The mayor says with the outcome of this year's general election, local governments has never been more relevant. After an economic forecast, Thomson says annexation and lack of housing are blocking economic growth.
In this week’s installment of Ask The Mayor, Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson addresses these issues and more at City Hall. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU. Here are some highlights.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: What it was like as the Democratic mayor in a red state, watching returns come in and seeing red? What was your reaction?
Thomson: I think after we get done being mournful about the significant loss, our work is really the same as it would be, just in a different framework. We are here to love our people in Bloomington and provide for them. What this means to us is that local politics has never been more relevant, and the way that we serve the people of Bloomington is that we serve you and protect you like you're our family, and we'll continue to do that.
I am focused on what we can do for the people of Bloomington, but I'm also focused on the areas that we can align with the new administration and getting to work on leveraging the assets that we do have and the alignments that we do have. We were having meetings with Braun's staff when he was on the Hill. So we have existing relationships there, and they're concerned about many of the same things that we're concerned with.
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Hren: What do you think the Democratic Party needs to do in Indiana?
Thomson: I think that we need to really be Big Tent people - welcome people in the Democratic Party. It's not meant to be a close insiders group. Through my campaign and through my election, I have really been working to get people involved in in the city and and throughout our community, in whatever that way they want to be, because we need people to offer their best gifts to our community and so throughout the state. I think that's true for the Democratic Party, and I think we need to work together.
There's no need for Democrats to be criticizing one another. We need to look for our next great leadership, elevate them, not criticize them, and make sure they have the tools that they need to succeed in the next election.
Hren: I see you're hosting some public forums. There's one on annexation which has been halted by the courts and remonstrators. I know we still have awhile for the appeals process to play out, but do you feel like the city can still make some progress with annexation with these public forums?
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Thomson: It's important that I articulate that I'm not hoping to have any kind of legal discussions in these forums, but I think what hasn't been done in the past, is what I am hoping to do, which is listen to people. And so I really want people to come who have questions about annexation, about why perhaps I'm for annexation, and I've become a pretty avid proponent of it, but I also really love to allay any fears I can, and to listen to what people need in order to really feel welcomed into the city.
Hren: We had a question come in from Dave Askins from B Square Bulletin after an article I wrote about annexation after our last show a month ago, because he went through the process of obtaining all of the evidence from the courts and public records, and said it took him five months to get anything from the city. Why would it take so long if you promise accessible open government?
Thomson: We would love to be able to respond same day. Frankly, the records requests that are coming in are very detailed and very broad, and when that happens, our legal team has to go through literally tens of thousands of emails to ensure that we're not releasing anything that divulges personal information.
Likewise, with the annexation documents, there was a request for the complete transcription. And in order to do that, some things did need to be redacted. They hadn't even been transcribed yet. And so that that one in particular took an awfully long time. My best advice is ask us exactly for what you need, instead of a broad, you know, I'm hoping to catch something about this.
Hren: The IU Kelley School of Business is predicting national and statewide economic growth, yet Bloomington will lag behind in 2025. The state grew about 7.8%, Bloomington 1.7% since 2018. Bloomington has IU, a big health, medical market. Are there just too many eggs in one basket, or what does Bloomington need to keep pace with the state?
Thomson: I'll go right back to the conversation we were just having. It's been proven time and again that cities that lack elasticity are going to shrink instead of grow, both in population and economically. And so we have ostensibly been landlocked now for 20 years and without any growth, we likely are going to be pushing a boulder up a mountain to get population growth, but also to get economic growth. That is why annexation is so important.
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It's important not just for the city. It's important for the whole region, because in fact, this economic and population decline affects the county and in places like Bloomington, where you have really an economic hub that affects an entire region. If you want more people here, you have to have places for them to live. And while the city has a number of new housing units on docket, we really are not seeing new subdivisions come up in the county outside of Ellettsville. Ellettsville is doing a great job. They also are annexing and and providing services outside of where the Ellettsville limits were.
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I think a key part of that is actually something that we're celebrating this week, Innovation Week which kicked off at The Mill yesterday, and is continuing throughout the week. The 2030 plan is really targeted at commercializing some of the research that's happening at the university. And of course, that relationship with Crane is critically important.
Hren: I've been following the HT reporting of you and city council at odds over a failed mayoral appointment to the city historic preservation commission and the candidate, according to the article, felt unwelcome, declined the spot. City council members are saying the matter has been blown out of proportion. They just need more time and information on the candidate. What's your take on what happened?
Thomson: I think whenever we can have these conversations in public, what is the forum allows for that, and so allowing these questions to come out in public and ask for qualifications, this particular appointment is my appointment, the mayoral appointment that is to be confirmed by city council. They receive that information in a packet ahead of time. There's time to answer questions, but I think those questions can be provided in a public format. And unfortunately, there were conversations that happened, evidently, behind the scenes. And nobody made a motion to bring that forward.
So I don't think it's a major conflict. I am just really committed to leading with the principle of transparency, and that includes including the public. And if I don't know the answer to a question that's asked during a meeting, I'm happy to say I don't know, and I can get back to you, but the public deserves to hear those questions and to participate in that way. That's why the confirmations happen in a public forum.
Hren: When does the road construction end downtown?
Thomson: My apologies to the city that this road construction has really coincided with some significant tourist weekends, and I'll just say also you're welcome. It's a $2.5 million dollar investment in making our downtown roads really work well and to bring those sidewalk ramps up to ADA standards. So this was ARPA funding, which means we have to expend it by the end of the year. We did everything in our power to get it done when our population was decreased during the summer, and unfortunately, concrete is really hard to come by, and all of the contractors that work with it are also on really tight schedules.
