City of Bloomington, Indiana City Council, 25 Feb 2021

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From YouTube: Bloomington State Of The City Address, February 25, 2021

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Welcome fellow bloomingtonians, this is john hamilton. Your mayor.

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um Talking to you a little bit about the coronavirus and, what's coming at us,.

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We are in a serious deadly health crisis with a pandemic.

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Thanks to the people who work every day, so the rest of us have the essentials.

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Our first responders who've kept on the job, 24 7, police, fire and dispatch answering every call.

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As your mayor, I express a special thanks to my fellow 700 plus city.

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Workers, all of whom have kept working during these 10 weeks, often in challenging situations.

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Keeping our city going every day: sanitation, workers, animal welfare workers, construction.

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Inspectors, pothole fillers tree removers parks, maintenance, crews, housing inspectors and grant.

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Makers and czech writers and parking officers and water main fixers and managers and accountants.

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And on and on you all have done bloomington proud in your dedication and professionalism.

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Individuals and institutions all across our community are working together to get through.

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Invest another four million dollars for recovery forward to help accelerate community.

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And household recovery and reduce the pain and damage of the pandemic.

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For in the decade of the 2020s, we simply must do the right things. The stakes are very high.

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Investments in climate, racial and economic justice will pay off. They will return benefits.

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Several fold as we revive and reform our bloomington to build the community, we want to be.

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In all of this, we will be affirming the worth of every person, the belonging of every person.

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I believe it is the bold and progressive communities who.

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Will realize the brighter future we want for our next generations.

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That is how we will recover forward and I'm confident bloomington is ready.

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Welcome to the 2021 state of the city for bloomington indiana, I'm mayor john hamilton, I'm.

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So glad you are with us, I'm sequestered in city hall, as you may see in my office, so I'm going to.

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Remove my mask these are different times, we're not in the bus, kirk chumley here in city hall,.

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Unlike usually where we gather together, I do appreciate you all.

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Gathering, as you can remotely, we are broadcasting this on facebook live on cats, on the city's.

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Youtube channel and it will be recorded for all, who want to see that and thank you for.

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Being part of this thanks for that, the state of the city is technically a city council meeting.

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So we will be getting that will begin quite soon, I'll be handing that over.

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It will be convened called to order the roll called, and then there will be an additional video.

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After that, a remembrance video, as we begin this evening, but for now let me just say thank you for.

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Being here being part of this, I look forward to spending the next minutes with you and I'm going.

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To hand it over now to the vice president of the bloomington city council, zeus, gamboluri, who will.

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Gavel this meeting to order, and then I know clerk nicole bolden will take the role and then.

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We'll move on to the video and then I'll be back with you shortly, thanks again for being with us.

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Thank you mayor and, on behalf of my colleagues on city council, welcome everyone. This is a it's.

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Thursday february 25th 2021, this is a special session of the bloomington city council. Our.

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Council president, jim sims is unable to be with us tonight and I am substituting for him and.

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I would like to call this meeting to order clerk bolden. Will you please call the roll.

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Absolute, absolutely, can you hear me? Yes, thank you. Okay, councilman baralo, here colin here, rosenbarker.

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Here, scandalory here, flaherty here, piedmont, smith, here smith, here sandberg here I have sims.

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Mark this absent, and that should be everybody. Thank you. Thank you, madam clerk. With that I'll.

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Just offer a final reminder that our meeting will conclude at the end of tonight's program.

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And with that, I will turn it back to the mayor and the city to begin the program. Thank you. Everyone.

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That was a very powerful reminder for our community of what we've been through.

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This is my sixth state of the city, and it is a distinct privilege to serve as.

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Your mayor, I feel great optimism about the years ahead, but what a year we have just had.

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2020 was extraordinary, challenging and clarifying in our time this evening, I'd like to spend a few.

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Minutes remembering this past most unusual year and also talking about how we are now.

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Recovering and will recover and finally how I believe we can renew our community.

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Where we are headed next, these three things frame our time tonight remember recover and renew.

