Tag: Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce

Bloomington boards act on tents, belongings in parks, public right-of-way

Board of public works

Board of public works from left: Jennifer Lloyd, Elizabeth Karon, and Kyla Cox Deckard (Aug. 15, 2023)
District 6 Democratic Party nominee for city council Sydney Zulich (Aug. 15, 2023)
Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce president Eric Spoonmore (Aug. 15, 2023)

Board of park commissioners

Bloomington resident Nick Angelos (Aug. 16, 2023)
Board of park commissioners from left: Israel Herrera, Kathleen Mills, and Ellen Rodkey. (Aug. 16, 2023)
Christopher Emge with the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce (Aug. 16, 2023)

On Tuesday, Bloomington’s board of public works passed a resolution asking that the city council enact an ordinance that will keep the public right-of-way clear of tents or belongings.

It’s not clear when or if the city council will follow the board’s recommendation.

The following day, the board of park commissioners took action, to enact a new policy that essentially prohibits tents in parks. The new policy takes effect on Aug. 23—that’s next Wednesday.

Action by the two boards on successive days is part of a general effort by Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s administration, to regulate the way Bloomington’s unhoused population is able to use public space.

Director of public works Adam Wason described to the three-member board of public how the draft ordinance would make clear that the police have the legal authority, to immediately clear the right-of-way of someone’s belongings, if they do not respond to a request to move.

Parks and recreation director Paula McDevitt told the board that the intent of the new policy against tents and other makeshift enclosures is to ensure that parks areas can be used and enjoyed “by the whole community.” The way tents are now used in parts has created serious public health and safety risks, due in part to illegal activity, McDevitt said.

McDevitt said the policy does not prohibit unenclosed shade structures, if they don’t shield from public view what is happening under them.

At both meetings, commentary from the public mic in favor of the administration’s position came from business owners, and business advocacy groups—the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, and Downtown Bloomington, Inc.

Public comment against the administration’s approach came from social service workers, members of mutual aid groups like Help Ourselves, and other advocates for the unhoused. Continue reading “Bloomington boards act on tents, belongings in parks, public right-of-way” →

Capital improvement board created, convention center expansion takes small step forward

A seven-member capital improvement board (CIB) has finally been created to provide the governance for a long-planned expansion of the Monroe Convention Center.

The unanimous vote by the three county commissioners to create the CIB came at their regular Wednesday meeting. Their vote was greeted with a rare round of applause in the Nat U. Hill room at the county courthouse.

Clapping enthusiastically in the audience for the vote were county councilors Geoff McKim, and Peter Iversen, as well as Eric Spoonmore, who is a former county councilor and now CEO of the Great Bloomington Chamber of Commerce.

That appears to end the wrangling between the county commissioners and Bloomington mayor John Hamilton, over the governance of the expansion project, which has stalled the joint city-county effort since early March 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Hamilton’s preferred way of handling the tasks that the CIB will oversee would have been through a nonprofit. A CIB is a public body, which the county commissioners can create under state law.

Still to be negotiated are the details of an interlocal agreement between the city and the county governments, which would lay out, among other things, the way that any land now owned by the city or the county will be incorporated into the expansion project. Continue reading “Capital improvement board created, convention center expansion takes small step forward” →

Capital board as governance for Monroe Convention Center expansion to be on July 5 county agenda

The long-planned expansion of the Monroe Convention Center, which has been stalled since March 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, could take a small step forward next week.

Monroe County commissioners, from left: Lee Jones, Penny Githens, and Julie Thomas. (June 28, 2023)

At their regular meeting next Wednesday (July 5), Monroe County commissioners are likely to consider and approve an ordinance that will establish a seven-member capital improvement board (CIB) to provide the governance structure for the expansion. [2023-06-28 draft ordinance]

Expectations about next week’s action are based on the discussion at a Wednesday work session, which was held by commissioners following their regular meeting.

The previous night, at a county council work session, attended by commissioner Penny Githens, the council passed a motion made by councilor Geoff McKim, which supported the path that the commissioners are now taking.

