Author: Dave Askins

Building material or debris? Bloomington wants order to enter owner’s property, remove “garbage”

The photo of the property at 530 Washington St. was provided in the meeting information packet

Joe Davis is a self-described “unconventional guy.”

But the city of Bloomington wants him to take a more conventional approach to the appearance of his  residential property at 530 Washington St.

The city contends that it’s not just a matter of appearance. The housing and neighborhood development (HAND) department sees Davis’s property as violating the local law that says you can’t “throw, place, or scatter any garbage, recyclable materials or yard waste over or upon any premises, street, alley, either public or private…”,

That’s the basis of a series of warnings and fines that the city’s HAND department levied against the property last year. Davis appealed the fines to the board of public works, but they were upheld.

Based on the notices of violation that are included in the information packet for this Tuesday’s meeting of the board of public works, the fines total $200.

It is at Tuesday’s meeting that HAND will ask the board of public works for an abatement order, which would, if granted, allow the city to go onto Davis’s property to take the steps the city thinks are needed, in order to bring it under compliance with city code. The city would then send Davis a bill for the work.

Davis has responded by sending the city notice of a tort claim—against the city of Bloomington, the HAND department, the department of public works, and the board of public works. Continue reading “Building material or debris? Bloomington wants order to enter owner’s property, remove “garbage”” →

Street mural: Bloomington attorney says application should be denied, because it contains speech

From the maintenance of traffic plan in connection with the proposed mural painting.
From the Turning Point application to paint a street mural.

It looks like the table is now being set for the next phase in a pending federal lawsuit against the city of Bloomington.

An application to paint a mural on Kirkwood Avenue with the phrase “All Lives Matter” appears on the Bloomington board of public works agenda for Tuesday, March 14.

The application for the mural was made by Turning Point USA at Indiana University.

Bloomington’s city attorney, Mike Rouker, has recommended that the application be denied, because the design includes “speech” as defined by a new city policy on such art in the public right-of-way.

Bloomington’s policy was adopted by the board of public works at its Dec. 20, 2023 2022 meeting.

The board’s action to adopt a new policy was taken because Bloomington was under a federal court order to develop and promulgate rules for private entities to install art in the public right-of-way.

That order came in connection with a lawsuit that Turning Point and Indiana University student Kyle Reynolds filed, after being denied permission to paint their “All Lives Matter” mural in 2021. The court found that the city’s refusal in 2021 to allow Reynolds to paint his mural likely amounted to viewpoint discrimination, and issued a preliminary injunction. Continue reading “Street mural: Bloomington attorney says application should be denied, because it contains speech” →

Column: Bloomington’s next mayor should routinely field questions in public from residents, press

Bar chart of poll question: Q10 When thinking about your own opportunity to have a meaningful impact on local policy choices in Bloomington, would you say you currently have a lot of opportunities, some opportunities, not many opportunities, or hardly any opportunities? Responses respectively: 7, 38, 26, 17, 12 precent
Bar chart showing John Hamilton approval rating: 27 percent approve compared to 39 percent disapprove.
Bar chart of poll question: Q9 When thinking about the Mayor of Bloomington’s accessibility, how important do you think it is for the Mayor to hold a monthly public news conference, where both members of the public and journalists can ask questions on any topic: very important, somewhat important, not that important, or not important at all? Results respectively: 57, 3, 3, 1, 4 percent.

Should the mayor of Bloomington hold a monthly news conference, where any resident or member of the press can ask a question on any topic?

Incumbent mayor John Hamilton does not appear to think it’s very important to make himself available like that.

No such news conference has been held in the last three and a half years, which is the time The B Square has been in publication.

Hamilton is not seeking reelection. But I hope the next mayor of Bloomington thinks it’s important to hold a regular public event where anyone can ask a question.

Most Bloomington voters seem to think so, too. Continue reading “Column: Bloomington’s next mayor should routinely field questions in public from residents, press” →

Parking notebook: Fully staffed enforcement crews mean more tickets in downtown Bloomington

Chart of parking citations issued in the city of Bloomington by month.
A parking ticket on a windshield in downtown Bloomington in the first week of March.
A chart of percentages by month for tickets appealed and appeals granted.

Anecdotally, the number of parking tickets visible on windshields in downtown Bloomington over the last couple of months has increased.

It’s not just a gut feel.

Based on data provided by the Bloomington city clerk’s office, in January of this year 4,550 parking citations were issued by parking enforcement officers. In February they issued 5,537 citations.

