districts – The B Square

Bloomington city councilmember Dave Rollo at a September 2022 city council meeting. (B Square file photo)

Bloomington city councilmember Isabel Piedmont-Smith. (Dec. 14, 2022) (B Square)

Shruti Rana at the Dec. 1, 2022 meeting of the Monroe County election board. (B Square)

Jonas Schrodt performing on Aug. 7, 2019 at the Bloomington Comedy Festival. (B Square)

Conner Wright in front of Indiana University’s Sample Gates (Wright’s Facebook profile)

Wednesday, Jan. 4 next year is the first chance for Bloomington residents to submit a formal filing of their candidacy for a seat on the nine-member city council.

The image links to a dynamic version of the new Bloomington city council district map, which allows zooming in and out.

But it’s already possible for someone to file the paperwork to establish a campaign committee or just to say that they are running.

Falling into one of those categories, are at least five candidates whose formal paperwork can be expected to show up on the Monroe County’s website sometime starting Jan. 4.

They include: incumbents Isabel Piedmont-Smith (District 1) and Dave Rollo (District 4); and potential new faces on the council, Conner Wright (District 3), Shruti Rana (District 5), and Jonas Schrodt (at large).

All nine city council seats are up for election in 2023—six representing a geographic district and three representing residents citywide. City council members serve four-year terms.

The council is currently composed of all Democrats, and the candidates described in this article will be running in the Democratic Party’s primary.

Andrew Guenther, who had previously announced an at-large city council candidacy, unaffiliated with any party, has since withdrawn that bid. Continue reading “Bloomington city council 2023 election notebook: Seeds get planted in Democratic Party primary field” →

In 2023, elections will be held for 11 Bloomington city offices—mayor, clerk, and the nine seats on the city council.

After the 2023 city elections, the composition of the nine-member Bloomington city council, which will be sworn in to start 2024, is sure to be different by at least one member. But it could be more.

That’s based on the fact that it’s not possible to serve or to run as mayor and city councilmember at the same time.

Also in the mix are new city council district boundaries, and a somewhat easier path to the ballot for candidates who want to run independent of a political party.

City council president Susan Sandberg has announced she’s running for mayor, which means she’s not running for city council.

To file an official declaration, Sandberg like other candidates in the municipal election, will have a 30-day window that starts Jan. 4, 2023, 118 days before the May 2, 2023 primary. Sandberg’s committee paperwork has already been filed. Continue reading “Analysis: 2024 edition of Bloomington city council will be different, by a little or a lot” →