At last Tuesday’s meeting of the Monroe County Democrats Club, four candidates for the three at-large county council seats got a chance to make statements and field questions from the audience.
Appearing in front of the club were Matt Caldie, Trent Deckard, David Henry and Cheryl Munson.
Deckard and Munson are incumbents. The third incumbent, Geoff McKim, is not seeking reelection, but attended Tuesday’s lunch.
The spot represented by McKim will need to be filled by a new face. That cleared the way for challengers Henry and Caldie to run in a field where there were not three incumbents for the three available seats.
Among those four, it will be the top three vote-getters who win the Democratic Party’s nominations for county council. The seven-member county council is the fiscal body for the county government.
It’s just the three at-large seats that are up for election this year. The district seats are elected on a different cycle. The four district seats are represented by: Peter Iversen (District 1); Kate Wiltz (District2); Marty Hawk (District 3); and Jennifer Crossley (District 4).
No Republicans have declared a candidacy for county council. That means the general election race could be uncontested, if no independent candidate collects enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Tuesday’s candidate forum for the Democratic took place over lunch at DeAngelo’s in Eastland Plaza.
David Henry led off his statement by noting that he typically addresses the group as the chair of the Monroe County Democratic Party, not as a candidate. He quipped, “I do want to give a little disclaimer—that I have opinions. I haven’t had to share them in public in a while, because as party chair, you’re not allowed to have any.”
Henry said he’s running, because he’s worried—over the holiday period, Bloomington lost six businesses in the downtown core. That’s a symptom of a bigger problem, Henry said, and it’s got him concerned. Henry said that 80 percent of the community lives on $90,000 or less a year.
“That may sound like a lot to some folks and 90 grand was a good salary when I graduated college 20 years ago,” Henry said. He added, “But it’s not enough to buy a house. It’s not enough to take your family out downtown to buy a latte or dinner on the square, let alone a Big Mac.”
What motivates him, Henry said. Is the need to start addressing the local economic challenges and figuring out why the whole community can’t participate in all the vibrancy that is Bloomington and Monroe County.
Henry said he’s seen this before, in the 1990s in the Rust Belt in northern Ohio, where he grew up. Henry said he grew up in Rust Belt towns that didn’t see all of the benefit of the robust national economy of that era. “We’re still facing those issues here in Monroe County,” Henry said, and that motivates him to run.
Henry said, “I’m running because I want to fund our values through county council. I want to help get stuff done in our community.”
As specific issues he wants to focus on, Henry gave: housing security challenges; and economic job choice.
On housing security, Henry said 60 percent of the community rents, and half their income is going to pay rent. That makes it hard to save enough for a first down payment towards owning a home.
On job choices, Henry gave himself as an example: His first job in government was working for Monroe County’s health department at a job that paid $34,500 per year. Henry said that he’d noticed last year, before the county council gave employees an 8-percent increase, the same position he had held 18 years ago was paid $37,000. That’s not a very big increase, Henry said.
“We have to fund those positions to make sure that our county government employees are not minor league,” Henry said.
About the skills he brings to the job of county councilor, Henry said that in the last 20 years he has worked in government contracting. That included figuring out the most cost effective ways on a ledger line to manage a $10 million project for the federal government.
Henry also cited his experience in local leadership roles, including serving as chair of the Monroe County Democratic Party. As an example of his leadership, he pointed to his effort to convince Indiana University to let him teach a class on homeland security, which is his subject area specialty. The class became an elective, which eventually became a waitlisted class, and eventually became a minor at the university.
Henry said he’s hopeful that by the time the next county council is sworn in, to start 2025, some of the issues that are pending right now have been addressed. That includes building a new jail that reflects the values of the whole community. The jail, Henry said, is just “one slice” when it comes to making sure there are enough resources. Those resources include public defenders, mental health treatment, and diversion care for nonviolent offenders in the system.
Henry said he’s hopeful that by January 2025 there are shovels going into the ground to start construction of the Monroe Convention Center expansion. If it’s not started by 2025, then the work needs to get done so that it does get started, Henry said.
Cheryl Munson started off by saying, “I’m running, because I love Monroe County, our beautiful setting, and our diverse and vibrant community.”
