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Bloomington mayoral candidates diverge on labor issues

By Lucas Gonzalez

Posted April 25, 2023

(From left) Bloomington mayoral candidates Don Griffin Jr., Kerry Thomson and Susan Sandberg at an April 24 labor forum. (Lucas Gonzalez, WFIU/WTIU News)

The three Democratic candidates for Bloomington mayor have different strategies for addressing city employees’ concerns. 

Don Griffin, Susan Sandberg and Kerry Thomson clashed Monday at a forum on labor hosted by the city’s police, firefighter and AFSCME unions. 

Questions focused on topics such as retention, contracts and wages, staffing, morale and employee engagement. 

Read more: Mayoral candidates talk collaboration in local government at televised debate 

The candidates diverged strongly on a question about first responders’ slow response times due to staffing shortages. Griffin, the former deputy mayor, said the city is doing the best it can right now. His opponents quipped back. 

Sandberg, a long-time city council member, praised first responders but said slower response times are inevitable due to low staffing and burnout. 

“If we want to do a better job and be more responsive and keep the ratings that we're all so proud of, we're not going to keep them very long, because this is not sustainable,” Sandberg said. 

Read more: Mayoral candidates disclose donors 

Thomson gave an even more critical response. She dug into the mayor’s office and city council for approving budgets when the city hasn’t had an audit since 2020. 

“This administration has bragged about nearly doubling the budget just in this administration's time, yet we hear that our public safety workers are underpaid,” Thomson said. “How is it that we can hold both of these truths?” 

In a rebuttal, Griffin called into question Thomson’s expertise on city budgeting. 

Read more: Monroe County seeing slight uptick in early voting this year 

“You need to know what you’re talking about,” Griffin said. “We had one in 2020, just like I said before. We don’t … the council, neither the mayor’s office is going to pass a budget that is not appropriate.” 

In responding to Griffin, Thomson said she managed multi-million-dollar budgets for years as CEO of Monroe County Habitat for Humanity.

Primary Election Day is on Tuesday, May 2.

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