Monroe County council at-large hopefuls field questions at forum

The contest for the three at-large county council seats is one of two local races where Monroe County voters will have any kind of choice on Nov. 5.

The Democrats whose names appear on the ballot for the pick-up-to-three race are: Cheryl Munson, Trent Deckard, and David Henry.

Also appearing on the ballot for the at-large county council race will be a blank space where voters can write in a name. The only candidate whose name will get any official tallies is Joe Davis. It’s only because Davis has filed the paperwork to register as a write-in candidate that a blank space appears for the race.

On Saturday, Davis, Deckard, and Henry appeared at a candidate forum hosted at Bloomington’s city hall. Munson was not able to attend the event, due to illness. She attended a late-September forum hosted by the League of Women Voters.

Saturday’s forum was recorded by CATS: Oct. 26, 2024 candidate forum.

In the other race where voters have alternatives, the choices appear on the ballot—between Joe VanDeventer (R) and Jody Madeira (D) for District 3 county commissioner. In addition to county council hopefuls, invited to appear on Saturday were county commissioner candidates, and candidates for the board of the Monroe County Community School Corporation.

The school board candidates—April Hennessey, Tiana Williams Iruoje, Erin Cooperman, and Ross Grimes—are all unopposed in their respective races. Democrat Julie Thomas is unopposed in her race for District 2 county commissioner.

Saturday’s questions from moderator Jessica McClain covered a range of topics, including the motivations of candidates to seek office, strategies for addressing the growing unhoused population in the city and county, and priorities for allocating additional resources in county services.

The forum was hosted by Kappa Tau Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, cosponsored by the Bloomington Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and the Upsilon Kappa Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.

Munson and Deckard are incumbents. Henry was the third-place candidate in the Democratic Party’s primary, which gave him the final nomination slot over Matt Caldie. Incumbent Geoff McKim did not seek re-election.

Deckard is currently the president of the county council. He talked about getting things done: “My philosophy is trying to get things done. I don’t believe governmental bodies should have meetings, simply to have meetings,” he said. “We need to focus on the problems in the community and move towards solutions,” he said.

Deckard highlighted his experience as a teacher at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and the fact that he comes from a nine-generation family in the area. Deckard also talked about making it easy for new residents to navigate the community.

Deckard described himself and his wife, Kyla, as “doers” who serve, whether it’s in through their church or in the community. (Kyle Cox Deckard serves on Bloomington’s board of public works.)

If they did not serve, they would turn into people who stand around the garage or the driveway and complain about things not getting done, he said. Deckard called on others to move their action “out of the garage, out of the driveways, and into local government.”

Henry noted that he is chair of the Monroe County Democratic Party, and called for voters to support the party’s whole slate.

The county council is the fiscal body for county government. Henry said Monroe County needs a council that asks: “Why do we fund the things we do?” Henry said he wants to do better for a community where many still face poverty and challenges getting access to affordable housing. The county government should fund its values, Henry said.

Henry said he’s always had the “bug for public service” as long as he can remember. He recalled as an 18-year-old offering up his “own version of an internship” in the mayor’s office in the small Ohio town where he grew up. He completed a master’s degree in local government administration at Indiana University and has done government consulting work for almost 20 years.

Henry said he has three boys that are growing up in Monroe County: “I want to make sure that they and your kids and grandkids also have a chance to not just survive living here, but thrive here as well.” If he’s elected, Henry said, he’d be the only person on the county council that has actually worked in the county government—as a health department employee 20 years ago.

Davis identified himself as an independent voice. “It is time for our local governments, both city and county, to listen to the voice of the people,” Davis said. He described himself as a “farm boy from Cass County, Indiana,” who from his early days was taught the values of land stewardship and community care taking.

The inspiration to political activism does not come from just one thing, Davis said. It arises from several things, where “injustice is seen, observed, and frustration sets in.”

Davis said that he’d always thought that to run for office he needed the perfect family and the perfect job. He said: “But then I realized, anyone can run for office. They don’t need to have a perfect life. There is no perfect life. We are all unique in our own way, in our own set of circumstances. We are powerful as individuals and as a people.”

Davis continued along those lines, saying, “We, the People, form the government to serve us, the People. We, the People, elect our representatives to serve us, the People.” Davis called on others: “There is no time like the present: Stand up! You are powerful. Never forget that you are powerful.”

Davis has been in the news recently for his ongoing fight with the city of Bloomington over the condition of his Washington Street property. Last week, the city moved in under authorization of a board of public works abatement order, supported by a circuit court judge, to remove what it considers “garbage” from Davis’s backyard. Davis considers it building materials.

On the topic of homelessness, Deckard talked about the complexity of the issue. “Many individuals facing homelessness are not just a monolithic group, but are friends and neighbors,” he noted. Deckard emphasized the need to listen to the perspectives of those in distress rather than imposing solutions from a position of privilege.

Henry echoed Deckard’s sentiments, emphasizing the importance of community education on homelessness. He said that it’s easy for people to drive by Seminary Park or other places where members of the homeless community gather and make vast assumptions about what they’re seeing—from the window of their car. The people in Seminary Park are “humans that are in various stages of distress,” Henry said.

It’s impossible to tell what’s going on just by looking out your car window, he said. Henry said that the county’s leadership needs to be a voice, educating the public about what they’re seeing and helping them to understand how they can also be part of solutions.

Davis highlighted the economic factors contributing to homelessness, such as rising rent prices. The rising numbers of homeless people are due not just to those “unhoused folks who are coming from outside of our community, but also members of our own community who are becoming unhoused because of the cost of rent,” Davis said.

Davis said the first thing that we can do toward resolving this issue is “get to know who these people are, meet them, talk to them, learn their name, let them tell their story.”

A question targeted to the county council candidates went like this: What is one area of county services you feel most needs additional resources, and why?

Deckard emphasized the need for additional resources in rental and housing inspections, particularly in rural areas of the county, where he believes current regulations could be strengthened. He pointed out that the county received significant funding from ARPA (American Result Plan Act) which has helped address various housing needs and emergency services—but he also sees potential for expanding housing inspections to improve public safety and health outcomes.

Henry approached the question from a structural perspective, highlighting the challenges of county budgeting, particularly the obligation to fund the criminal justice system, which consumes half of the county’s budget.

Henry advocated for a focus on emergency management and community resilience, urging the county to proactively assess and prepare for disasters—both natural and socioeconomic. Henry called for establishing an “emergency management preparedness mindset” through our county government. That means asking how resilient the community is “before the bad things happen,” Henry said. Asking that question will expose the things that need attention to make sure that the whole community is ready for times of crisis.

Henry said that the county government also has to attend to a “daily disaster” experienced by some people in the community who can’t afford to keep their car gassed up, and can’t afford to keep food at home.

Davis said the greatest need for county resources lies in addressing the inequities faced by the most vulnerable populations. He called for a comprehensive approach to ensure access to essential services such as housing, healthcare, internet, and public transportation.

Davis emphasized that raising the living standards for those at the bottom would ultimately benefit the entire community, framing it as a collective uplift that addresses systemic inequities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Davis said we need to make sure everybody is fed, has health care, has access to the internet, to public transportation and to educational opportunities. Davis said, “If we all have these safety nets, these resources around us, it will be the rising tide that will lift all boats.”

CATS: Oct. 26, 2024 candidate forum