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With this annual formal gathering held as usual in black history month, we begin by acknowledging.

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The historical experience of black people, whose immeasurable contributions to our country and our.

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Community have been in the face of 400 years of racial discrimination, which demands our current.

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Attention and energy. We also acknowledge at the outset that this land southern indiana was first.

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Called home by indigenous peoples, including the miami, delaware, potawatomi, shawnee and others.

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Also subject to centuries of discrimination and abuse, and to whom we owe ongoing respect and honor.

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Part one remember: let's begin tonight remembering think back just a year ago,.

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Last year's state of the city was february 20th. I did not mention the words coronavirus or coven. I.

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Didn't foresee what was coming? The first reported u.s covet 19 death was just over a week away. Then.

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In the state of washington, let's think back what has happened to your family and you since then.

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To your workplace or your school, your friendships, your daily patterns, your.

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Home and gatherings with others, your plans, your worries, a city, is a great big family, a collection.

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Of thousands of individual family stories that make up bloomington's story.

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Those family stories have often been tragic. 160 monroe, county families lost loved ones.

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Including my own family last april, my wife dawn was hospitalized and very sick with coven. She.

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Was in the bloomington hospital and her brother in another one near indy, when her mother died alone.

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In a third hospital from coven across the country, more than 500 000 families share that burden of.

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Empty chairs, at family gatherings due to copen, broken hearts and, of course, families lose loved.

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Ones, for other reasons as well and our hearts go out to them. It was a hard year for many of us.

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The stories of 2020 have also been inspiring as neighbors help neighbors as health care workers.

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Soldiered on through great risk and exhaustion as essential workers made sure we had milk and.

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Prescriptions and food and electricity and water and transportation and deliveries and public.

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Education and child care and public safety and more we cooperated with and cared for each other.

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We faced national misinformation and denial, but locally work together and put tighter controls in.

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Place to help bloomington be among indiana's strongest communities in dealing with this.

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Deadly enormously disruptive pandemic, we will get out of this terrible hole and likely this year.

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With vaccinations, please get yours when it's your turn, I'm looking forward to mine in mid-march.

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And with continued distancing and masking, let's remember a few shared lessons from 2020.

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We learned that change is possible as a community and as people we really can change.

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And very quickly, sometimes and radically, when we have to.

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Our schools, our workplaces, our families, our recreation and socializing, how dramatically.

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Did we have to change so many of our ways? It's good to know. We have that capacity inside city.

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Government within two weeks last march, we revamped entire departments and work styles.

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From zoom council meetings to drive through farmers market to remote police roll calls.

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I convened two community-wide working groups to support the economic recovery in our safety net.

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And established weekly press conferences with the city, the county and iu, to keep everybody informed.

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We trained tenants to do their own apartment inspections with kits left at their doors.

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We closed kirkwood to cars to allow safer outdoor, dining new, high efficiency, filtration.

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Systems at fire houses provided safer air against the pandemic and, of course, stores.

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Restaurants, retailers performing arts groups and galleries, therapists and exercise classes.

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Schools and pupils and teachers everyone had to adapt so dramatically and so quickly.

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We even had to learn new language, parklets and ppe and pluto zones. Oh my.

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We also learned that one emergency doesn't make others disappear. The pandemic was an unusual.

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Emergency but other emergencies persisted even intensified climate change, marched inexorably.

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On whether we pay attention or not, our climate emergency threatens our lives and our planet.

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Economic hardship and inequality in jobs and in housing were exacerbated by the pandemic.

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People suffered from substance, use disorder and experienced homelessness. Mental health issues rose.

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Racial bigotry and bias took center stage during 2020. Bloomington witnessed our largest.

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Racial awareness and inclusion, demonstrations of a generation or more affirming that black lives.

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Matter, even as the pandemic disproportionately took the lives of people of color, black and latino.

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Americans were hospitalized at twice the rate and died from covet at three times the rate of white.

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Americans we learned that trust is essential. We had to trust science and facts to get through.

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This pandemic, hoping and fantasizing or arguing and pontificating, don't protect us from the virus.

