In a news release issued early Wednesday evening, the Bloomington police department (BPD) announced the arrest of 35-year-old Byron Gregory Johnson on two charges of robbery.
For 90 minutes on Monday night at Tri-North Middle School, the three candidates for the Democratic Party’s nomination for mayor of Bloomington fielded questions at a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County.
Seated from left to right on the stage of the school’s performance center, in front of an audience of about 40 people, were: Susan Sandberg and Kerry Thomson, and Don Griffin.
Asking the questions was Indiana University Maurer School of Law student, Laura Rusk. This report does not try to cover every question asked at the forum.
Monday’s forum took place on last day before the start of early voting, which begins Tuesday, April 4 at 8 a.m. The League of Women Voters maintains a list of upcoming candidate forums, for mayor and for city council races.
Annexation was a topic where some daylight had already been established between the candidates, and that distance was also apparent on Monday night. Griffin is in solid support of annexation, Sandberg in solid opposition Thomson is somewhere in between.
Although they disagree on annexation, Sandberg and Griffin found common ground on a recent proposal by Bloomington mayor John Hamilton to close Lower Cascades Road (Old State Road 37) to car traffic. Neither Sandberg nor Griffin want to see the road closed to automobiles.
The wording of the question went like this: “The sense is that those who would like to see Old State Road 37 closed, and the space transition to a green space, have few advocates in government. What is your position?”
Thomson did not state a position on the road closure, but analyzed the preamble to the question, saying, “The problem that this questioner has brought up, is not actually about the road—it’s about their access to their government.”
At Monday’s forum, the three candidates also responded to a question about the Seminary Park encampment that was the subject of a proposed ordinance in 2021.
The commissioners voted 3–0 with two abstentions to endorse the proposed ordinance, with some caveats.
The proposed law is set for deliberations on Wednesday by the city council’s committee of the whole. No vote on enactment will be taken at the committee meeting.
The law was proposed by city council sponsors Matt Flaherty, Kate Rosenbarger, and Isabel Piedmont-Smith, after a decision by Bloomington’s mayor, John Hamilton, to clear a Seminary Park encampment in early December and again in mid-January.
Highlights of the proposed new law include a requirement of 15-day notice before a camp displacement.
Also under the proposed ordinance, the city could not displace a camp unless there is sufficient available “permanent housing” or “transitional housing” as defined by federal HUD regulations. Emergency shelters would not count towards available housing.