The combined total of 10,087 tickets for the first two months of 2023 is the highest number of citations in any year for the last 13 years.

The next highest two-month total was 20 percent less—8,051 in 2012. Continue reading “Parking notebook: Fully staffed enforcement crews mean more tickets in downtown Bloomington” →

A decision to withdraw: Democratic Party city council candidate under investigation over residency

Donovan Garletts, GOP appointee to Monroe County election board.
Map showing the address where David Wolfe Bender registered to vote.
David Henry, Democratic Party appointee to Monroe County election board.
Molly Turner-King, county attorney.
March 9, 2023 election board meeting.

“David [Wolfe Bender] has decided to withdraw his candidacy for Bloomington Common Council District 6.”

That’s the opening line of a letter received by Monroe County’s election board from Bender’s attorney, Manny Herceg, with the Taft-Jaffe law firm.

An Indiana University student, Bender is the sole Democrat for District 6 who appears on the May 2 primary election ballot. District 6 is centered around the university campus and downtown—its entire area is north of 3rd Street.

The letter was read aloud by Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne at Thursday afternoon’s meeting of the three-member election board.

The board’s meeting this Thursday was a continuation of its meeting last week, when the board started an investigation into whether Bender’s candidacy broke any election laws.

The investigation was based on a complaint made by vice chair of the Republican Party, William Ellis, which in turn was based on an Indiana Daily Student article published on Feb. 17, 2023.

The headline to the IDS piece describes the basic idea of the complaint: City Council candidate David Wolfe Bender is running in District 6, residents say he doesn’t live there.

The election board did not decide much on Thursday, but did make some incremental progress, and agreed to resume meeting on the topic in two weeks, on March 23. Continue reading “A decision to withdraw: Democratic Party city council candidate under investigation over residency” →

No gambits played by Bloomington city council: Doris Sims to be appointed to new city nonprofit board

Bloomington city councilmember Dave Rollo.
Bloomington city councilmember Isabel Piedmont-Smith.
Bloomington city councilmember Susan Sandberg.
Bloomington city councilmember Steve Volan.
Bloomington city councilmember Jim Sims.

Doris Sims is the Bloomington city council’s appointee to the five-member board of City of Bloomington Capital Improvement, Inc. (CBCI)—the new nonprofit recently formed by mayor John Hamilton’s administration.

Sims is former director of Bloomington’s housing and neighborhood development (HAND) department. She retired from that role in early 2021. She’s married to city councilmember Jim Sims.

Support for Doris Sims as the council’s appointee to CBCI was enthusiastic and uniform across the dais at the city council’s Wednesday’s meeting.

But some councilmembers, including Jim Sims, took the occasion to criticize the four-to-one split in appointments that was established in the bylaws for the CBCI board—four for the mayor and one for the city council.

On Wednesday, there was some discussion by councilmembers about the idea of not making an appointment to the board, to express the council’s displeasure at the uneven split, as a way to leverage a change to the bylaws.

But Jim Sims weighed in against making a political chess game out of the appointment. He put it like this: “[Doris] wants to do this service.” He added, “So anything that we might discuss or lead to, that could cause her to be a pawn in this deal will not happen this evening—at least from my standpoint.”

The vote by the council expressing support for council president Sue Sgambelluri to go ahead and appoint Doris Sims was 6–0–2. Dave Rollo and Susan Sandberg abstained. Kate Rosenbarger was absent. Continue reading “No gambits played by Bloomington city council: Doris Sims to be appointed to new city nonprofit board” →

DLZ gets initial nod from Monroe County for new jail design, vote 2 weeks away

Monroe County facilities director Richard Crider addresses county commissioners on March 8, 2023.
Monroe County commissioners from left: Lee Jones, Penny Githens, and Julie Thomas.

The final decision has not been made, but DLZ is likely to be the firm that Monroe County uses to master plan and design a new jail facility.

At a Wednesday morning work session, Monroe County commissioners received a brief report from a committee that they created to review three responses to a request for qualifications (RFQ), to master plan and design  a new jail.

DLZ was the company recommended by the committee. The other two responses came from Elavatus and RQRAW.

Monroe County director of facilities Richard Crider delivered the committee’s recommendation to the commissioners. About the three companies who responded, Crider said, “They are all very capable and proficient in what they do. And I believe we all felt like any one of them could provide a facility that meets our needs.”