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Nor drinking bleach masking and distancing do testing. Does the vaccine does.

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We learned we need to trust each other to protect each other. Dave chappelle noted that.

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Trust wasn't evident when kovitz started when people bought bullets and hoarded toilet paper.

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It was hard to trust government when the president focused not on science and facts, but on bluster.

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And denial but thankfully we are on steady ground nationally now.

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And locally, we have worked extremely closely together from the start, with real trust.

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And needing all to be involved and included.

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As we were learned in new ways this year,.

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Our health depended on thousands of workers willing to show up.

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And step up our communities very survival depended on essential workers of all kinds.

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Being on the job every day, even at risk to themselves and their families.

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Thousands of students depended on their teachers, learning new skills communities survive with.

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Resilience, cooperation and vision, even when those essential qualities are missing elsewhere. We can.

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Nurture and cherish them here, bloomington was able to do as well as we did thanks to exceptional.

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Teamwork from and with penny caudle in the county, health department, lauren rebel and indiana.

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University brian shockney, in iu health system, with our local public schools and with so many others.

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Local arts organizations faced this crisis that decimated their audiences and threatened their own.

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Survival, our artists so central to bloomington's, identity and so powerful in these troubled times.

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Showed resilience and adaptability and yes, great creativity. Let's take a moment now to appreciate.

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How a couple organizations among the many we so esteem, took their arts into new territory so.

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The show could go on thanks to cardinal stage company first for taking us behind the scenes.

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Of making their walkabout radio plays for folks to enjoy on earbuds while strolling outdoors.

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And then, thanks to the bloomington symphony orchestra for showing us how they spread out.

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And masked up in the bus, kirk chumley theater to celebrate beethoven's birthday in style.

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2020 was tough, our artists made it more bearable. I hope you enjoy the examples.

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We may play those for you later. I understand so look forward to seeing.

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uh We may play those later. I gather there are some technical difficulties so uh look forward.

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To those videos, in short order, we will we will connect those uh at the right time with you.

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uh And you will see cardinal stage and bloomington symphony orchestra.

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As they give examples of the great way the arts helped us get through this.

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For now, let's go to part two recover.

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We are so touched by how many people, including our artists, found ways to cope and create during.

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The last tough tough year, as we remember, let's consider our recovery. Where are we now.

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In early 2021, the short answer is, and it's no surprise, we still face major threats as a.

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Community, the worst pandemic in a hundred years is not over. That is job one to climb out of it.

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And save lives we will, but it will take many more months. Perhaps all year continued strong.

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Cooperation among our health sector players and continued good individual actions, distancing and.

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Masking are essential and we're and will steer us to the calmer waters. Please we have to stay.

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The course, even while relief is in sight in the meantime, our economy is in a serious recession.

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Certain sectors in a depression in the past 12 months, our metropolitan area lost thousands of.

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Jobs at one point, nearly 12 thousand and still many thousands are gone. That's an enormous, ongoing.

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Cost family income lost employers gone or at risk, treasured nonprofits hanging on by fingertips.

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Restaurants and venues and events may go under families, face eviction or foreclosure.

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Our country is down nearly 10 million jobs in the last 12 months. Federal support efforts are finally.

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Ramping up, thank goodness with more sensible, responsible leadership in washington and I'm so.

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Glad city lead city, council and my administration teamed up with recover forward to support job.

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Growth and job training and non-profits who help those in need recover forward, began last summer.

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Dedicating about 8 million to help claw up from this economic calamity, reflecting a.

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Shared commitment of our administration and city council to be a counter-cyclical force providing.

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Vital economic stimulus and support this is how government can indeed help to support and.

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Sustain our local economy and our local people, that's what we did and should continue to do.

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Beyond these front burner efforts on our pandemic and our recession, many other significant projects.

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And efforts are on our plate right now. Here here are five big ones. One many bloomingtonians face.

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Serious housing in security, together in the past five years, we've created or preserved nearly.

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1 400 bedrooms of affordable housing and another 5 000 at market rate.

