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From YouTube: Annexation Interview with John Fernandez
Description
Bloomington's borders have expanded through hundreds of annexations since its founding in 1818.
In this conversation, John Fernandez offers perspective on current efforts to right-size the city from his experience as Bloomington's mayor from 1996-2003.
A
I'm
gonna
add
a
little
a
little
of
your
bona
fides
here,
you're,
currently
the
global
chief
innovation
officer
for
the
dental
law,
firm
in
washington,
d.c
and
obviously
you
served
as
president
barack
obama's
assistant
secretary
of
commerce
for
economic
development.
That's
a
mouthful.
Did
I
get
that
right.
A
Let's
begin
with
your
time
as
bloomington's
mayor
again
that
was
96
to
2003
and,
of
course,
bloomington
had
already
experienced
hundreds
of
annexations
before
your
time
since
its
founding
in
1818,
you
oversaw
several
annexations
during
your
two
administrations.
Maybe
you
can
describe
those
efforts
and
why
you
undertook
them.
Why
were
they
necessary
yeah?
How
did
they
benefit
bloomington.
B
So
in
the
context
of
the
two-mile
fringe,
there
was
always
some
tension.
So
we
worked
with
the
the
county
commissioners
to
draw
what
we
believe
to
be
reasonable
areas
intended
for
annexation,
areas
that
were
within
that
two-mile
fringe,
but
we
thought
reasonably
would
evolve
into
the
nets
edges
of
bloomington's
boundaries
because
of
the
proximity
because
of
the
just.
B
You
know
the
potential
for
development,
whereas
some
of
those
areas
in
the
two-mile
french,
you
know
were
far
enough
out
that
were
just
incredibly
hilly
or
other
kinds
of
of
geographically
challenged
places
where
you
clearly
weren't
going
to
be
able
to
run
like
wastewater
or
water
lines.
So
we
created
this
agreement
to
guide
our
planning
to
glide
guide
our
growth
that
we
all
agree
to
and
that's
important
for
a
lot
of
reasons.
One
is
predictability
for
a
municipality
in
terms
of
planning
and
budgeting.
B
It's
predictability
for
the
business
community
for
other
kinds
of
you
know,
residents
who
know
that
this
is
the
plan
and
it
just
makes
a
lot
of
sense
now.
Our
plan,
though,
was
really
based
heavily
on
the
updated
growth
policies,
plans
which
really
emphasized
compact
urban
form.
We
were
trying
to
fight
sprawl,
and
so
we
came
up
with
a
plan
that
would
encourage
people
to
move
into
the
city.
B
If
you
were
in
the
zones
outside
of
the
afa,
then
it
became
much
more
complicated
and
that's
part
of
that.
That's
where
the
waivers
for
annexation
came
in
the
infrastructure
plan
that
included
the
extension
of
utilities,
which
included
the
waivers
to
remonstrate.
That
was
that
was
a
deal
that
was
like
a
contract.
We
have
that's
what
I
find
so
frustrating
about
the
intervention
of
the
indiana.
You
know
legislature
and
some
of
the
you
know,
officials
and
others
who
now
feel
like
those
agreements
have
no
value.
B
There
were
contracts
that
were
part
in
the
context
I
was
trying
to
provide,
shows
how
all
this
was
part
of
a
larger
agreement.
It
was
a
common
vision
that
people
bought
into
that.
We
would
grow
this
way
and
it
gave
that
kind
of
predictability
that
could
help
us
with
economic
development
activity
to
attract
more.
You
know,
investment
and
economic
opportunities
for
our
people,
but
was
part
of
a
plan
and
two
so
given.
A
B
B
Just
time
go
by
where
nothing
happened
and
the
the
afa
was
not
reinstated.
You
know,
and
then
nothing
happened
on
an
annotation
front.
So
more
time
passes
between
when
people
made
these
agreements,
you
know
not
to
remonstrate.
In
some
cases
you
have
maybe
the
second
generation
of
owners
of
the
properties
and
they're
like
well.
I
don't
remember
that
and
and
it
just
those
delays
have
caused.
Obviously,
a
massive
amount
of
problems.
A
So,
john,
let's
go
back
to
that
time,
96
to
2003.
It
was
really
a
very
transitional
period
for
blooming
tonight.
I
very
well-
I
came
here
during
that
time
and
there
was
this
huge
shift
from
the
heavy
manufacturing
to
more
of
the
high-tech
and
life
sciences
stuff
that
that
really
distinguishes
us
and
our
economy
now.
So
why
do
you?
You
played
an
important
role
in
that
in
launching
the
the
bloomington
life
sciences,
partnership
with
partners,
so
why?
A
B
Well,
a
couple
things
one:
it
was
a
a
big
transition.
You
know
not
just
a
thompson
rca,
but
with
westinghouse
abb,
I
mean
people,
you
know
it's
amazing
how
many
jobs
we
used
to
have
that
provided,
really
solid
middle
class
upper
middle
class.
You
know
wages,
those
are
all
gone
and
we
have
to
be
focused
on
how
do
we,
you
know,
create
replacement?
