The Monroe County Council rejected an $11.375 million purchase agreement for the North Park property for the new county jail and justice complex on Tuesday night.
The motion failed in a 6 to 1 vote. Council President Pro Tempore Peter Iversen cast the only vote in favor of the site. The council unanimously approved a motion to deny purchasing the property.
Council President Jennifer Crossley said the council’s views have not changed since the first North Park property vote in October.
“You cannot spell North Park without ‘no,’” Crossley said. “We got to make do with what we have. It is fiscally irresponsible, with a capital I, for me to continue to say, ‘let's say yes to an $11 million purchase agreement’ when we already have things that we could be using right now.”
Crossley suggested the Monroe County Commissioners revisit the Thomson property, which is already owed by the county. Iversen said he supported the purchase agreement because it prevented litigation from the American Civil Liberties Union.
“Voting ‘yes’ moves us affirmatively to a location that allows us to provide constitutional levels of care for inmates and people who are working in the jail,” Iversen said.
The ACLU successfully sued Monroe County over unconstitutional jail conditions in 2008. The ACLU has granted several extensions but said it will not file another.
Nearly three dozen community members spoke during public comment with only two voicing support of the North Park purchase agreement. Others spoke in favor of funding diversion and rehabilitation programs instead of a jail, building on the Thomson site and blaming the Monroe County Commissioners for the urgency to approve a site.
“If this was the best they had to offer, let their next act be to send a message that might get the ACLU to back off,” Monroe County resident and former Bloomington City Councilmember Steve Volan said. “Let them do the honorable thing and resign their seats.”
Before the vote, commissioners and Sheriff Ruben Marté urged the council to approve the agreement.
“We cannot repair that jail, we just can't at the point we’re at right now,” Marté said. “North Park is ready, so I strongly recommend that we move forward at this point.”
Commissioner Jody Madeira said the jail has a 235-person capacity and is currently housing more than 270.
“We've known for years that this jail is unconstitutional,” Madeira said. “We've said so publicly, we've studied it repeatedly. We've agreed on the record that the current facility cannot be repaired as a constitutional jail.”
The commissioners approved the North Park purchase agreement on April 30.
The motion failed to pass the council during its first reading on May 12 because of concerns surrounding access to transit, the courthouse, attorneys and service providers.
On Monday evening, county and city leaders released a joint public statement that read, “Doing nothing is not an option, delay is not neutral, and North Park is the best available path before Monroe County.”
The statement was signed by the Monroe County Commissioners, Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson, Bloomington Common Council President Isak Nti Asare and County Council President Pro Tempore Peter Iverson.
Iversen said the joint statement was an example that the city and county governments can work together to solve this problem.
“I feel like the community is going to come together even more based on tonight’s meeting,” Iversen said. “The next step is, we’re going to see how the courts play out."