Tag: Cheryl Munson

Elections 2024: First filing day—both Monroe County commissioner races could be contested for Dems

David Henry submits paperwork at Election Central to depuy clerk Larime Wilson. He’s running for county council. (Jan. 10, 2024)
Sierra Roussos submits petitions for Valerie McCray’s campaign for U.S. senate. Working the counter is Larime Wilson (Jan. 10, 2024)
Peter Iversen submits paperwork to run for the District 2 county commissioner seat. Working the counter is deputy clerk Larime Wilson. (Jan. 10, 2024)
Trent Deckard stands just inside the door at Election Central to submit his paperwork to run for re-election as a county councilor. (Jan. 10, 2024)
Deputy auditor Christopher Muench with incumbent auditor Cathy Smith, who filed paperwork to run for county treasurer. (Jan. 10, 2024)
Brianne Gregory files paperwork as candidate for Monroe County auditor. (Jan. 10, 2024)
Monroe County Election Central time stamp. (Jan. 10, 2024)
Steve Volan. The B Square missed Volan at Election Central on Jan. 10, 2023 but he addressed the new Bloomington city council from the public mic later that day.

Official filings on Wednesday mean that Monroe County voters in the 2024 Democratic Party primary might have choices in both of the county commissioner races that are up for election this year.

Previously announced was District 2 county commissioner Julie Thomas’s intent to seek re-election and Peter Iversen’s intent to challenge for the seat. Iversen’s District 1 county council seat is not up for election this year.

Incumbent for the District 3 county commissioner seat is Penny Githens, who has been considered likely to seek re-election. Filing paperwork on Wednesday for the District 3 county commissioner seat was Democrat Steve Volan, a former Bloomington city councilmember.

Volan’s 20 years of service on the city council concluded at the end of 2023. After representing District 6 on the city council for two decades, he sought the party’s nomination to one of the three at-large council seats, but was not among the top three vote getters in the 2023 primary.

Reached on Wednesday, Githens indicated to the B Square that she has not yet decided whether to run again for the District 3 county commissioner seat.

The districts for county commissioners define the limited geographic areas where candidates have to live—but the voting for county commissioners is countywide.

Wednesday was the first day it was possible for this year’s candidates for local office to file their official paperwork.

It was also the first day that candidates for U.S. president and U.S. senate could submit signatures to qualify for the primary ballot.  Incumbent Joe Biden’s  presidential campaign, and Valerie McCray’s senatorial campaign submitted signatures from Monroe County voters on Wednesday.

Up for local election this year in Monroe County are the positions of auditor, coroner, surveyor, treasurer, circuit court judge (Division 3, Division 4, and Division 9), county commissioner (District 2 and District 3) and county councilor (three at-large seats). Continue reading “Elections 2024: First filing day—both Monroe County commissioner races could be contested for Dems” →

Column: Staring into the civic sun in 2024, the year of a solar eclipse

This image was generated by Microsoft’s Bing Image Creator (powered by DALL·E 3).

In 2024, the local civic cosmos could see some big changes, in the same year when a rare literal cosmic event will unfold.

On April 8, a solar eclipse will briefly cast a shadow directly over the Bloomington area, turning daylight into gloam. (Yes, that is an awfully fancy word for “twilight,” but it’s the kind of highfalutin fare that is customary for a newspaper year-in-preview column.)

During an eclipse, in the battle between dark and light across the visible disk of the sun, the dark begins with a steady assimilation of the light’s territory, but the light always reverses the trend and prevails in the end.

That’s either a great or a lousy metaphor for municipal annexation, depending on a person’s political perspective.

In fall of 2021, Bloomington’s city council approved the annexation of seven different territories, all of which are still the subject of litigation.

Metaphors aside, 2024 holds the potential for some court decisions on those pending annexations, which might settle the question of how much Bloomington’s boundaries will change.

Of course, annexation is just one of myriad civic issues that are in the queue for Bloomington and Monroe County in 2024.

Here’s a non-exhaustive rundown of topics The B Square will try to track in the coming year. Continue reading “Column: Staring into the civic sun in 2024, the year of a solar eclipse” →

Fernandez tapped to serve as Democratic Party’s appointee to Monroe County election board

In a news release issued on Monday, the Monroe County Democratic Party has announced that former Bloomington mayor John Fernandez will serve as David Henry’s replacement on the county election board.

John Fernandez at a Sept. 27, 2023 meeting of the Bloomington redevelopment commission.

On the three-member board, Fernandez will join the Monroe County Republican Party’s appointment, Judith Benckart, and county clerk Nicole Browne.

