Bloomington city leaders are inviting residents to a discussion about the issues surrounding the city’s Community Farmers’ Market.
The Meeting takes place Saturday at City Hall. Director of Public engagement for the city, Mary Catherine Carmichael says, it’s a forum for residents to hear from experts.
“Folks who are watching or who want to weigh in ahead of time and ask questions and get the panels responses to those questions," she says.
The discussion is a reaction to the presence of Sara Dye, co-owner of Schooner Creek Farm, who has been allegedly linked to Nolan Brewer, who plead guilty to vandalizing a synagogue in Carmel last year.
Dye told an alt-right website that she’s an “Identitarian,” which experts say is a movement that says “change of a country through diversity is bad.”
Speakers at the panel event include IU professors of law Jeannine Bell and Steve Sanders as well as Dr. Rashall M. Brackney, the Charlottesville Virginia Chief of Police. Brackney joins the panel via video as part of the Divided Community Project. That project based of Ohio State University is meant to help communities engage in tough conversations about “deep-seated and divisive programs.”
Bloomington officials say they cannot remove Dye from the market because it would violate her constitutional right to free speech.
The panelists meet in council chambers at 2 p.m.
