They’ll flap their wings against your head if you get too close.

Redwing blackbirds will defend their nests against any threat they perceive—humans and birds alike.

On Sunday (June 4, 2023), it was a great blue heron that faced the wrath of a redwing blackbird, which let the bigger bird know it was not welcome to fish in peace.

There are more photos below. To see a larger version of any photo, click on it, then navigate through the rest at maximum resolution by arrowing or swiping left and right. Continue reading “Miller-Showers showdown: great blue heron versus redwing blackbird” →

June 5: Monroe County’s new justice finance advisory committee set to meet

Monroe County councilor Kate Wiltz (Jan. 11, 2023)
Monroe County councilor, Peter Iversen.
From left: Kate Wiltz, Jennifer Crossley, and Peter Iversen (Jan. 23, 2023)

At its May 23 meeting, the Monroe County council voted unanimously to appoint three of its seven members to a committee it had already created two weeks earlier, on May 9.

The committee is supposed to dive into the question of how to pay for new facilities, to address the findings of unacceptable conditions at the current jail.

The new committee, which is called the justice finance advisory committee (JFAC), includes councilors Jennifer Crossley, Peter Iversen, and Kate Wilz.

The JFAC is now set to hold its first meeting on Monday at 4:30 p.m. in the Nat U. Hill Room of the county courthouse.

The resolution establishing the committee includes among several duties: “obtaining key information from local stakeholders to help facilitate responsible informed financial decisions and identify budget priorities that best address the community’s justice needs.” Continue reading “June 5: Monroe County’s new justice finance advisory committee set to meet” →

Pay parking tickets to get towed car back: Enforcement starts for 2-year-old Bloomington law

A parking ticket on a windshield in downtown Bloomington in the first week of March.

If you have six or more unpaid parking tickets in Bloomington, the city can have your car towed away.

It used to be that just four unpaid tickets could get your car towed. But two years ago, in May 2021, Bloomington’s city council approved the administration’s request to bump the number to six.

Enforcement of the six-ticket law will start this year, on June 12, according to a news release from the mayor’s office in the last week of May. Cars that are facing an imminent tow will have green warning stickers placed on them, according to the administration.

In strictly numerical terms, the 2021 code revision was a softening of the law—because the change made it possible to accrue two additional unpaid tickets before facing a risk of towing.

But with the city council’s 2021 ordinance change came a stiffening of the penalty—the unpaid tickets that triggered the towing now have to be paid in order for an owner to get their car back. Continue reading “Pay parking tickets to get towed car back: Enforcement starts for 2-year-old Bloomington law” →

Bender resigns as nominee for Bloomington District 6 city council, Dems will caucus to fill ballot

Nicole Bolden (March 26, 2023) B Square file photo.
Sydney Zulich (May 2, 2023) B Square file photo.
Geoff McKim (Oct. 29, 2019) B Square file photo.
David Henry (May 4, 2023) B Square file photo.
The six precincts of District 6 are outlined in brown. Surrounding districts (clowise 2, 3, and 4) are shown in green red and yellow.
David Wolfe Bender (May 18, 2023) B Square file photo.

David Wolfe Bender has withdrawn as the Democratic Party’s District 6 city council nominee in Bloomington’s Nov. 7 municipal election.

Two weeks ago, on May 18, the county election board had convened a hearing on Bender’s disputed residency in District 6.

The board voted to refer the matter to Monroe County prosecutor Erika Oliphant, to consider possible felony charges, and to the Indiana attorney general Todd Rokita on the question of his eligibility as a candidate.

Since then, there has been no word on Bender’s case from either the prosecutor or the attorney general.

Given Bender’s withdrawal, the question of his eligibility is now academic.

Bender was unopposed in the primary. No Republican filed as a primary candidate.

To place a Democrat on the ballot, the party will now convene a caucus of the five sitting precinct chairs of District 6, according to Monroe County Democratic Party chair David Henry.

The date of the caucus has not yet been determined. But the deadline for filling a ballot vacancy, for either the Democrats or the Republicans, is July 3.

It was on Thursday afternoon when Bender filed the CAN 46 form, resigning his candidacy. Continue reading “Bender resigns as nominee for Bloomington District 6 city council, Dems will caucus to fill ballot” →

Honk, if you’d like Bloomington’s traffic counts

On an average day, 2,526 cars drive along the section of Morton Street between 7th and 8th streets in downtown Bloomington.

Measured just a few months ago, that’s one of the freshest numbers in Bloomington’s traffic count dataset. That dataset and others are available through the part of the city’s website that is branded as B Clear Open Data.

As Bloomington gears up for some mid-June public meetings about the College and Walnut corridor, traffic counts are one kind of information that residents might like to have in a handier format than a bunch of rows and columns.

To serve that potential community interest, The B Square has built a Google Map  showing the locations of all the traffic counters  in the B Clear traffic count dataset. Click on a colored dot, and a sidebar will appear, showing the traffic count tally, as well as the year when the count was done.

On June 13, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in city hall, there will be a public meeting to discuss the existing conditions along the College and Walnut corridor. Two days later, on June 15, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., another public meeting is scheduled, to discuss design concepts. Continue reading “Honk, if you’d like Bloomington’s traffic counts” →

Bloomington econ dev commission to ‘re-Zoom’ meeting efforts in time for review of tax abatements

Screenshot of the message that popped up for the Zoom access to Bloomington’s economic development commission meeting for May 30, 2023.
Gathered for the BEDC meeting on May 30, 2023 were, clockwise from the bottom corner of the table: Alex Crowley, Larry Allen, Andrea de la Rosa (city staff); and BEDC members Matt Flaherty, Vanessa McClary, and Kurt Zorn.

On Tuesday, Bloomington’s five-member economic development commission (BEDC) tried to meet for the first time since October of last year.

All the pieces for a meeting appeared to be in place. Three of the five BEDC members were physically present in the McCloskey Room at city hall.

The majority attendance meant the group had the required minimum number to meet—a quorum. That number also satisfied Indiana’s Open Door Law which has a 50-percent in-person requirement for electronic meetings—in case any BEDC members had wished to attend by using the Zoom video conferencing platform.

But the Zoom link that had been provided in the official public notice of the meeting did not work. When an attempt was made to launch the Zoom interface for the meeting, an error message was delivered, which read: “This meeting ID is not valid.”

Assistant city attorney Larry Allen told those who had assembled for the meeting that because Zoom access had been advertised to the public under a specific link, but could not, in fact, be made available, his advice was to not hold the meeting. Continue reading “Bloomington econ dev commission to ‘re-Zoom’ meeting efforts in time for review of tax abatements” →