Tag: Kerry Thomson

City council declares Bloomington a ‘safe haven’ for gender-affirming healthcare

Bloomington city councilmembers from left to right: Matt Flaherty, Sydney Zulich, Dave Rollo, Andy Ruff, Isabel Piedmont-Smith, Hopi Stosberg, Courtney Daily. (June 12, 2024)
Bloomington city council meeting. (June 12, 2024)
Bloomington city councilmember Dave Rollo (June 12, 2024)
Bloomington city councilmember Andy Ruff (June 12, 2024)
Bloomington city councilmember Courtney Daily (June 12, 2024)
From left Bloomington city councilmembers Matt Flaherty, Sydney Zulich, and Dave Rollo. (June 12, 2024)
Bloomington city clerk Nicole Bolden (June 12, 2024)
Nordia McNish (June 12, 2024)
Sam Ujdak (June 12, 2024)
Bloomington-Monroe County Human rights commissioner Ryne Shadday. (June 12, 2024)
Monroe County councilor and deputy city clerk Jennifer Crossley (June 12, 2024)

Bloomington’s city council has declared the municipality a “safe haven” for gender-affirming healthcare.

The 8–0 vote on the resolution came at the council’s regular meeting on Wednesday night. The tally did not come to 9, because Isak Asare was absent.

The resolution will need Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s signature to count as enacted, but had mayoral support ahead of the council’s vote, in the form of a letter from Thomson.

The unanimous vote among those present was a bit unexpected, given a memo submitted by councilmembers Dave Rollo and Andy Ruff on Tuesday as an information packet addendum.  In the memo, the two indicated their intent to abstain on the vote, citing a need for more clarity on the question of gender-affirming healthcare for minors.

Gender-affirming healthcare includes medical treatments, like hormone therapy and surgical procedures, as well as mental health support, and social services to help people align their physical appearance with their gender identity​.

The memo from Rollo and Ruff concludes: “It is a serious matter, however, to support a policy that may be harming, not helping children.”

In city council chambers, after the roll call vote, the several dozen supporters of the resolution gave the unanimous vote sustained applause. Continue reading “City council declares Bloomington a ‘safe haven’ for gender-affirming healthcare” →

Bloomington city council adopts letter to capital improvement board on convention center project

Bloomington city councilmember Matt Flaherty (June 5, 2024)
Bloomington city councilmember Kate Rosenbarger (June 5, 2024)
Bloomington city councilmember Hopi Stosberg (June 5, 2024)
Bloomington city councilmember Sydney Zulich (June 5, 2024)
CIB treasurer Eric Spoonmore and CIB president John Whikehart. (April 10, 2024)

On a unanimous vote taken Wednesday night, Bloomington’s city council adopted a letter to  the Monroe County capital improvement board (CIB) about its views on 21 different specific topics related to the renovation and expansion project for the Monroe Convention Center.

The topics range from use of on-site fossil fuels, to inclusion of space dedicated to monthly or biweekly youth and/or senior activities, to the portion of the food and beverage tax that should be spent on the expansion project.

The CIB is the seven-member group that is overseeing the renovation and expansion project for the Monroe Convention Center under the terms of an interlocal agreement that was signed by four parties in city and county government. Signatories were: the mayor and the city council for Bloomington; and the county commissioners and the county council for Monroe County government.

The 1-percent countywide food and beverage tax was passed in 2017 for the purpose of expanding the current convention center, which stands at the southwest corner of 3rd Street and College Avenue. Continue reading “Bloomington city council adopts letter to capital improvement board on convention center project” →

Column: Besides loyalty, what budget outcomes does Bloomington’s city council want to buy?

On Wednesday, Bloomington’s city council is holding a work session to talk about budget priorities for 2025.

Here’s something to watch for: Will the city council start to apply the principles of outcomes-based budgeting to its own part of the budget?

Specifically, will Bloomington’s city council start asking: What outcomes are we buying with investments in our three full-time staff, and how are we measuring those outcomes?

Outcomes-based budgeting focuses on getting specific results and impacts, in contrast to more typical budgeting for governmental units, which allocates funds based on historical spending patterns and departmental needs. Continue reading “Column: Besides loyalty, what budget outcomes does Bloomington’s city council want to buy?” →

Bloomington budget notebook: Outcome-based budgeting, city council salaries

Next Wednesday (May 29), Bloomington’s city council will hold a work session to discuss budget priorities for 2025.

