At the last Bloomington City Council meeting, Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe tried to push the council to keep a $1.1 million increase in the property tax levy as the staff had presented. He called it a good compromise that would still result in a reduced tax rate. The attempt failed. The vote was to keep the levy flat.
Several council members, including Tom Crumpler of Ward 9 on the city's northeast side, said they heard from residents who believe steep water rate increases already are too much of a hit.
“Twenty-five emails, maybe five texts, a couple of phone calls. And not everyone that I communicated with was someone that I talked to, or hear from regularly,” said Crumpler.
He also said the communication came over a period of 10 days, suggesting to him it was not any sort of coordinated campaign, but real grassroots concern.
“Then, after the vote, I got follow-up responses from people who said thank you for voting against it. I think one of the challenges of being on the council is the tension of representing the folks who voted you in, who elected you. And I'm trying to think what's best for the larger community of Bloomington. In this case, for me, the message was clear,” said Crumpler, who pinch hit for Mwilambwe for WGLT’s regular monthly interview with the mayor, who was ailing.
Crumpler said he does not think it will be too difficult to make up for the reduction in planning for next year's budget. Though city costs continue to increase, he said the change should not be a problem.
"We have increased revenue this fiscal year from the cannabis tax. We have increased revenue from the online sales tax. And we have increased revenue from the gaming tax. We also have a healthy reserve and city staff could look at those sources of revenue," said Crumpler.
Coalition building
The vote on the property tax levy was close — 5-4. There have been other close votes recently, making Crumpler a swing vote on the council. He framed the dynamic on the current council as civil.
“Which I think is absolutely important," he said. "We listen to one another. We talk to one another before council meetings. I think it's rare when you're going to get a vote on a potentially sensitive issue, that's nine to zero. But to me it signals there's a lot of conversation, there's some diversity of opinion. And at the end of the day, I think we try to do what's best for the city of Bloomington even if we don't always all agree on what's best.”
He resisted characterizing the splits as philosophical, and said he tries to make decisions that are deliberate and thoughtful.
“I think most people are pretty practical. For example, we just voted to change the language in the HR, broadening it from his/her, which is what the state said about hiring, to, I think we use, the word person. Initially, there were people who said, 'Well, I should vote against this because why should we go against what the state has put out there?' After discussion, I think everyone saw that it was much more practical, you know, to broaden those categories, and ... make it just more diverse and prevent discrimination. So, I think it's practical,” said Crumpler.
Immigration
So far, busloads of migrants shipped to Illinois from the southern border have predominantly gone to Chicago. There are signs that's changing with recent buses sent to Cicero and Rosemont. Another, to Oak Park was turned away. It raises the idea that busloads eventually could show up in Bloomington Normal.
“We are a welcoming community. We have a number of social services, agencies, that are poised to work with people who would come here and perhaps need a place to stay," said Crumpler. "They would need some sort of intervention, perhaps training for work. I think we should try to recognize that as an opportunity, you know, to practice the kinds of philosophical statements we make about welcoming people into this community.”
History shows that immigrants bring expertise and cultural knowledge to the communities in which they live, he added, providing an opportunity for Bloomington-Normal to grow as a diverse community.
“I hope we would find a way to welcome them and make them part of what we do here,” said Crumpler.
The city of Chicago has not been able to handle the influx without a significant amount of state help. It's possible that human and social service agencies in Bloomington-Normal would not be able to handle an influx without municipal government help as well. Crumpler said that would be an important discussion for the council.
“I would certainly want to spend some time talking about not only what was fiscally responsible and how we might best use resources to support new members of our community, if they were bused here or came here. I also would want to think about not just a short-term solution. I don't want to think about throwing money at something without being thoughtful and careful,” said Crumpler.
He acknowledged initially there might be a need for spending on immediate relief, but longer-term programs to integrate migrants could be either city-supported or city-run.
“Absolutely I would want to try to assimilate them into this community," said Crumpler. "This is such an exciting time to be living in Bloomington. There are a lot of opportunities. That might mean working with training programs offered at places like Heartland [Community College], working with social services, if that was required, and really asking ourselves, how can we help these folks, if they want to come here, be successful in our community?”
Homeless
Recently, it came to public attention that there has been yet another tent encampment just off the downtown near Home Sweet Home Mission. An earlier camp was displaced when neighbors talked about it and when the mission talked about it publicly, though porta-potties and trash cans have now been added to the area. Crumpler said longer-term solutions are needed.
“I think we need to remind ourselves that those individuals do have rights. And our Deputy City Manager, Billy Tyus is currently involved with a number of places like Home Sweet Home Mission, and other agencies in the community to try to figure out a way to help these individuals get the medical care and if they need some other mental health intervention,” said Crumpler. “I think the short-term solution is not to push those people out but to try to help them transition into other spaces.”
Lead paint abatement
A City of Bloomington program to give hotel rooms to renters whose apartments undergo lead paint removal is budgeted at just $27,000. Crumpler said it's a start.
"Let's pilot this program. Let's see if it works. Let's see how landlords respond and then we can determine if that is more investment than we need, or if there is something else we ought to be doing but I think this is a community health issue," he said.
Council members have signed off on paying about $109 a night to a local hotel to house people displaced by lead removal work. Temporary housing for people who live in places with lead paint is a federal requirement for other grant funding to improve housing stock.
