Bloomingon residents in the City Hall’s Showers Building passed questions on note cards to Cathy Meyers of the LWV, Kirk White, IU’s assistant vice president for Strategic Partnerships and Charlotte Zietlow of the Bloomington City Council.
The panel compiled the note cards into broad questions for the candidates to answer concisely.
Hamilton, the democratic candidate, focused on bringing “21st-century” jobs and affordable housing into the city while protecting economic diversity in its residents.
“What I hope people will say is that we were able to protect the diversity of Bloomington ... with the challenges we have ahead,” he said. “That no one has been pushed out.”
Turnbull argued his Republican stance would not clash with the city council, leaving him free to focus on Bloomington’s “period of rapid growth” with the construction of I-69 and Bloomington’s physical expansion.
“The look of a place translates into a feel,” Turnbull said. “We need to be firm, concise and involved with growth.”
The candidates agreed the city and county would have to work together to make Bloomington an inviting entramce for travelers, businesses and new jobs.
“We just need to get on the forefront,” Turnbull said. “We need to be in action, and we have to make that transition look just how we want it to look.”
Hamilton and Turnbull agreed that as part of Monroe County, city government has a responsibility to build relationships with its constituents and partners.
“Indiana University is not a bad neighbor, but they’re a benign neighbor — you have to get in there and talk to them about who they’re bringing in, their demographics, how many international students,” Turnbull said. “When you bring in foreign students, it’s a whole new ballgame.”
Turnbull argued that college demographics play a part in the lack of affordable housing, and Bloomington residents can’t be expected to live around IU’s campus.
“I don’t want to live with drunk college students,” Turnbull said. “I don’t want to live where they’re two-to-a-room, coming home drunk.”
In the end, Turnbull said, creating more affordable housing should mean building where there is demand from residents.
Hamilton said inclusionary zoning — building affordability into new projects — should be attainable. None of these measures, however, were applied to the 10 buildings recently constructed downtown.
Hamilton said part of keeping “21st-century jobs” in Bloomington would require the city to take advantage of IU’s informatics and medical schools, as well as job training from Ivy Tech so students would remain in the area.
Turnbull said Ivy Tech in particular would help more residents obtain and retain jobs in Bloomington, as would raising the working wage.
“The constant theme I get from small businesses is that they can’t get a steady supply of workers who are well-trained,” Turnbull said.
Neither candidate had a clear plan for Bloomington’s parking meters. Turnbull, who asked local business owners for their opinions, said he was in favor of regulating traffic downtown but would keep an open ear if the charges began to negatively affect commerce.
Hamilton said he would keep “an open ear and an open mind,” but cautioned that the city needs more transparency about where the money from the meters will go.
Public safety was brought up twice during the forum,with concern directed toward public parks areas.
“I don’t think we have a bad record,” Turnbull said. “I do think it’s tenuous — if there’s ever an excessive force issue, other communities have seen how hard (that) is to handle.”
Turnbull advocated raising police presence on the B-line trail as well as on Kirkwood Avenue, so Bloomington residents could “walk down the street without being harassed by an intoxicated college student.”
Hamilton said the Bloomington Police “white shirt” officers, who interact with homeless people in the downtown and B-line areas, have cut down on jail and hospital time.
He advocated for more specialized groups as well as greater transparency with public safety data.
Turnbull said the November election will offer Bloomington voters a chance to decide “what style of leadership (they) want.”
“I look forward to a good few weeks ahead of us to talk about where the city is going,” Hamilton said.