Possibly part of the conversation will be the concept of outcomes-based budgeting, which is a notion that was given some discussion at an April 24 budget work session.

Outcomes-based budgeting focuses on getting specific results and impacts, in contrast to more typical budgeting for governmental units, which allocates funds based on historical spending patterns and departmental needs.

Outcomes-based budgeting is also the topic of a resolution that will likely appear again on the city council’s agenda for June 5, after councilmembers ran out of time to consider it on May 15. Continue reading “Bloomington budget notebook: Outcome-based budgeting, city council salaries” →

150-bed hotel deal moves ahead in Bloomington’s Trades District with OK from redevelopment group

From left: Bloomington RDC members John West, Deb Hutton, Deborah Myerson, and Sue Sgambelluri. Randy Cassady participated via the Zoom video conferencing platform. John Fernandez, vice president of The Mill, is seated to Sgambelluri’s left. (May 20, 2024)
At the table are IU Alluinn’s Charles Whittaker and The Mill’s John Fernandez. Seated in the audience is Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson. Behind Thomson is Bloomington’s director of economic and sustainable development, Jane Kupersmith. (May 20, 2024)

Sometime in the second half of 2026, a new 150-room upscale hotel could be open for guests in Bloomington’s Trades District north of 10th Street, just across from the parking garage.

That’s if all goes according to the plan laid out in a letter of intent (LOI) signed by Alluinn IU Trades District Hotel and Pure Development. The idea is for Alluinn/Pure to construct the hotel, at a cost of $35 million, on land to be purchased for $1.2 million from the city of Bloomington, through its redevelopment commission (RDC).

Approval of the LOI came at Monday’s regular meeting of Bloomington’s RDC on a unanimous vote. RDC member Sue Sgambelluri voted “an enthusiastic yes” and RDC president Deb Hutton gave it “a definite yes.”

Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson was on hand to lend her support from the audience. About the proposal, Thomson said, “I think it brings a unique anchor to the Trades District.”

Thomson continued, “My vision of a fully active B-Line corridor that goes from Trades all the way down to Hopewell, that’s alive at every hour of the day.” Thomson added that she thinks the hotel will “magnetize” the Trade District. Continue reading “150-bed hotel deal moves ahead in Bloomington’s Trades District with OK from redevelopment group” →

Convention center notebook: Bloomington releases past appraisal figures for north property

Responding to an informal request from the B Square, the city of Bloomington has released the dollar figures for the appraisals of real estate north of the Monroe Convention Center.

In 2019, two parts of the block forming the southwest corner of 4th Street and College Avenue had two separate owners.

The bigger parcel, which includes the office building, was owned by RBOWA, LLC, with connections to the Bunger & Robertson law firm, before it was purchased that year by Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC) for $4,995,000.

Four years later, in 2023, Bloomington’s RDC purchased the other part of the block, a portion of the parking lot, from Thomas Sicks and Nancy Held, for $1.9 million.

Based on the figures released by the city of Bloomington on Friday, Bloomington’s RDC paid $255,000 less than the average of two appraisals for the bigger parcel, and $565,000 more than the average of two appraisals for the smaller parcel.

Here’s how the two appraisals stack up against the purchase prices:

Office building and portion of parking (Bunger & Robertson)
First Appraisal Mordoh & Associates Average Purchase Price
$5,500,000 $5,000,000 $5,250,000 $4,995,000
Corner of parking lot (Thomas Sicks and Nancy Held)
First Appraisal Mordoh & Associates Average Purchase Price
$1,270,000 $1,400,000 $1,335,000 $1,900,000

First Appraisal and Mordoh & Associates are firms that do real estate appraisals.

Continue reading “Convention center notebook: Bloomington releases past appraisal figures for north property” →

No north option for convention center expansion: CIB won’t negotiate with Bloomington for land

The Monroe County capital improvement board (CIB) will not be negotiating with the city of Bloomington on the acquisition of land north of the existing convention center for a planned expansion project.

That was the point of an email message sent on Monday (May 13, 2024) to Bloomington corporation council Margie Rice from Jim Whitlatch, who is the CIB’s legal counsel.

Here’s the key sentence from Monday’s email message: “This email is intended to let you know that the CIB is not entering into negotiations for the acquisition of the North property.”

