Mayoral veto looks likely for Bloomington city council advocacy resolutions, including any on Gaza, as anti-pipeline measure passes with 4 abstentions

Bloomington city councilmembers from near to far: Matt Flaherty, Sydney Zulich, Dave Rollo, Andy Ruff, Isabel Piedmont-Smith, Hopi Stosberg, Isak Asare, and Courtney Daily. Kate Rosenbarger attended via Zoom. (March 27, 2024)

Councilmember Hopi Stosberg. (March 27, 2024)

Councilmember Isabel Piedmont-Smith. (March 27, 2024)

Councilmember Andy Ruff. (March 27, 2024)

Councilmember Matt Flaherty. (March 27, 2024)

Councilmember Isak Asare. (March 27, 2024)

Councilmember Dave Rollo. (March 27, 2024)

Councilmembers applaud Bloomington city clerk Nicole Bolden’s achievement of the status of master municipal clerk. (March 27, 2024)

An additional Bloomington police officer was assigned to city council chambers. (March 27, 2024)

Many in the audience held signs that read: “Cease Fire Now”. (March 27, 2024)

Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson. (March 27, 2024)

Bloomington city council meeting audience. (March 27, 2024).

Bloomington city council meeting. (March 27, 2024)

On Wednesday night, Bloomington’s city council just barely passed a resolution opposing the construction of a pipeline in north central Indiana for the diversion of water from the Wabash River.

The resolution, which had been put forward by Andy Ruff, got support from just five councilmembers, which is a majority on the nine-member body. Voting for it were: Ruff, Dave Rollo, Isabel Piedmont- Smith, Hopi Stosberg and Courtney Daily.

Abstaining on the vote were: Matt Flaherty, Sydney Zulich, Isak Asare, and Kate Rosenbarger.

The resolution passed with some amendments, including one that added a request that the General Assembly establish a comprehensive water management plan.

The council had discussed the resolution opposing the LEAP pipeline at its March 6 meeting, but postponed it until this week.

Before the council voted, Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson gave a clear indication she would not be signing the resolution, or any similar resolutions in the future.

Addressing the council, Thomson put it like this: “While it is your prerogative to pass resolutions that express viewpoints on matters that we do not oversee, as a matter of principle, I will not be signing any resolutions that do not directly impact the business of our city.”

Continue reading “Mayoral veto looks likely for Bloomington city council advocacy resolutions, including any on Gaza, as anti-pipeline measure passes with 4 abstentions” →

Bethel AME church now historic district, more Bloomington sites key to Black history could be next

Aerial image of Bloomington’s Bethel AME church looking east, from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s online property lookup system.

HPC member Elizabeth Mitchell (Aug. 11, 2022).

Bloomington’s Bethel AME church looking east (Aug. 11, 2022).

Image of Mattie Jacobs Fuller included in the Bloomington city council information packet for Aug. 17, 2022.

On a unanimous vote by Bloomington’s city council on Wednesday, the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal church was designated as a historic district.

The 1922 church, which sits on the northeast corner of 7th and Rogers streets on the western edge of downtown, was designed in the classical revival Tudor style by John Nichols.

But the church qualifies for historical designation based on more than just its architectural significance. It also qualifies under criteria that include the cultural and historical significance of a site.

During public comment time, Elizabeth Mitchell told the city council, “This is just the beginning for me—a personal journey to make sure that we don’t forget African American sites. This is just one of them.”

Mitchell introduced herself as a historian for Monroe County on African American experience. She also serves on the city’s historic preservation commission. Continue reading “Bethel AME church now historic district, more Bloomington sites key to Black history could be next” →

Bloomington’s Bethel African Methodist Episcopal church set to get historic district OK from city council

Bloomington’s Bethel AME church looking east (Aug. 11, 2022).

Bloomington’s Bethel AME church looking northeast (Aug. 11, 2022)

From left: Councilmembers Susan Sandberg, Jim Sims, Dave Rollo, and Ron Smith. (Aug. 11, 2022)

Councilmember Jim Sims (Aug. 11, 2022).

Bethel AME congregation member Nancy Cross-Harris (Aug. 11, 2022).

HPC member Elizabeth Mitchell (Aug. 11, 2022).

Aerial image of Bloomington’s Bethel AME church looking east, from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s online property lookup system.

Bloomington’s Bethel AME church, which sits on the northeast corner of 7th and Rogers streets on the western edge of downtown, is set to receive historic designation from the city council at its meeting next Wednesday (Aug. 17).

The parsonage, which sits to the north of the church, will also receive a vote on its historic designation.

This Wednesday, four members of the city council got a preview of the agenda item at a scheduled committee-of-the-whole meeting. The meeting turned out to be just a gathering, not an official meeting, because a quorum of five was not achieved. Continue reading “Bloomington’s Bethel African Methodist Episcopal church set to get historic district OK from city council” →

Analysis: Possible historic designation of building a chance to reckon with Bloomington’s racism

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On the Bloomington city council’s Wednesday agenda for a first reading is an ordinance that would establish a new single-property historic district for the building at 424 1/2 S. Walnut Street.

Consideration of the ordinance could be a chance for the city council and the community to review an episode from Bloomington’s restaurant industry in 1950, which was described this way in a World-Telephone article: “Downtown Bloomington restaurants, closed this week in protest of a campaign to force them to serve Negroes, are to be reopened for business beginning on Thursday of this week, serving customers of all colors.”

The building at 424 1/2 S. Walnut is probably best known for the most recent business that was housed there, which was The Player’s Pub.

Part of the argument for the property’s historic designation is the building’s connection to Henry Boxman, who operated the place as Boxman’s Restaurant” for nearly three decades, from 1929 to 1958.

One of the possible criteria that can qualify a building for historic designation is its association “with a person who played a significant role in local, state, or national history.”

Boxman is described in the report prepared by Conor Herterich, the city’s historic preservation program manager, as “one of Bloomington’s greatest restaurateurs,” who helped found the Indiana Restaurant Association and re-established the Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, among other achievements.

Not a part of the report prepared by Herterich is an analysis of where, if anywhere, Boxman’s Restaurant might have fit into the segregationist history of Bloomington’s downtown restaurant scene of the 1950s.

Continue reading “Analysis: Possible historic designation of building a chance to reckon with Bloomington’s racism” →