Browne serves on the election board in her role as elected county clerk.

As party chair, it was Henry who chose his own replacement to the election board.

Henry’s choice of Fernandez will not be considered a big surprise.

Fernandez served as Henry’s proxy during the spring 2023 episode when the residency of the Democratic Party’s nominee for Bloomington’s District 6 city council seat was disputed.

It was alleged that David Wolfe Bender did not satisfy the requirement that a candidate live in the council district that they hope to serve.

The board referred the matter to the prosecutor’s office and Bender wound up resigning as the nominee, which cleared the way for Sydney Zulich to be selected during a party caucus as the party’s candidate. Zulich was unopposed on the Nov. 7 ballot and is set to be sworn in on Jan. 1, 2023,

Fernandez currently serves as the vice president for innovation and strategic partnerships at The Mill, which is a coworking space in Bloomington’s Trades District. His public service includes a stretch working for U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. Continue reading “Fernandez tapped to serve as Democratic Party’s appointee to Monroe County election board” →

Tax abatement gets final OK from Monroe County, could mean NHanced production of chips by fall 2024

Bob Patti, CEO of NHanced Semiconductors, explains how semiconductors are built.
Monroe County council (Dec. 12, 2023)
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1MPwXPeN28DzOspwyZ6qBPWWBbs5nzKU&usp=sharing

Winning unanimous approval from the seven-member Monroe County council on Tuesday night was the approval of a request from NHanced Semiconductors for a 10-year tax abatement.

Based on remarks from NHanced CEO Bob Patti made at Tuesday’s meeting, the company could start semiconductor production in Bloomington by fall of 2024.

The request was for 100 percent of personal property taxes each year, in exchange for a planned $152-million investment by NHanced.

NHanced did not ask for any abatement of real property taxes. Its investment will be almost exclusively in personal property.

Personal property refers to movable assets like equipment, while real property means immovable assets, like land and buildings.

The county council’s approval on Tuesday followed the previous week’s approval by county commissioners.  Tuesday’s county council vote was the final action needed. Continue reading “Tax abatement gets final OK from Monroe County, could mean NHanced production of chips by fall 2024” →

Hiccup for convention center interlocal agreement: ‘Let’s take a breath’ says Monroe County council

It might be next year before all parties have signed an interlocal agreement between Bloomington and Monroe County—in connection with an expansion of the Monroe Convention Center.

The effort to get final consensus on a collaboration between city and county leaders about a convention expansion dates back several years, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

But two weeks ago, both branches of Bloomington’s government approved the interlocal agreement, for the operation of the capital improvement board (CIB) and the convention and visitors commission (CVC)—in connection with the convention center expansion.

Bloomington mayor John Hamilton inked the interlocal on the afternoon of Nov. 15. The city council followed suit that evening, with an uncontroversial vote to approve the interlocal agreement.

The county council and the county board of commissioners were expected to consider and approve the agreement this week.

But the item appeared on Tuesday night’s county council meeting agenda only as a discussion item. And that’s where it remained for Tuesday. No vote was taken, even though councilors expressed a fair amount of solid support for the agreement.

Part of the delay on the county council’s side relates to a request from Bloomington mayor-elect Kerry Thomson, who wrote a letter to Hamilton two weeks ago, asking him not to make strategic decisions that could have an impact lasting into 2024. Continue reading “Hiccup for convention center interlocal agreement: ‘Let’s take a breath’ says Monroe County council” →

2024 Election Notebook: Deckard announces re-election bid, other county seats open

Appearing for part of the program at Friday’s Canopy of Lights in downtown Bloomington were three local elected officials—Bloomington mayor John Hamilton, and Monroe County commissioners Penny Githens and Julie Thomas.

Trent Deckard, with his family (Kyla Cox Deckard, Lucy, and Madeline) streams live on Facebook the announcement that he is seeking re-election to an at-large seat on the Monroe County council. (Nov. 24, 2023)

So the executives in city and county government were represented on stage.

Off stage, holding up the county’s fiscal end of things, were county councilors Jennifer Crossley, Kate Wiltz, and Trent Deckard.

And at the state level, District 61 house representative Dave Hall held the banner for the General Assembly.

That’s probably not an exhaustive list.

All of the elected officials spotted at the event by the B Square were Democrats, except for Hall, who is a Republican.