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Even as we continue this focus, we know many more are needed to address real pressures felt by so.

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Many of our neighbors or future residents and the pandemic only intensifies the need and the risks.

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I greatly appreciate our united way and community foundation stepping up to coordinate a regional.

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Response for our community number two: we have big infrastructure projects underway and in.

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The pipeline, thanks to the bicentennial bonds, we anticipate four major new trails at the seven line.

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At griffey lake at cascades and from switzyard park past rca park, we will open two downtown.

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Garages this year, one replacement and one supporting new jobs in the trades district.

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We're investing nearly 40 million dollars for historic upgrades to our downtown storm.

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Water system, wastewater, plant expansions and water main replacements we're adding.

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Electric buses and improving bus stops and expanding sidewalks and activating downtown.

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Alleys, all of this investment helps our city and supports hundreds of precious local jobs too.

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Number three: we embrace the extraordinary opportunity of a new neighborhood at the.

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City's core with the recently completed hospital, reuse, master plan and years of.

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Collaborative development ahead to create new homes for people from all walks of life.

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As well as great new public spaces and sustainable places for jobs and retail and entertainment.

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Number four: two significant planning efforts will conclude this year with the zoning map.

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And unified development ordinance, as well as our first comprehensive climate action plan,.

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We also look forward to the continuing work of the divided communities projects, racial equity.

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And future of policing task forces. Finally, fifth, we have two significant reviews.

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Underway, what is the future for the convention center and its planned expansion, and what is the.

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Future for the waldron, which the city again owns, that's a big to-do list now remember our plate has.

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Been very full not just last year but for five years and our shared accomplishments are many.

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To borrow from a local songwriter, we can do these hard things, don't be daunted by a big to-do list.

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Remember just a sample of our community's recent accomplishments that have positioned us so well,.

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Opening the jobs-focused trades district with the state's fastest growing co-work space, the mill.

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Opening switch yard park, our biggest parks project in history, helping employers expand.

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Such as catalans tripling to 2200 local jobs and opening later this year, the new.

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Million dollar iu health, regional academic health center, our community's biggest ever single.

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Economic development project, the city bought the current hospital property and completed that.

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Master plan for redevelopment we added those 1400, affordable bedrooms. We enhanced our basic services.

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With a public safety, local income tax, we planted thousands of new trees, we upgraded our city-wide.

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Trail network and dramatically expanded solar energy production. We reimagined and reformed our.

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Sanitation department, our utilities, department and our housing authority, we doubled our investments.

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In basic city infrastructure and completed a comprehensive plan, a transportation plan.

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And a sustainability plan, our parks department won a national gold medal and our city just won.

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Lead for cities, designation, can't help mention the importance of passing a school referendum.

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And a food and beverage tax and oh yes, dealing with a new interstate highway that opened nearby.

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I do not know of any other five-year period in bloomington history with this much major activity.

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We can do we did these hard things.

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And are dealing with a pandemic and a recession too. This is what we do.

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Even when times are hard and when it's easy to get down, city government doesn't stop. We work on.

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I'd like to pause a moment and share some special thanks. First, thanks to all city employees who have.

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Gone above and beyond this past year and these past five years, they are true public servants.

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They are a treasure to our community, all 850 people who work for the city of bloomington and.

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Our affiliated entities so please join. However, you can in a big big thank you to our public servants.

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Thank you. Second, I do want to give a special shout out to two stalwart and stellar city employees.

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Doris sims, who retired last month as director of housing and neighborhood development.

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And mick renison, who is retiring in april as deputy mayor, I cannot imagine the past.

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Five years without their leadership and efforts, so please join me in expressing a big.

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Bloomington, thank you for their combined 78 years of city service. We will review the.

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Recovery and progress and these efforts to support individuals and families in our community and.

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Another time share a brief video tribute to those employees. Who've helped us recover thus far and.

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Are going to keep at it? They show up every day and late and into the night rain or shine snowing.

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Or flooding or steaming good times and bad to make sure our residents are protected and served.

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And also another time we'll have the privilege of hearing a more personal expression.

