Tag: Penny Githens

2024 Election Notebook: Deckard announces re-election bid, other county seats open

Appearing for part of the program at Friday’s Canopy of Lights in downtown Bloomington were three local elected officials—Bloomington mayor John Hamilton, and Monroe County commissioners Penny Githens and Julie Thomas.

Trent Deckard, with his family (Kyla Cox Deckard, Lucy, and Madeline) streams live on Facebook the announcement that he is seeking re-election to an at-large seat on the Monroe County council. (Nov. 24, 2023)

So the executives in city and county government were represented on stage.

Off stage, holding up the county’s fiscal end of things, were county councilors Jennifer Crossley, Kate Wiltz, and Trent Deckard.

And at the state level, District 61 house representative Dave Hall held the banner for the General Assembly.

That’s probably not an exhaustive list.

All of the elected officials spotted at the event by the B Square were Democrats, except for Hall, who is a Republican.

The partisan presence at Friday’s event was a good reminder that the local 2024 election season is underway, and has been since the summer. Continue reading “2024 Election Notebook: Deckard announces re-election bid, other county seats open” →

Revolting Children, Santa, other usual suspects: 2023 Canopy of Lights in downtown Bloomington

Canopy of Lights 2023, Bloomington, Indiana
Canopy of Lights 2023, Bloomington, Indiana
Canopy of Lights 2023, Bloomington, Indiana
Canopy of Lights 2023, Bloomington, Indiana
Canopy of Lights 2023, Bloomington, Indiana

On Friday night, downtown Bloomington was lit up brighter than Rudolph’s nose on Christmas Eve, and the square was packed with people, spilling onto Kirkwood Avenue, which was shut down for the occasion.

It was the traditional day-after-Thanksgiving extravaganza to flip the switch on the strands of lights that connect the courthouse building to buildings around the square—The Canopy of Lights.

Taking the edge of the 36 F degree temperatures were costumed characters, and live radio broadcasts courtesy of B97 & Hoosier Country 105, served up with hot chocolate, cookies, and kettle corn. Continue reading “Revolting Children, Santa, other usual suspects: 2023 Canopy of Lights in downtown Bloomington” →

Clash over role of future Monroe County jail transition director, possible post-holiday resolution

At their regular Wednesday morning meeting, Monroe County commissioners approved two additional studies of the Thomson PUD property, which is currently being considered as a potential new jail site.

A Phase 2 environmental study, as well as a wetlands delineation, are both to be done by VET Environmental Engineering, for a total of about $20,000.

Even if commissioners have stressed that no decision on a future new jail site has been made, those two studies mark a bit of progress towards the eventual construction of a new jail to replace the facility at 7th Street and College Avenue.  The current jail has been analyzed by a consultant as failing to provide constitutional levels of care.

Not getting any airtime at the commissioners meeting on Wednesday was significant discord that has emerged between the sheriff’s office and the commissioners—about filling a position to direct the transition to a new jail facility.

But that discord looks like it could be on a schedule for some kind of resolution, starting with a joint meeting of the county commissioners and the county council on Monday, Nov. 27.

At the county council’s Tuesday night meeting, council president Kate Wiltz  looked to the end of the month as a timeframe for resolving the sore points.

As a chance to work through some concerns and possibly get a transition director’s contract approved, Wiltz pointed to already scheduled meetings on three successive days—Nov. 27 (joint), Nov. 28 (county council), and Nov. 29 (county commissioners).

The new controversy was aired out at the county council’s regular meeting, which took place on Tuesday night. Continue reading “Clash over role of future Monroe County jail transition director, possible post-holiday resolution” →

Licensing for building trades pitched to Monroe County by plumbers and steamfitters union

John Bates, business manager of the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 136 of the United Association.
From left: Monroe County commissioners Lee Jones and Penny Githens. Julie Thomas joined the meeting on Zoom.
From left: Penny Githens, Seth Carnes, and Cory Ray.

Monroe County has a licensing and registration board that is responsible for testing, registration and licensing of electrical contractors doing work in the county.

And the state of Indiana has a plumbing commission that administers a plumber’s license.

But those two professional trades don’t come close to covering the full range of work that is done in the construction industry.

At their Wednesday work session, Monroe County commissioners heard a pitch for enacting the kind of comprehensive licensing program for building trades that is used by Evansville and Vanderburgh County.

Giving the pitch was John Bates, who is the business manager for UA Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 136,  which has locations in Evansville, as well as a training facility in Bloomington, on Bloomfield Road.

Bates stressed how that licensing program covers all aspects of construction work. He put it like this: “Anything that you pick up a tool to do work for in Vanderburgh County is under that licensing.” Continue reading “Licensing for building trades pitched to Monroe County by plumbers and steamfitters union” →

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” →

Update from sheriff’s office: Jail numbers stable

Monroe County chief deputy sheriff Phil Parker (June 14, 2023)
Moroe County commissioners Lee Jones (left) and Penny Githens. Commissioner Julie Thomas joined the meeting on the Zoom video conferencing platform (June 14, 2023)

After a contentious first three months of the year, relations between county commissioners and new sheriff Ruben Marté’s office have settled into a routine update from the chief deputy sheriff at county commissioner meetings.

At the start of Wednesday’s county commissioner meeting, chief deputy sheriff Phil Parker offered an update on the current status of the county jail facility.

Parker began this Wednesday’s update by highlighting the jail population, which currently stands at 192 inmates, as of June 13. Continue reading “Update from sheriff’s office: Jail numbers stable” →

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” →

Monroe County jail notebook: Commissioners, sheriff looking to work together on mental health program

Monroe County chief deputy sheriff Phil Parker (April 26, 2023).
Monroe County commissioners from left: Lee Jones, Penny Githens, and Julie Thomas (April 26, 2023).

The Monroe County sheriff’s office and the county commissioners are hoping that Monroe County’s jail can be included in the expansion of a pilot program that started in five other Indiana counties last year.

The IRACS (Integrated Reentry and Correctional Support) program is designed to give one-on-one support to inmates with mental health and substance use disorders, as soon as they are incarcerated.  The goal is to divert them from the system into treatment. Continue reading “Monroe County jail notebook: Commissioners, sheriff looking to work together on mental health program” →

Formation of criminal justice fiscal advisory committee mulled by Monroe County council

As soon as two weeks from now, on May 9, the Monroe County council could be taking a vote on the formation of a new criminal justice fiscal advisory committee.

CATS screen grab of the Monroe County council’s April 25 work session.

The committee’s exact name, mission, membership, and scope have not been finalized.

But at a Tuesday work session, county council president Kate Wiltz announced the intent to form the committee, saying that she wants it to be ”transparent and inclusive in its activities.”

The creation of the new county council committee comes after county commissioners last week suspended meetings of the full community justice response committee (CJRC). Continue reading “Formation of criminal justice fiscal advisory committee mulled by Monroe County council” →