How
do
we
go
forward
in
a
way
that
creates
opportunity
and
I
think
part
of
the
challenge
we
have
in
bloomington
and
annotations
part
of
the
solution
here?
B
If
you
will
is
scale,
we
talked
about
a
lot
of
the
21st
century
kind
of
knowledge
base
industries,
some
of
the
more
technology
driven
jobs,
investments,
research,
development.
You
know
these
are
all
kinds
of
the
innovation
economy
and
jobs
and
employers
that
are
really
going
to
fuel
the
future,
and
that
really
means
creating
quality
job
opportunities.
Career
opportunities
for
people
and
you've
got
to
have
scale.
B
You
know
downtown
with
all
the
amenities
and
great
restaurants,
and
you
know
et
cetera,
et
cetera,
but
on
the
other
hand
we
don't
want
the
scale.
We
want
the
economic
opportunities
we
want
to
attract.
You
know
great
high-paying
jobs,
but
you
know
we
don't
want
to
have
scale,
and
I
think
that
you
know
fundamentally,
that
is
a
an
identity
crisis
that
holds
the
community
from
going
back.
B
B
You
know
business
development
opportunities,
economic
development
activities.
You
know
you
think
about.
You
know
some
of
the
kinds
of
higher
density
employment
centers
that
could
be
really
meaningful,
but
you
got
to
have
scale
and
so
having
some
of
these
additional
areas
that
are
functionally.
You
know,
part
of
the
city
become
part
of
the
city.
That's
going
to
give
us
more
population
that
population
is
going
to
create.
More
of
a
sense
of
this
is
a
good
place
to
be
a
safe
place
to
be.
B
If
I'm
thinking
about
relocating
or
bringing
a
business
here
that
I'm
going
to
have
the
depth
of
talent,
I
need
to
be
able
to
successfully
grow
my
business
and
that's
you
know,
I
think
that's
been
a
real
challenge
for
bloomington.
Is
that
we're
just
small-
and
you
know
we're
probably
bigger
than
we
seem,
but
by
having
these
areas
that
should
be
in
the
city
outside
the
city?
It
just
you
know,
hold
this
bag
from.
B
Unfortunately,
I
think
there's
more
stories
on
the
cautionary
tales
of
what
can
go
wrong
than
you
know.
Success
now
you
know
I
grew
up
in
kokomo
indiana
and
you
know
they
did
annexation
and-
and
we
lived
in
in
the
effectively
the
two
mile
fringe
we
wanted
to
be
in
the
city
and
a
big
part
of
that
was
we
wanted
to
be
able
to
vote.
B
I
mean
you
know,
I
mean
we're
a
quarter
mile
away
from
the
boundary
everything
that
the
city
did
from
a
governance
perspective
affected
our
lives.
We
worked
in
the
city
went
to
school
in
the
city,
all
of
the
commercial
activity
was
in
the
city
and
we
had
zero
voice,
so
we
always
wanted
that
and
frankly,
we
wanted
to
be
on
the
utilities,
because,
where,
where
I
grew
up,
we
were
on
you
know
septic.
B
I
know
that
sounds
harsh,
but
it's
true
and
and
then
you
know
being
able
to
vote
and
have
a
say
in
what's
going
on
in
our
community,
but
that's
all
about
being
part
of
a
community,
but
but
in
these
areas
adjacent
to
the
city
that
were
developed
intentionally
as
more
urbanized
areas,
it
totally
makes
sense
to
bring
them
formally
into
the
city.
Make
them
part
of
our
community
enable
them
to
be
part
of
the
community
in
its
fullest.
It's
done
and
contribute.
B
You
know
not
just
economically,
but
in
terms
of
the
you
know,
civic
leadership
and
everything
else
that
we
need
from
our
citizens,
and
so
I
think
that
you
know
when
we
come
back
to
these
areas
intended
for
annexation.
I
think
every
one
of
the
properties
that
some
current
polls
were,
I
think,
every
one
of
those
were
in
the
areas
intended
for
annexation.
B
This
is
just
dusting
off
an
old
plan
that
was
really
well
constructed,
based
on
a
number
of
factors,
including
sound
environmental
planning,
working
on
the
concept
of
smart
growth,
creating
these
kinds
of
communities
where
it
would
make
sense,
for
you
just
be
able
to
have
efficient
services,
but
be
part
of
something
as
a
citizen
as
part
of
a
community,
these
weren't
random
acts
of
annexation.
These
were
all
part
of
a
well
designed,
comprehensive
plan
built
together
with
the
city,
its
citizens
and
the
county
and
county
government.
B
What's
happened,
though,
is
that,
with
this
long
delay
of
action
around
the
area's
intent
of
pronunciation,
we
now
are
in
this
place
where,
instead
of
having
the
you
know
incremental,
you
know
annexations
that
happen
as
developments
would
occur,
which
was
the
normal
way
things
would
happen.
You
know
the
hamilton
administration
is
stuck
with
having
to
try
and
catch
up
for
a
lot
of
years
of
inactivity
and
that's
made
it
a
much
bigger
challenge.