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Of how important recovery is how what we do as a community can change lives.

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Together, we'll hear from a member of women writing for a change, a program that serves.

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Women in incarceration in our community that will be read by the creative director beth lodge regal.

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So let me thank all of you again for being with us and, and I think you can hear that message at.

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Some time I know you can't hear it right now due to technical difficulties, but thanks as you will.

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Hear from uh women writing for a change from olivia's treasure new leaf new life recovery.

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Both community and individual is critical and it's front burner. It matters to real people.

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Right now right here and we must recover forward. That's renewal, part three renew.

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If 2020 was a low point, we make 2021 a turning point: pivot out of the pandemic and recession.

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In to the future, we want to live in to renew our community, takes vision and grit and cooperation.

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President biden calls it build back better.

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The fundamental question in our renewal is: who do we want to be, as we pivot from the debilitating.

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Deadly start of 2020, how will we act in the rest of this decade? What is the role of a progressive.

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Community, like bloomington in the heartland of america as we navigate the next 10 years.

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I hope we all can agree that when bloomington thrives, our county thrives and our region thrives.

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If bloomington falters or weakens so to our county and region,.

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With bloomington as the economic, social and cultural engine of the region, our renewal, our.

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Future depend on us doing the right things and being the bloomington that we should be.

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Early last year, I highlighted what I see as the two major challenges and opportunities.

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Facing us the issues of the decade, inclusion and sustainability inclusion- does everyone in fact.

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Belong and feel they belong and experience, justice and fairness and opportunity, whatever your income.

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Or skin color, whatever language you speak or god, you worship, whatever your ability or disability.

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Whomever you love whatever your age or gender identity. Does everyone feel a part of.

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Belong to our community and our future, can everyone succeed and thrive here.

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We are politically more liberal, but demographically, less diverse than america.

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We are more educated but poorer.

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Than america, how do we become more diverse, more just and more prosperous for all.

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And sustainability, do we advance climate justice and do our part? Are we helping all our residents.

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Live high quality lives with low carbon impact. We have a higher carbon footprint than the average.

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American community, how do we adequately adequately lean into the climate emergency all around us.

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Now, here's the good news when we make our community more inclusive and more sustainable.

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We are making our quality of life better and better. It's making bloomington reflect.

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Our values, and also helping us just be a great place to live.

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Good things are already underway. Our community has been working on these two issues for years.

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On inclusion, investing in economic recovery with more and better jobs and more housing security.

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Our divided community's racial equity plan and new task forces, anti-racism training and on.

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Sustainability, a climate action plan this spring building on last year's sustainability action plan.

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A green ribbon panel by fall and all the many historic efforts toward a more walkable, greener.

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High quality city as next steps, perhaps we should name some new goals to aim for.

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Like an expanded, more subsidized network of public transportation serving more people.

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More effectively like 300 new, affordable housing units every year, like 500, new good paying jobs.

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Every year, like increasing our diversity and lowering our per capita carbon footprint,.

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We are making progress, but we don't have all the answers to keep advancing on these two big.

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Opportunities of inclusion and sustainability and how to reach the next level to lift up every one.

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Of our people and to help save our fragile planet, I have ideas, and so do you, council,.

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And administration: let's get together city and county and region. Let's get together government.

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And residents in private sector, let's get together, town and gown, let's get together, so our community.

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Can and will rise up to meet these challenges in the coming decade as we pivot out of 2020.

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There are two structural issues that also face us, both basic to bloomington's, long-term future.

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Just over four years ago, in february 2017, we began a long overdue annexation process.

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That orderly public effort was unceremoniously and unconstitutionally interrupted by a radical.

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Overreaching act of our state legislature, the indiana supreme court just recently ruled in.

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Bloomington's favor and said the legislature acted illegally, violating the state constitution.

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We now must choose how to go forward. Strong and healthy cities grow through time. It's natural.

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And it's important for the first 185 years of our history. Our boundaries grew steadily in tempo, with.

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Our population, but since 2004, despite steady population growth, we have been frozen in size.

