Friday: Final day of Bloomington annexation trial

Eric Reedy’s binder with the annexation fiscal plan. (May 1, 2024)

Map of annexation areas. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1_7o1q_H6CpeK-1gdEzDTxnPk84RZQ_E&usp=sharing

The trial on the merits of Bloomington’s plan to annex two territories on the west and southwest sides of the city has completed its fourth day. Friday is the final day left on the trial calendar.

It now looks like the trial will be over by the end of the day on Friday.

The proceeding is a judicial review, which was forced by remonstrators, when they achieved the threshold of at least 51 percent of landowner signatures in Area 1A and Area 1B, but fell short of the 65 percent that would have stopped Bloomington’s annexation outright.

By the end of the day on Tuesday, when the pace of testimony from the city’s witnesses appeared to be slower than expected, judge Nathan Nikirk raised the specter of a Saturday session. Continue reading “Friday: Final day of Bloomington annexation trial” →

At least 3 candidates emerge to fill upcoming vacancy for District 5 Bloomington city council seat

Bloomington city council District 5 is shaded orange in the southeastern periphery of the city.

News broke on Saturday that Shruti Rana would be resigning from her District 5 Bloomington city council seat.

By Sunday evening, at least three candidates had emerged as contenders to replace Rana on the nine-member legislative body of the city.

Already indicating their intent to stand as candidates in the Democratic Party’s yet-to-be scheduled vacancy caucus are: Jenny Stevens; Jason Moore; and Courtney Daily.

Stevens was a candidate in the District 5 Democratic Party’s 2023 primary race, which Rana won, with about 58 percent of the vote. Moore’s name will be familiar as Bloomington’s fire chief, who resigned at the end of the year. Daily could be familiar to readers from her work with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Continue reading “At least 3 candidates emerge to fill upcoming vacancy for District 5 Bloomington city council seat” →

Appointments: Diekhoff as Bloomington police chief, Kerr as fire chief means reuse of 16-year-old headline

Bloomington police chief Mike Diekhoff (January 2023)

Diekhoff, Kerr bring knowledge, commitment Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan has made two excel- lent selections in naming Mike Diekhoff police chief and Roger Kerr fire chief. Diekhoff had long been the apparent successor to Chief Mike Hostetler, who is retiring at the end of the year. He has been a thoughtful member of the Bloomington City Council the last nine years. He is a 20-year veteran of the Bloom- ington Police Department and Has been involved in policy matters as captain of the uniform division. He grew up in Bloomington and graduated from Bloomington High School North and Indiana University. Kerr was in the same graduating class at BHS North. He has been with the Bloomington Fire Department for 19 years and has been acting chief since September. Both men have knowledge about the community and already have made an investment in it. They should be strong leaders for Bloomington's future. Herald-Times op-ed Dec. 19, 2007

Dec. 19, 2007 Herald-Times op-ed

Bloomington interim fire chief Roger Kerr (Jan. 5, 2024)

In late 2007, Bloomington’s then-chief of police Mike Hostetler was set to retire at the end of the year.

Bloomington’s fire chief at the time was Roger Kerr, who was serving as interim chief, to fill the vacancy left by Jeff Barlow, who left for a fire chief position in Kentucky.

In mid-December of 2007, then-mayor Mark Kruzan, was finishing his fourth year of service as Bloomington’s executive, and preparing to start a second term. A Democrat, Kruzan was fresh off a municipal election victory over Republican candidate David Sabbagh.

That’s when Kruzan announced he would be appointing Kerr as permanent fire chief. At the same time, he announced he would be promoting Mike Diekhoff to police chief from his position as captain in the department.

The two appointments made for a pair of front-page headlines in the Dec. 19, 2007 edition of the Herald-Times, in a single package with an all-caps banner: NEW CHIEFS. The individual articles were headlined: “Diekhoff to lead police” and “Kerr secures fire post.”

Those are basically the same headlines that could have run in recent weeks, 16 years later.

Bloomington’s new mayor, Kerry Thomson, has re-appointed Diekhoff to serve as chief of police. And Thomson appointed Kerr to fill in as interim for fire chief Jason Moore, who resigned.

Last Friday, both men were confirmed in their respective roles as chief of police and interim-chief of the fire department by Bloomington’s board of public safety. Continue reading “Appointments: Diekhoff as Bloomington police chief, Kerr as fire chief means reuse of 16-year-old headline” →