Bloomington city councilmember Isabel Piedmont-Smith took to Substack to oppose a county commissioner request for the city to act quickly on their proposal to use the Hopewell property as a site for a new jail and justice building.
County commissioners Jody Madeira and Julie Thomas presented such a plan (north of First Street and west of Rogers Street) at a city council meeting last week.
Piedmont-Smith wrote in her response she was surprised by the request and the suggestion that the city forego the traditional rezoning process to prevent further delays.
“The option was discussed at a City Council work session on Aug. 11, 2023, but no formal request was made,” she wrote.
Piedmont-Smith said she was publicizing her response because the county’s request also had been made in public, though she also sent it to commissioners via email.
The commissioners' request comes after a subcommittee tasked with recommending a new jail site recommended renovating the current jail with an expansion into the Curry and Fiscus buildings.
County commissioners declined a formal role on the subcommittee.
Piedmont-Smith stressed in her response the Hopewell property is needed to make way for more affordable housing in the city; she cited the location proposed by the commissioners takes up space where part of a low-income housing development currently sits.
“I see no reason to now abandon almost all of the planned housing in Hopewell West due to a request from the County Commissioners who, after all the City’s planning and infrastructure investment, now want to put a jail on the site,” she wrote in her response to commissioners.
With the information she has, Piedmont-Smith said the former Thomson property, a site previously slated for a juvenile justice facility, makes the most sense to her.
“If we think about all the time that has been spent on other sites and the wrangling back and forth, in that time there could have already been construction on the Thomson site,” she said.
Piedmont-Smith said she is unsure about a path forward without the commissioners’ participation in public conversations about selecting a new jail site.
“I am frustrated and saddened by this process,” she said. “I’m saddened that my elected county commissioners have not been transparent and collaborative in their approach, and timely in their approach, to addressing the jail problem.”
She also advocated that county and city officials prioritize prevention over incarceration. Her examples include mental health services and investment in housing and addiction treatment.
“I really don’t want that to be lost,” she said. “You know, even if we build a new jail finally, what we really need is to prevent more people from going into jail in the first place.”
Piedmont-Smith said she does not plan to address the commissioners’ request at a future city council meeting.
