Bloomington city council’s first meeting puts familiar faces in leadership, gives public safety some airtime

On Wednesday, the 2024 edition of Bloomington’s city council gathered for the first time at city hall since it was sworn in on New Year’s Day.

One of the first orders of business at the council’s first meeting, which is required by state law, was to choose a president and vice president to serve for the upcoming year.

The job of president went to District 1 representative Isabel Piedmont-Smith. The job of vice president went to at-large representative Andy Ruff.

A requirement of local law, but not state statute, is to choose a parliamentarian. The job of parliamentarian went to District 3 representative Hopi Stosberg.

For all three council officer positions, those who were chosen were the only members nominated. The votes were all unanimous on the nine-member council.

Much of Wednesday’s meeting was first-of-the-year housekeeping, including the introduction of new Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson, and deputy mayor Gretchen Knapp, who each delivered brief remarks.

Also introduced were some new department heads: Jane Kupersmith, head of economic and sustainable development; Jessica McClellan, city controller; and Sharmaine Pechac, head of human resources.

But the topic of public safety—in general, as well as in connection with the clearance of a homeless encampment last Thursday—got some discussion at the meeting.

Most councilmembers didn’t offer substantive remarks during their report time. But his turn, councilmember Dave Rollo raised public safety as a topic that he called a “consistent theme that’s been running for some years now.” Rollo said that two elements of Bloomington’s approach to public safety are inadequate—the city’s compensation of police officers and the facilities that are provided to officers.

Rollo questioned the purchase last year by former mayor John Hamilton’s administration of the Showers West portion of the city hall building, which is now planned as the future home of the police department.  The 110-year-old brick building is a former furniture factory.

The city council approved the $8.75-million purchase on a 5–4 vote, with Rollo one of the four dissenters. The other three dissenters—Susan Sandberg, Ron Smith, and Sue Sgambelluri—are not a part of the new city council.

On Wednesday, Rollo called the Showers West “ill-suited” for a police station.

Related to public safety, Piedmont-Smith said she was “shocked” by the shooting death of a man in a homeless encampment  on the west side of town the previous day.

Piedmont-Smith said, “I think public safety is definitely a top concern,” but added that she means that in “a broad sense” that includes not just police, but also housing, jobs that pay a living wage, childcare, access to mental health services and substance use disorder treatment.

Piedmont-Smith said she had heard from constituents in District 1 that the encampments on the south side of Switchyard Park are becoming “very large and unsafe.”

During his report time, Isak Asare said that he and councilmember Matt Flaherty had attended a meeting that Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson had called the previous Friday, with various service providers serving the community of people experiencing homelessness. That was the day after the city cleared an encampment at Fairview Street and Patterson Drive.

Asare said that the meeting illustrated a “whole-of-government response to things that people in this town are facing.” Asare continued, “We are all here because we want to make the lives of people in Bloomington better.” Asare added, “We eagerly look forward to working not just with each other, but across branches of government, to do exactly that, and deliver on that promise that we’re all elected to do.”

From the public mic, Christopher Emge, who is director of advocacy and public policy for the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, talked about previous week’s encampment clearing: “We appreciate the efforts in clearing the dangerous homeless encampments in a kind and compassionate way.”

Emge said the shooting was a concern for the chamber, and echoed Rollo’s view that the city needs to address public safety.

The choice of Piedmont-Smith as president and Ruff as vice president means that both positions are filled with members who bring previous council experience to the job. Both have previous, interrupted periods of service as Bloomington city councilmember.

Piedmont-Smith is returning to the council this year from the previous edition and is starting her 13th year of service overall. She was first elected to start serving in 2008 and finished out a four-year term. She then sat out a term but was elected again to start in 2016 and has served continuously since then.

Ruff was first elected to start serving in 2000 and served for two decades, through 2019, when he sought but did not win re-election. After sitting out one term, he was returned by voters to an at-large seat in 2023.

Selected as parliamentarian, Stosberg is starting her first year of service as a councilmember, representing District 3.

Bloomington’s city council president is paid an extra $1,000 in addition to the standard councilmember annual salary of $21,153. The vice president receives an extra $800. The parliamentarian does not receive any extra pay.

Photos: Bloomington city council meeting: Jan. 10, 2024