The big reason she is seeking re-election, Musson said, are two major long-term projects that are in the works—a new county jail and the convention center expansion. For the convention center expansion, the county has to decide on long-term leases and the disposition of real estate owned by the county government, some of which is needed for a conference hotel and a parking garage, Munson said.
Building a new jail, and providing year-to-year operational funding for it, is the other big project that is in the works, Munson said. By intentional design, it will be more than just a jail, Munson said, because it will provide treatment for mental health and substance abuse disorders—ideally before people enter the legal system.
Munson described herself as a public servant. “I’m humbled by this responsibility,” she said. As an at-large member of the council she represents the entire county, including Stinesville, Unionville, Smithville, and Harrodsburg. She added, “And there’s more -ville’s out there!” Munson described the unincorporated parts of the county as “vast and beautiful.” That’s the part of the county where she lives, Munson said. She and her husband moved to Bloomington 53 years ago, Munson said.
Munson noted that she is currently serving her third four-term on the county council. Professionally, she’s an archaeologist and an emeritus research scientist in the Department of Anthropology at Indiana University. Before serving on the county council, she served 16 years on the Indian Creek township board, 10 years on the county’s historic preservation board, seven years on the county plan review committee and two years on the community services grants committee.
Munson gave other examples of her volunteer service—Planned Parenthood and Girl Scouts. About her volunteer service, Munson said, “This work has put me in touch with people. I think this is the reason I can serve well.”
If she’s elected to another term, she wants to address three important areas: fiscal responsibilities, natural resources and resilience.
Setting budgets requires broad understanding of both local government services and community values, Munson said. The county council also approves job descriptions and sets salaries and benefits for around 750 county employees. Munson said she would continue to work collaboratively with other elected officials and staff to restructure county services and financial resources for greater efficiency and sustainability.
On the topic of resources, Munson said she will strive to ensure that the natural, cultural and governmental resources that residents value and depend on are maintained. That includes Lake Monroe, Munson said, which is a significant economic resource, and also the area’s source of drinking water.
About the idea of resilience, Munson said she wants to meet the county’s current and future needs in a way that is sustainable and sensible. Building resilience includes expanding affordable housing, increasing food security, improving mental health systems, mitigating rising temperatures and rainfall, and growing transportation, she said.
Munson pointed to collaborations during her time serving on the county council that had developed secure financing to build services to keep troubled youth out of detention and increased support for housing and food provided by nonprofits.
Trent Deckard introduced himself as an educator at Indiana University, Kelley School of Business. “If you had to sum up what I do all day, I help young communicators learn how to get their messages to audiences and to be more confident.” Deckard called teaching one of the “most gratifying things of [his] life along with serving on this council.”
Before he started teaching, Deckard said, he served as district director for U.S. Congressman Baron Hill. He also served in the Indiana Election Division and worked as chief of staff for the Indiana House Democrats.
Deckard said he comes from a ninth generation Monroe County family, but that still means he looks forward, to the future.
Deckard said he believes that elected officials can work together, that when they do, they can get good results for the people that they serve. Deckard described the county council as “a collaborative body.”
On the topic of housing affordability, Deckard said the house he grew up in as a child in Van Buren Addition would probably not be affordable to his family today. He added, “Nor would it be built today. And that’s a problem.”
The house he has lived in since 2007 would probably also probably not be built today, Deckard said. Deckard asked, “What are we saying to people who want to come here and have their dream and be in this good place? Are we welcoming them? Or are we making things harder?” Deckard said, “I’m not going to throw blame. We’re going to figure that out.”
On the topic of increasing taxes, Deckard said, “One of the things I’ve been most resistant to in the recent years is just flippant discussion—any flippant discussion about raising new revenues off of current taxpayers.” Deckard added, “It is hard to live in a community and be able to afford that community.”
An old Democrat tenet, Deckard said, is to look after folks in the community who need it the most. Deckard said he’s devoted his life to “standing up for the little guy.”
The county council had stood up against the encroachment of Lake Monroe, because “If we ever screw that lake up, we are done,” Deckard said.
About collaboration on a new county jail, Deckard said, “That has got to get done.” Deckard said that Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté has “a powerful vision” for the jail and is being “exceedingly transparent” about what is happening in the jail, and about what he wants to see happen in the jail. About Marté’s vision Deckard said, “We should honor that.”
