Click the video to watch the latest episode of Chamber Insider Update. I want to talk with you about a very important issue in our community: housing. This is something that affects each of us and our organizations in a variety of ways. I hope you can give my message your attention for just a few moments.
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NOTE: This article that features an event co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, was published on January 22, 2024 in the Herald-Times. The League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County has invited state legislators representing any parts of Monroe, Brown, and Johnson counties to provide the public with an online legislative update.
The event, co-sponsored by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, the League of Women Voters of Brown County, and the League of Women Voters of Johnson County, will be 9:30-11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, on Zoom. State legislators will report on their work and priorities for the current session of the Indiana General Assembly. They will first give brief updates on the workings of the Indiana legislative session to date and will then take questions from attendees. To sign up for the Zoom meeting, go to https://lwv-bmc.org/legis-updates. This is the first of three planned legislative updates sponsored by the Leagues and the Chamber on Zoom. Subsequent updates are set for Feb. 17 and March 2. All legislative updates are free and open to the public. Community Access Television Services through the Monroe County Public Library has been invited to record the events, with the video available on the CATS website shortly after each update. The work of the Indiana General Assembly can be followed on its website, http://iga.in.gov, which provides a wealth of information and offers the possibility to track the progress of individual bills. NOTE: This interview with the Director of Advocacy & Public Policy, Christopher Emge, was originally aired by The 812 podcast, hosted by Steve Volan, a daily show about the basic workings of city government in Bloomington, Indiana on Thursday, January 18th, 2024.
NOTE: This article that features The Chamber's event, Legislative Preview, was published on January 17, 2024 in the Herald-Times by Laura Lane. Photos are provided by Herald-Times. At the helm of a city with an unhoused population mired in mental health and substance abuse issues, Kerry Thomson asked a panel of state lawmakers last week what they will do about the statewide crisis.
“It cannot be addressed just at the local level,” the Bloomington mayor's written query stated. There was discussion of the challenges, but no answers offered when Thomson suggested the state lead the way toward healthcare and recovery instead of the criminal justice system for vulnerable people not receiving care. Last year, state lawmakers passed bills to boost funding for mental health services across the state. One increases funding to local mental health centers and another directs $100 million to mental health services. NOTE: This article that features The Chamber's event, Legislative Preview, was published on January 12, 2024 in the B Square Bulletin by Dave Askins. Photos are provided by B Square Bulletin. More than 100 people were assembled at The Mill at midday on Friday for the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce Legislative Preview. This year’s session of the Indiana legislature started on Jan. 8 and will wrap up by mid-March. Friday’s crowd got to hear four Indiana state legislators answer a question posed by Bloomington’s new mayor Kerry Thomson—about mental health. Thomson’s question, which she had written out on one of the cards distributed for that purpose, was read aloud by the Bloomington Chamber’s CEO, Eric Spoonmore: The state is experiencing a mental health and substance use crisis. This cannot be addressed simply at the local level. What can be done about it at the state level, to ensure health care before criminal justice? Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Eric Spoonmore spoke today in favor of the Monroe County Commissioners’ historic vote to establish a Capital Improvement Board (CIB) to facilitate and manage the long-awaited Monroe Convention Center expansion project. “The Chamber is 100% in support of forming the Capital Improvement Board,” Spoonmore said prior to the vote. “We thank the county commissioners for their leadership. This CIB is a momentous step toward achieving substantive progress on this important project in our community,” he continued. The newly formed CIB will be composed of seven appointed members. Two appointments will be made by the mayor of Bloomington, two appointments will be made by the county commissioners, one appointment will be made by the county council, and one appointment will be made by the Bloomington city council. Those six appointees will vote to select the seventh member of the CIB. Capital board as governance for Monroe Convention Center expansion to be on July 5 county agenda7/5/2023 NOTE: This article that features The Chamber's President & CEO, Eric Spoonmore, was published on June 28, 2023 in the B Square Bulletin by Dave Askins. Photos are provided by B Square Bulletin. The long-planned expansion of the Monroe Convention Center, which has been stalled since March 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, could take a small step forward next week. At their regular meeting next Wednesday (July 5), Monroe County commissioners are likely to consider and approve an ordinance that will establish a seven-member capital improvement board (CIB) to provide the governance structure for the expansion. [2023-06-28 draft ordinance] Expectations about next week’s action are based on the discussion at a Wednesday work session, which was held by commissioners following their regular meeting. The previous night, at a county council work session, attended by commissioner Penny Githens, the council passed a motion made by councilor Geoff McKim, which supported the path that the commissioners are now taking. NOTE: This interview with the Director of Advocacy & Public Policy, Christopher Emge was originally aired by Bloomington's Voice Glass in the Afternoon on Monday, June 5th, 2023.
NOTE: This article that highlights The Chamber's Elect Connect: Mayoral Forum on Business event was published on April 11, 2023 in the B Square Bulletin by Dave Askins. Photos are provided by B Square Bulletin. At a forum for mayoral candidates hosted on Monday night by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, not a lot of new, additional daylight emerged between the three candidates as far as their known policy positions.
But a sharp difference in perspective emerged in response to a couple of the questions—one involving public safety and another involving the working relationship between city and county governments. Moderating the forum was Paul Helmke, who was a three-term mayor of Fort Wayne, and is a professor of practice at Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. NOTE: This article with featuring Government Relations Manager, Jim Shelton, was originally published on March 6, 2023 in the Indiana Daily Student by Marissa Meador. Amid continued opposition from members of the public, the Community Justice Response Committee for Monroe County met again on Monday to move forward with plans for a new county jail. The committee was initially formed in May 2021 to review reports that described poor conditions in the jail and currently meets two times per month.
Built in 1986, the jail was described as having “far exceeded its structural and functional life cycle” in one of the consultant reports. Since then, there has been little movement on the push for a new jail, with the previous plan of building a jail in the southwest corner of the city failing to receive approval from the Bloomington City Council. A key player in the opposition movement is local advocacy group Care Not Cages, which hosted a block party in front of the courthouse in advance of the meeting. The event recognized this week as the Week Against Mass Incarceration and hosted Jauston Huerta, the director of Forever On Course United in Solidarity Initiatives, as a speaker. FOCUS Initiatives is an Indiana-based organization that aims to help people transition out of prison life and re-enter society. |
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