2019 edition of Bloomington’s city council will be the second-most experienced ever

The nine current members of the Bloomington, Indiana, city council will start 2019 with 95 years of collective experience, which makes it the second-most experienced council ever. It’s seven years fewer than that of the council’s 2017 edition, which was the most experienced one in Bloomington’s history. That’s all based on information provided by the city clerk’s office.

Contributing 24 years of prior experience to the 2017 edition of the council was Timothy Mayer, who retired that year, replaced through appointment by Jim Sims.

Mayer’s roughly quarter century of service made him one of the two longest-serving councilmembers. The other councilmember with 25 years of service was David E. Chitwood, who served from 1935–1951 and from 1956–63.

By the end of 2019, the current edition of the council will feature five of the top 15 most-experienced councilmembers in the city’s history: Andy Ruff (20), Dave Rollo (17), Steve Volan (16), Chris Sturbaum (16), Susan Sandberg (13).

Top 15 Longest Serving Bloomington City Councilmembers
(current members bolded)

• Timothy Mayer (25)
• David E. Chitwood (25)
• Andy Ruff (20)
• Pam Service (19)
• James L. Blair (18)
• Dave Rollo (17)
• Steve Volan (16)
• Lloyd Olcott (16)
• Jack A. Morrison (16)
• Chris Sturbaum (16)
• William A. McAninch (13)
• Susan Sandberg (13)
• Robert C. Wiles (13)
• Homer Jones (13)
• Patricia Cole (12)

The current four female members—Dorothy Granger, Allison Chopra, Isabel Piedmont-Smith, and Susan Sandberg—give the council the highest number of women who have ever served. The four have served together since since 2016. It’s a total that was also reached in the late 1980s and again in the early 1990s when four women served on the council. The first of the 19 women to have served on Bloomington’s city council was Mary P. Holmstedt, who served from 1943 to 1947.

The table below is a re-formatted version of the information provided by the city clerk’s office. From the table it is evident that the number of members making up the city council has changed since 1876, ranging from five members to the nine that have constituted the council in the modern era, starting in 1967. Highlighted in green are women.