When Githens asked for the county council’s thoughts on the idea of proceeding with the creation of a CIB, McKim responded by saying, “I move we express strong support for the commissioners moving forward and creating a CIB.” That motion got unanimous support from the seven county councilors. Continue reading “Capital board as governance for Monroe Convention Center expansion to be on July 5 county agenda” →

Bloomington, Monroe County restart convention center talks, threat of lost tax revenue looms

Bloomington city council work session (June 12, 2023)

Before Monday, it had been nearly six months since Bloomington and Monroe County officials last appeared in a public setting, to talk about the proposed expansion of the Monroe Convention Center.

The city council’s first meeting of the year, in early January, was the occasion when the city council voted to override  Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s veto, of a city council resolution related to the convention center expansion. The mid-December 2022  city council resolution expressed support for a capital improvement board (CIB) as the governance structure for a convention center expansion.

On Monday at noon, the Bloomington city council convened a work session on the topic of the planned expansion of the Monroe Convention Center.

Providing a wake-up call to move the project forward was the Indiana General Assembly, which has now concluded this year’s session. Before wrapping up its work for the year, the state legislature passed HB 1454, which uses the local food and beverage tax as a prod, to require Bloomington and Monroe County to show some progress on the convention center project.

The center of Monday’s discussion was a draft of an interlocal agreement that is supposed to iron out some of the persistent wrinkles in discussions between the city and the county about the convention center. Continue reading “Bloomington, Monroe County restart convention center talks, threat of lost tax revenue looms” →

Bloomington mayoral candidate forum: Sharp difference in perspectives on crime, city-county relations

At a forum for mayoral candidates hosted on Monday night by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, not a lot of new, additional daylight emerged between the three candidates as far as their known policy positions.

But a sharp difference in perspective emerged in response to a couple of the questions—one involving public safety and another involving the working relationship between city and county governments.

Moderating the forum was Paul Helmke, who was a three-term mayor of Fort Wayne, and is a professor of practice at Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

Seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for mayor of Bloomington are: Don Griffin, Susan Sandberg and Kerry Thomson Continue reading “Bloomington mayoral candidate forum: Sharp difference in perspectives on crime, city-county relations” →

Holcomb on SB4, a bill to boost local health support: “It gets funded, because of one word: commitment.”

On Thursday, Indiana governor Eric Holcomb was in town to headline a Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce event at the Monroe Convention Center.

During the Q&A, Holcomb was asked about a report that was delivered by the governor’s public health commission in August 2022.

“What surprised you from that report?”

The question came from Indiana University president Pam Whitten, who served up topics to Holcomb as the two sat in easy chairs in front of an audience of around 450 people.

Holcomb said he’d wished he’d appointed his special health commission to do its work sooner than he did—namely, before the COVID-19 pandemic. He added the conventional wisdom about hindsight—it’s 20/20.

As for anything unexpected in the report, Holcomb said he was “pleasantly surprised” that the report did more than merely acknowledge that something needs to be done. Continue reading “Holcomb on SB4, a bill to boost local health support: “It gets funded, because of one word: commitment.”” →

Bloomington city council overrides mayoral veto on convention center governance, path forward unclear

Newly elected Bloomington city council president Sue Sgambelluri (Jan. 11, 2023).
From left: Bloomington city councilmembers Matt Flaherty, Kate Rosenbarger, and Susan Sandberg (Jan. 11, 2023).
From left: Bloomington city councilmembers Isabel Piedmont-Smith, Sue Sgambelluri, and Dave Rollo (Jan. 11, 2023).
From left: Bloomington city councilmembers Jim Sims, Ron Smith, and Steve Volan (Jan. 11, 2023).
Monroe County commissioner Julie Thomas (Jan. 11, 2023).
Bloomington deputy mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael (Jan. 11, 2023).

A mayoral veto of a Bloomington city council resolution supporting a capital improvement board (CIB) as the governance method for a convention center expansion, has been overridden by the city council.

It was at 3:15 p.m. Friday, the day before Christmas Eve, when Bloomington mayor John Hamilton issued his veto of the council’s Dec. 14 resolution.

In December the council had approved the resolution by an 8–1 vote, with Kate Rosenbarger as the sole voice of dissent.