Deckard wrapped up by saying, Monroe County needs to be “a cradle for free and fair elections.” The county council in all the work that it does, needs to ensure that elections are free and fair. “If we ever lose that ballot box, if we ever lose that access, what trouble we’ll be in,” Deckard said.
Matt Caldie led off by saying, “Clearly, I’m not your typical candidate.”
Caldie said, “I want to bring a new voice, a new perspective, and also some new energy to this body.” He added, “Simply put, I’m running because I care.”
Caldie said that when he applied to be appointed to Bloomington’s environmental commission in 2017, he probably wasn’t the most obvious candidate for that either—his degree is not in that topic and he’s not a scientist or a forester. But he wanted to make a difference, Caldie said, to put in the work, to serve well on the environmental commission. In his time serving on the commission, he has helped make updates to Bloomington’s unified development ordinance (UDO) and to the city’s climate action plan, Caldie said.
Also in his role on the environmental commission, Caldie said, he had recently authored and published an advisory report on Bloomington’s air quality. As an environmental commissioner he’s done lots of outreach. He’s not ever missed a meeting of the environmental commission, Caldie said.
Caldie said he was talking about his service on the environmental commission because that demonstrates that he would serve effectively on the Monroe County council. He put it like this: “I don’t have an advanced budgeting degree. And I’ve certainly never worked with budgets in excess of $100 million. But I believe that my experience and commitment to the environmental commission demonstrates that I can and will work hard to be an effective policy advocate for county residents and a good steward of county resources.”
Caldie described his personal history after graduating from Indiana University with an undergraduate degree. He tried to stay in Bloomington, Caldie said, but “struggled mightily” to do that. After he graduated, he couldn’t find any work at all. He said he wasn’t even getting interviews for positions like a cashier at a hardware store or stocking shelves at a retail store.
Caldie drew a comparison between his employment struggles back then and his campaign for county councilor: “After all, it is really difficult to convince people to consider you for work you’ve never done before—just what I’m doing here today.”
Caldie said he took a warehouse job making $7.50 an hour. “This isn’t ancient history. This was 2011,” Caldie said. The only way he was able to keep a roof over his head is that he always lived with at least three roommates.
A chance to make better money came working as a machine operator at a local factory. But that was 12-hour shifts with mandatory overtime, he said. The physical work eventually took a toll on his health. Now he’s working at a customer service job at IU parking.
The other candidates are really accomplished and involved in local government, Caldie said. He told the other three: “Honestly, I respect you all a great deal.” When he looked around the room, Caldie said, he saw a lot of people who had not experienced “the kind of precarity that I have here in Bloomington.”
One of the goals of the Democratic Party is to make sure that everyone has a chance at economic security, Caldie said. “I’m running to ensure that the working class people have a seat at the table,” Caldie said. Caldie continued, “I believe that I can serve as a bridge between different groups here in Monroe County.”
Even though he has a college degree and works for Indiana University he is “deeply familiar” with the challenges many workers face, Caldie said. He knows firsthand the kind of employment and housing choices that are out there, and how those choices can make people feel like there are no good options that work for them.
“We need to build an economy that works for everyone in the real economy, with expanded job opportunities, strong wages, and more affordable housing,” Caldie said. He said he wants to steer Monroe County in ways that benefit everyone, not just those with the most influence or the loudest voices. I hope to be approachable to people who don’t feel seen by government. “Together, we can build an inclusive community where everyone’s voices are heard,” Caldie said.
Early in-person voting for the May 7 primary elections starts April 9, the day after the total solar eclipse. The last day to register to vote in the May 7 primary is April 8.
I’m sorry but I had to pause and laugh for a minute at how out of touch David Henry is. No one making $90k or under can afford coffee? Lunch? MCDONALD’S?! That’s hilarious. It’s as if someone completely out of touch made a halfhearted attempt to seem concerned for the well-being of others, except they have no concept of money or expenses.
“I mean, it’s one banana, Michael. What could it cost? 10 dollars?”
I assure you the entire Bloomington restaurant scene is not solely supported by those making six-figures. How asinine. “POOR” PEOPLE* CAN AFFORD A BIG MAC TOO.
*Also, “poor people” doesn’t include people making $80K.
Excellent article. Lots of good quotes.