The north property, at 4th Street and College Avenue, which is now owned by Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC), is the former site of the Bunger & Robertson law firm.

A May 6, 2024 letter from Rice to Whitlatch had made clear the expectation that the city of Bloomington would seek reimbursement for the property, if the CIB wanted to use it for the expansion project. Continue reading “No north option for convention center expansion: CIB won’t negotiate with Bloomington for land” →

New legislative coordinator position in Bloomington mayor’s office among others OK’d by city council

Bloomington city council (May 8, 2024)
Sharr Pechac, city of Bloomington director of human resources (May 8, 2024)

At its Wednesday meeting, Bloomington’s city council created three new positions in the office of the mayor and eliminated three existing jobs.

Created through an amendment of this year’s salary ordinance were positions with the following titles: special assistant to the mayor, executive office manager, and legislative coordinator.

Eliminated were three existing positions: director of innovation, chief of staff, and administrative coordinator.

The count of positions in the mayor’s office stayed the same, but still worked out to an overall savings of about $26,000 per year, because two of the three positions have a lower salary grade classification than the existing jobs.

The council also approved a change in the salary grade for the existing sidewalk coordinator in the public works department, which means around $3,900 more for the position.

The reason for the change in the sidewalk position was, according to human resources director Sharr Pechac, “to better reflect the importance of this position to the city and to better align with other similar positions within public works.”

The council also approved the creation of a new position in public works called the facility asset and operations coordinator, to administer the asset management software system and the proper assignment of work orders. The total fiscal impact (benefits and salary) is expected to be about $81,144. Continue reading “New legislative coordinator position in Bloomington mayor’s office among others OK’d by city council” →

Friday: Final day of Bloomington annexation trial

Eric Reedy’s binder with the annexation fiscal plan. (May 1, 2024)
Map of annexation areas. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1_7o1q_H6CpeK-1gdEzDTxnPk84RZQ_E&usp=sharing

The trial on the merits of Bloomington’s plan to annex two territories on the west and southwest sides of the city has completed its fourth day. Friday is the final day left on the trial calendar.

It now looks like the trial will be over by the end of the day on Friday.

The proceeding is a judicial review, which was forced by remonstrators, when they achieved the threshold of at least 51 percent of landowner signatures in Area 1A and Area 1B, but fell short of the 65 percent that would have stopped Bloomington’s annexation outright.

By the end of the day on Tuesday, when the pace of testimony from the city’s witnesses appeared to be slower than expected, judge Nathan Nikirk raised the specter of a Saturday session. Continue reading “Friday: Final day of Bloomington annexation trial” →

Bloomington council overrides mayor’s veto of resolution on Gaza by same 9–0 vote as before

Bloomington city council (May 1, 2024)
Bloomington city council meeting. (May 1, 2024)
Bloomington city council meeting. (May 1, 2024)
Bloomington city council meeting. (May 1, 2024)
Bloomington city councilmember Dave Rollo. (May 1, 2024)
Bloomington council president Isabel Piedmont-Smith. (May 1, 2024)
Bloomington councilmember Isak Asare. (May 1, 2024)
Bloomington city council meeting. (May 1, 2024)
Bloomington city council meeting. (May 1, 2024)
Nejla Routsong speaks from the public mic, thanking the eight councilmembers who signed an open letter to IU president Pamela Whitten, calling for a reversal of the Dunn Meadow policy and the bans from campus for those who were arrested. . (May 1, 2024)

At its regular Wednesday meeting, Bloomington’s city council voted 9–0 to override mayor Kerry Thomson’s veto of a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza so that humanitarian aid can be delivered.

The 9–0 tally satisfied the two-thirds majority on the nine-member council that is required to override a mayoral veto.

Council chambers were packed on Wednesday night with a crowd who were there to support the override of the veto.

Many of that crowd also appeared to be in attendance in order to support speakers at the public mic who denounced the actions to taken by Indiana University president Pamela Whitten on April 25  and April 27,  when she called in state riot police on Dunn Meadow protesters and made a total of 55 arrests over two days.

Council president Isabel Piedmont-Smith led off the meeting reading aloud an open letter to Whitten, signed by eight of nine councilmembers. The letter demanded among other things that the university rescind its quickly enacted new policy, that prohibits tents during the daytime in connection with Dunn Meadow protests. Continue reading “Bloomington council overrides mayor’s veto of resolution on Gaza by same 9–0 vote as before” →