The partisan presence at Friday’s event was a good reminder that the local 2024 election season is underway, and has been since the summer. Continue reading “2024 Election Notebook: Deckard announces re-election bid, other county seats open” →

New jail finance committee created by Monroe County councilors

Monroe County auditor Cathy Smith adjusts the mic for Charlotte Zietlow (May 10, 2023).
Isabel Piedmont-Smith addresses the county council (May 10, 2023).
The screen in the Nat U. Hill room reflects the changes made to the JFAC resolution (May 10, 2023).
Gloria Howell addresses the Monroe County council (May 10, 2023).
County attorney Molly Turner-King (May 10, 2023).
Gloria Howell addresses the Monroe County council (May 10, 2023).

Two weeks after the idea was floated at a work session, the Monroe County council has established a new committee to focus on fiscal issues associated with the construction of a new jail.

The unanimous vote to create the justice fiscal advisory committee (JFAC)—consisting of three county councilors and 12 other ex officio members—came at the council’s regular meeting on Tuesday. The ex officio members don’t count towards the number needed for a quorum.

The word “fiscal” in the name of the new committee that has been formed by the county council reflects the fact that the council is the county’s fiscal body.

Any funding for a new jail facility would have to be approved by the seven-member county council, no matter what decisions are made by the three county commissioners about the location and size of a new jail facility.

The county council’s move to create the committee got support from the public mic during the meeting, in-person as well as on the Zoom video conference platform. Continue reading “New jail finance committee created by Monroe County councilors” →

Holcomb visits Bloomington, Cook Group president tells locals: “We can’t sit around and wait for the governor…to solve our problems.”

Eric Holcomb.
Pamela Whitten.
Pete Yonkman.
It’s a sign. (Feb. 16, 2023)

On Thursday, the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce hosted a luncheon at the Monroe Convention Center featuring Indiana governor Eric Holcomb.

The main event highlighted Holcomb as he fielded questions from Indiana University president Pamela Whitten, as the two sat in easy chairs in front of an audience of about 450 people.

But for many in attendance, it was the remarks delivered by Cook Group president Pete Yonkman, towards the start of the program, that might have left a more lasting impression. Cook is Bloomington’s second largest employer behind Indiana University.

Yonkman said at the start that he did not have prepared speech to deliver, as he does on most occasions.

But the impromptu remarks that Yonkman did make were organized around one basic theme: Bloomington’s local leaders need to overcome their differences to make progress on important issues.

Specific issues that Yonkman highlighted included housing, conditions at the county jail, and the lack of progress on the convention center expansion. Continue reading “Holcomb visits Bloomington, Cook Group president tells locals: “We can’t sit around and wait for the governor…to solve our problems.”” →

Monroe County council leadership choice starts 2023 lighthearted but serious: “I’m sorry for you that you are picked to be the loser!”

Reaching Monroe County, Indiana on Tuesday was a tiny ripple from the political splash that was made when congressional Republicans took 15 rounds of voting to finally settle last Saturday on Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House.

The little wavelet came in the form of county councilor Marty Hawk’s participation in Tuesday’s unanimous votes to reelect Kate Wiltz as council president and Trent Deckard as president pro tem.

Hawk is the sole Republican representative on the seven-member county council. The other six are Democrats.

It was the fact that Hawk participated in the votes at all that made it a little remarkable. Last year’s officer elections were typical for her historical approach: “As I have done in the past, I will pass on this, because I believe it is up to the majority caucus to decide what’s going to happen here, and I wish you well.”

Last year she had prefaced her remarks by saying, “If you succeed, that means the entire council will succeed and so I’m happy to work well with whoever the majority puts forward.”

This year, after the nominations were made, Hawk made an allusion to last week’s fight over the selection for speaker of the House: “I will say that in times past, I’ve just said ‘present’ or passed. But after what’s happened in Washington DC, I guess I won’t do that.” Continue reading “Monroe County council leadership choice starts 2023 lighthearted but serious: “I’m sorry for you that you are picked to be the loser!”” →

New choices in election of Monroe County at-large councilors

After the June 2 primaries, voters in Monroe County could choose up to three from five different candidates for at-large county councilor—three Democrats and two Republicans.

cropped art for Larrin Wampler story

Now they have a choice of six, even after one of the Republican’s withdrew from the race. Zachary Weishheit, a Bloomington police officer, withdrew his candidacy on June 22.

Replacing Weisheit on the Republican ticket will be Larrin Wampler. She is described in a GOP press release as an occupational health nurse who manages the occupational health and industrial hygiene program for the Indiana National Guard and civilian personnel.

The additional choice in the race for at-large councilor will come in the form of Janna Arthur, a Bloomington resident who’s weighed in at public commentary during recent county council meetings in support of reduced policing and reduced funding for law enforcement agencies. Continue reading “New choices in election of Monroe County at-large councilors” →