At this Wednesday’s city council meeting, the outcome of the vote was the same, satisfying the two-thirds majority required under city code to override the mayor’s veto.

On Wednesday as in December, Rosenbarger’s dissent was not based on any support for Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s preferred convention center expansion governance structure, which is a 501(c)(3). Instead, Rosenbarger is skeptical that a convention center expansion should be built at all.

Continue reading “Bloomington city council overrides mayoral veto on convention center governance, path forward unclear” →

“We’ve gotta get moving on that,” says state rep on convention center project, given threat of tax sunset

The Monroe Convention Center expansion project needs to make some progress, state representative Democrat Rep. Matt Pierce (District 61) said at a Friday luncheon hosted by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce at The Mill.

Looming during this year’s legislative session is a threat to the project’s planned funding source, which is the county’s 1-percent food and beverage tax. The threat cited by Pierce is Senate Bill 37,  which has already been filed by Republican Sen. Mike Gaskill (District 25).

If SB 37 is passed, it would end food and beverage taxes across all counties in the state 20 years from now, on Jan. 1, 2043, or the date on which all bonds or lease agreements that are outstanding on May 7, 2023, are completely paid—whichever is later.

Pierce summed up the stalled effort of Bloomington and Monroe County government to collaborate on the convention center expansion like this: “We gotta get moving on that.”

Pierce was joined at the event by three other area state legislators: Sen. Eric Koch (District 44); Sen. Shelli Yoder (District 40); and Rep. Dave Hall (District 62).

Pierce’s comment on the convention center expansion came in response to a question from chamber CEO and president Eric Spoonmore.

The other three legislators didn’t comment on Spoonmore’s food and beverage tax question. Continue reading ““We’ve gotta get moving on that,” says state rep on convention center project, given threat of tax sunset” →

Ice storm: Bloomington mayor vetoes city council resolution on CIB for convention center expansion

A Bloomington city council resolution in support of a capital improvement board (CIB) as the governance method for a convention center expansion, has been vetoed by mayor John Hamilton.

The announcement of the veto came at 3:15 p.m. Friday, the day before Christmas Eve, when local overnight temperatures had dipped as low as –8 F.

The council had approved the resolution by an 8–1 vote at its Dec. 14 meeting. The sole dissenter was Kate Rosenbarger.

Hamilton’s veto statement recites the reasons that the administration has previously given against the use of a CIB, and for a 501(c)(3). Those reasons include the idea that the only way to make a CIB palatable to the city would also make it too “cumbersome.” Continue reading “Ice storm: Bloomington mayor vetoes city council resolution on CIB for convention center expansion” →

What candidates said in 3 minutes to make their best pitch to Monroe County voters

On Monday evening, several candidates for local and regional office made an appearance at a networking event hosted by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce (GBCC) at The Mill, a co-working space north of city hall.

Each candidate got a chance to deliver a quick three-minute stump speech.

This B Square roundup is limited to candidates in contested, partisan races where both candidates appeared.

That leaves out school board races, which are non-partisan.

But one takeaway from Monday’s event was the position taken by school board candidates on the Monroe County Community School Corporation ballot referendum. Each of the three MCCSC school board candidates who attended Monday’s event expressed strong support for the levy increase that appears on the ballot. The three who spoke were: Daniel O’Neill (District 3); Ashley Pirani (District 3); and Erin Wyatt (District 1).

If it’s passed, the referendum would set the school referendum levy rate at $0.185 for eight years, which would increase the average residential taxes paid to the schools by about 35 percent, according to the ballot question wording. The ballot language says the additional money will support the retention and attraction of teachers and staff and enhance programs in STEM, the arts, and special education.

The last day to register to vote in the Nov. 8 election is Oct. 11.  Early voting for the Nov. 8 election starts on Oct. 12.

In Monroe County, early voting will take place at the election operations building at 3rd and Walnut streets.

The GBCC has set up a website with a roundup of information on candidates.  An additional resource for information about candidates is the The League of Women Voters Vote411 website. Continue reading “What candidates said in 3 minutes to make their best pitch to Monroe County voters” →