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A city whose pop whose boundaries don't grow with its population becomes an unhealthy mismatch of.

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Services, planning oversight and political accountability. We are stronger together an.

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Integrated vibrant bloomington can thrive and help all the people of our entire region prosper. We.

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Can sustain and protect that important, healthy regional balance between urban and rural areas.

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I look forward to working with city council and all our partners to chart a path forward in the coming months.

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Second last year, I urged the importance of new revenue to match our community's goals and purpose.

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Meeting great ambitions and putting values into practice requires resources is indiana's.

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Most progressive community generating revenue commensurate with our values and goals. Do we have.

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The resources to invest in putting our values into practice to address inclusion and sustainability.

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We have very low combined local property and income taxes among the lowest of indiana's 30.

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Largest cities, we have a lower income tax rate than three-quarters of indiana's counties and.

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We're lower than all six of our contiguous counties, I believe, as we pivot into 2021, to.

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The future to renewal, we will need thoughtfully to align our ambitions and goals our expectations for.

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Our community and ourselves align them explicitly with our available resources. I look forward to.

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Working again with city and county partners on this issue, and we can hope and urge that congress.

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Will quickly pass pandemic relief packages, including support for local governments like ours,.

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I believe we need big dreams and ambitious goals.

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And we also need to work in the quotidian messiness of improving things day by day.

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And year by year, our vision for the decade and beyond should be audacious and bold. Our approach.

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Must be practical as we work to make actual progress on the ground step by step.

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And as we work to get things done, we need to find the helpers, the positive forces.

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For change the people and institutions who cooperate and roll up their sleeves.

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Negativity and attacks are often easier than positivity and trust our social media, culture and.

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Our finger pointing and what about ism and virtue signaling can sometimes overwhelm the nitty-gritty.

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Day-To-Day hard work of making progress through dialogue and compromise and mutual aid, we.

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Have to find a way to work together on hard things with trust and positive energy to help.

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Each other didn't the pandemic. After all, show us teach us just this that we can work together.

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We can meet extraordinary challenges, one step at a time with trust that we can change quickly.

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With the helpers in the lead, with good will and with reason, with transparency and accountability,.

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The pandemic taught us the stakes of having racial equity in health care, of caring for and respecting.

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All our workers and residents inclusion matters. The pandemic taught us that distant events around.

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The globe or over time can dramatically change things right here in bloomington.

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Whether tiny viruses or molecules of co2 sustainability matters, we learned that we.

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Can do so much together when we set our minds to it to protect and strengthen our beloved community.

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Tonight we remember, we remember loved ones and friends, we lost.

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We remember heroes and doers and helpers. We cherish.

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We recover we recover together out of a pandemic and out of a recession holding hands.

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And connecting hearts pulling out of a dismal hollow onto higher ground, and tonight we renew.

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We renew our vision and our optimism pivoting into what could and should be a grand decade to chart.

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And change our future toward inclusion towards sustainability. We pivot to better times ahead.

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When bloomington thrives our county and our region thrive, we need to lead the way to better times.

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Ahead and I am confident that that is just what we can do- we're going through some very tough times.

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But the state of our city is strong and our future is bright. Remember recover renew.

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Thank you, city council. Thank you all for participating in this event,.

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uh At the conclusion of this event, uh the the meeting will formally end the city council meeting.

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And there may be opportunities for some of these videos. I'm sorry! We've.

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Had some technical difficulties, but the meeting will officially adjourn at this.

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Try conclusion find myself again.

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But life is one big riddle of the future and what's been cause it's the way. It goes.

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And trying to remain strong, I know it's good if I'm on it.

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Remember I was laughing in all the photos that you took.

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But now it looks like acting.

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Like we were fiction in a book cause it's the way it goes, and I will never know why you let me go.

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Look to the left! Look to the right! Nothing to stop me in the night, like I'm, leaving all the bad stuff.

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And trying to remain strong, I know it's good if I'm wrong.

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Look to the left to the right. Nothing can stop me in the night like I am.

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