Tag: Monroe County convention center

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” →

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” →

Column | Piecing social fabric back together as pandemic wanes: Quilts at convention center

Friday morning sometime after 9 a.m., I’m heading to Monroe County’s convention center at 3rd and College to check out the quilts. They’re displayed as part of the “Quilts from the Heartland” show hosted by the Bloomington Quilters Guild.

The show runs two days, Friday and Saturday.

In my pocket I’ll have the $7 admission, plus my proof of COVID-19 vaccination, and a cloth fabric mask.  I picked up the mask from the Bloomington Mask Drive a year and a half ago, when the pandemic started.

The requirement that a mask be worn inside the convention center is a county health regulation. The proof of vaccination is a quilters guild choice.

It’s worth remembering the connection between the quilters guild and the mask drive. It was guild members who stitched together many of the masks for the drive. The total number of masks produced so far is over 70,000.

Just as guild members helped us get through those early months of the pandemic by stitching together face masks, they’re helping Bloomington’s in-person social scene bounce back with their “Quilts from the Heartland” show over the next two days. Continue reading “Column | Piecing social fabric back together as pandemic wanes: Quilts at convention center” →

Column | Register for April 29 Red Cross blood drive, a great way to do a good turn

Please consider registering for the April 29 blood drive that will be held at the Monroe County Convention Center.

That hyperlink should take you directly to the Red Cross website where you can register.

Running a public service announcement like this means driving a little outside of The Square Beacon’s normal lane.

But Monroe County’s emergency manager Allison Moore said at Friday’s weekly press conference that she is worried about the April 29 date.

Moore said that for the first time since the pandemic-response blood drives started, one of the dates that’s been scheduled for the convention center location might not get every appointment slot filled.

So I figured it was worth amplifying that message: Please consider registering for the April 29 blood drive. Continue reading “Column | Register for April 29 Red Cross blood drive, a great way to do a good turn” →