But it was DLZ that got the committee’s nod: “One firm stood out above the rest and that was DLZ.” Crider added, “DLZ was the unanimous decision of the committee.”

Joining Crider on the RFQ review committee were: David Gardner, ASI Facilities Services contractor; Lee Baker, county attorney; Kyle Gibbons, jail commander; Matt Demmings, assistant jail commander; and Angie Purdie, administrator for the commissioners.

The commissioners do not have a regular meeting scheduled for next week, on March 15. The vote on the choice of DLZ is set for two weeks from now, on March 22. Continue reading “DLZ gets initial nod from Monroe County for new jail design, vote 2 weeks away” →

Planning notebook: Former Great Wall restaurant site could be home to 426 college students

Locator map.
Shown are recent student-oriented housing developments approved since 2019.

The property where The Great Wall restaurant formerly stood on North Walnut Street, across from the northern tip of Miller-Showers Park, is now the site of a proposed 8-story student-oriented apartment building.

The building would include a mix of 3-bedroom, 4-bedroom and 5-bedroom apartments, for a total of 426 bedrooms.

That’s based on a preview of an April 10 Bloomington plan commission item given at a Tuesday morning work session by senior zoning planner Eric Greulich. Continue reading “Planning notebook: Former Great Wall restaurant site could be home to 426 college students” →

Advice on choice for new jail design-build firm to be heard by Monroe County commissioners, justice response committee still struggling

County commissioner Penny Githens (March 6, 2023).
County commissioner Julie Thomas (March 6, 2023).
County commissioner Lee Jones (March 6, 2023).
Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté (March 6, 2023).
From left: Monroe County circuit court judge Darcie Fawcett and deputy prosecutor April Wilson (March 6, 2023).
President of the Monroe County Democratic Black Caucus, Nicole Bolden (March 6, 2023).
Monroe County councilor Jennifer Crossley (March 6, 2023).
Community justice response committee (CJRC) (March 6, 2023).
Jauston Huerta, director of FOCUS Initiatives (March 6, 2023).

At their work session this Wednesday (March 8), Monroe County commissioners are supposed to receive a recommendation on which of three firms to select, to design and build a new jail.

The three firms responded to a request for proposals (RFQ) issued by the commissioners. Reviewing and scoring the three proposals was a committee of staff from the county’s legal department, the sheriff’s office, the facilities department, and the administrator for the commissioners.

The three firms making proposals were DLZ, Elevatus, and RQAW.

The timetable for selection and approval of a company was sketched out by president of the board of county commissioners, Penny Githens, at Monday’s meeting of the community justice response committee (CJRC).

Githens said the commissioners expect to vote on the selection of one of the three firms at their March 22 regular meeting. Whichever company is selected would be invited to give a presentation to the CJRC on April 3, Githens said.

The timetable for handling the responses to the RFQ could be counted as a bit of progress towards the goal of responding to the work of two consultants, released to the county government about 20 months ago. The report described Monroe County’s jail as having “far exceeded its structural and functional life cycle.”

But Monday’s CJRC meeting was again plagued by friction between the three county commissioners and the other committee members. Continue reading “Advice on choice for new jail design-build firm to be heard by Monroe County commissioners, justice response committee still struggling” →

Another season of Kirkwood street closures, parklets OK’d by Bloomington city council

Parklet on Kirkwood east of College Avenue (Bing aerial imagery 2022)
The west side of College Avenue from Kirkwood to 6th Street. (Bing aerial imagery 2022)
Shown is the half block closure of Kirkwood Avenue just east of Walnut Street. (Bing aerial imagery 2022.)
Grant Street looking south. The ADA entrance to Trinity Episcopal Church is on the left. The ADA accessible parking space to be added will be on the right. (Google Street view image.)
Parklet for Metal Works Brewing Brewing on 6th Street looking southwest. (2022)

This year, parts of Kirkwood Avenue in downtown Bloomington will again be closed to automobile traffic—for six months from April 3 through Oct. 1.

Again this year, residents and visitors to downtown Bloomington will also notice orange water-filled traffic barriers marking off some on-street parking spaces, so that restaurants can serve customers there.

The “parklets,” as they’re called, come this year with a “beautification” requirement, which can include construction of seating platforms, incorporation of art and other cosmetic improvements.

This year, the closed-off sections of Kirkwood are the same as in the last three years. Continue reading “Another season of Kirkwood street closures, parklets OK’d by Bloomington city council” →