The Bloomington Press Club hosted a mayoral forum at the IMU Wednesday.
(Joe Hren, WFIU/WTIU News)
Bloomington mayoral candidates expressed similar priorities at a public forum Wednesday but differed on a few key issues.
The mayoral hopefuls — Don Griffin, Susan Sandberg and Kerry Thomson — met at the Indiana Memorial Union building to discuss their platforms at an event hosted by the Bloomington Press Club.
All three agreed, for example, on the need more affordable housing in city limits and on collaboration between city and county officials. Where their opinions notably diverged was on the topic of annexation.
Griffin and Thomson said annexation is necessary but disagreed on strategy. Thomson argued more than once that solutions should be found with people, not imposed on them.
“This is a massive land grab,” Thomson said. “And it is not clear that the city can provide the necessary services in the proposed annexation area. We need to have this community conversation, and we need a clear strategic plan in how we’re going to provide city services to the people who will become city residents.”
Griffin, on the other hand, said such plans are already in place. He was adamant that annexation would continue if he were elected.
“There had to be plans in place to even show that we could do it and that the city was capable,” Griffin said. “That threshold has been passed already.”
Sandberg called the annexation process divisive and expensive. She said Mayor John Hamilton’s approach marked the start of relationship breakdowns between the city and county.
“This has been a long and painful process, and it actually began at the very start of this current administration,” Sandberg said. “When many of us were questioning, ‘Well, why are we doing this? Why did we do this as such a surprise to our county colleagues?’ The answer I got back was ‘Well, if they knew in advance (that) we were going to do it, they’d try to stop us.’”
Sandberg, an at-large member of Bloomington City Council, was one of three council members to vote against the mayor’s annexation proposal. She said she did so because it sought to do too much all at once, did not involve county officials enough and is causing affordability issues for county residents.
“This is why you vet things with your county colleagues before you roll out some great big plan that’s going to be met with such resistance and such ill will,” Sandberg said. “We are still paying the price for that.”
Annexation has been a controversial topic since a proposal was first put forward in 2017 by Hamilton, under whom Griffin served as deputy mayor. The issue was brought before the Indiana Supreme Court after state lawmakers unsuccessfully sought to block the city’s efforts.
The city has held multiple public input meetings and has received pushback. Most recently, a judge denied remonstrators’ request for more time to collect signatures against annexation.
All three candidates agreed that the community should be more involved in future discussions.
In their closing thoughts, the candidates touched on political divisiveness and their desire for more civil discourse.
Sandberg spoke against putting labels on others when discussing policy issues.
“Even in my disagreements with people, I always make a brave attempt to not try to impugn someone else’s motives or get engaged with name-calling, she said. “This is not helpful, and I know this — and so, I try very hard to keep to the issues and stick to why I support something or why I oppose something without it becoming personal.”
Both Sandberg and Thomson said local discourse has reflected worsening political divisions on a national scale.
“We are seeing that at all levels of our city government,” Thomson said. “The mayor sets the tone. The mayor leads the values of the city. I think our city values are that we really care about one another. I think our city values diverse opinions and diverse people. I think our city values welcoming all; not only to live here, but to be part of belonging to Bloomington.”
She added that public engagement would be at the forefront of her administration if elected.
“It is critical that we listen to understand and then we discern before we put a proposal out,” she said. “To have a major proposal put out like annexation as a surprise because we think that people will oppose it … it’s not the Bloomington that I thought I was belonging to.”
To that point, Griffin reiterated his campaign slogan: “Believe in Bloomington” — specifically, a Bloomington for all.
“I think we can become this iconic community that welcomes all; that is multi-generational; is a community where it doesn’t matter if you’re poor or if you’re rich,” Griffin said. “We want the message that says, ‘Come to Bloomington and you can be better. Come to Bloomington and your next chapter is going to be spectacular.’”
