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Please join us in helping to create a Better Bloomington!
Here’s what you can do today:
- Help spread the word about our campaign, including sharing our website.
- Make sure to vote (early voting Tuesday-Saturday at the Curry Building, 7th and Morton downtown, or click here to find your polling place).
- Consider volunteering or supporting our candidacy financially. We walk door-to-door each Saturday, and we have other opportunities to help with mailings, phone calls,
We can win this, but not without your help!
A Recent Interview with the League of Women Voters
What are your qualifications for the office you are seeking?
Municipal development and planning experience; past director of a Chamber of Commerce; Master’s Degree Candidate in Public Affairs at IU; no conflicts of interest.
How would you define your primary responsibilities as a member of the City Council?
My first responsibility is to represent the citizens and neighborhoods of Bloomington’s west side. My decisions should be informed by what is best for the neighborhoods I represent, and I have an obligation to seek out the opinions and wisdom of my constituents on difficult issues. My second responsibility is to ensure that the decisions made by the City Council are consistent with a vision for our community that is fair, preserves quality of life, and ensures economic opportunity for everyone. Finally, I have an obligation to ensure transparent, effective government without seeking personal gain or benefit.
In light of recent state and federal budget cuts, what should be the city’s priorities for support of social services?
With tighter budgets, we must support those services which have a direct, positive, measurable and lasting impact on people’s lives, and the last two (measurable and lasting) are easily the most important. This includes job training, support for those seeking work (child care, resume development skills, job fairs, etc.) and educational programs while also supporting those who are unable to support themselves through no fault of their own. “Return on investment” is not the only metric for success, but we have to spend the money we do have where it will do the most good.
How should the city develop the 12-acre tract north of the Showers Building?
I agree with the Mayor that the city should not be in the real estate business.
I support development of that space through responsible zoning decisions, not direct city development. This approach raises revenue, ensures perpetual revenue through tax collections, and removes a blight from that area of downtown while ensuring that development is consistent with a master plan for all of downtown while retiring debt and creating a broader tax base. I would personally like to see a mixed-use approach, with a focus on live/work options, and I absolutely support the “certified tech park” that has been discussed.