A third candidate has entered the race for mayor of the city of Bloomington.
Ward 6 city council member Cody Hendricks made his announcement at the electrical workers union hall [IBEW Local 197] flanked by other unions, council colleague Jenna Kearns [Ward 1], and several Democratic members of the McLean County Board.
“As mayor, I will bring a fresh vision to Bloomington, one that emphasizes tangible results and meaningful progress,” said Hendricks. "I am driven not for a career or for accolades but from a strong desire to help my community, especially my neighbors in the community that are often vulnerable and overlooked.”
In his announcement Hendricks used the terms "next generation" and "energetic." He said that does not necessarily mean he's trying to frame the race as youth versus age and should not devalue wisdom and experience.
"I don't want it to be something that I am pitting one against the other, but what I often hear is that we want the next generation to step up. We want them to take on these leadership roles. We want them to be more active and engaged with the process. I am trying to show that I am ready to do that," said Hendricks.
Hendricks joins incumbent mayor Mboka Mwilambwe and former state Rep. Dan Brady in the race.
All three announced candidates have said they will bring stakeholders to the table for meaningful dialogue. Hendricks said, in his experience on the council so far, he has not seen much of that collaboration — though it has ramped up under new city manager Jeff Jurgens.
"I think we need that from the mayor as well, right? I want to get on the calendar of Rep. [Sharon] Chung monthly. I want to be on the calendar of Sen. [Dave] Koehler monthly. I want to be on the calendar of whoever the mayor of Normal is [Chris Koos] monthly," said Hendricks.
Hendricks has championed the downtown streetscape plan, and emphasizes the need to address the housing shortage issue.
“Housing would be the number one thing I would try to tackle every single day because I think it stems to all of our other issues of economic development and the unhoused and safety,” said Hendricks,who is a teacher at Olympia High School.
![Cody Hendricks signaled support from labor unions by making his mayoral campaign announcement at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers [IBEW] hall on the city's west side.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fc88d0a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4032x3024+0+0/resize/840x630!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa6%2F73%2Ffb9adcc940fb91d745296b35bde3%2Fhendricks-6.jpg)
If elected, Hendricks said he would be the first openly gay mayor of Bloomington. Hendricks said he has worked on more inclusive language for the city's human relations ordinance.
Four years ago, the LGBTQ community turned out in force for a mayoral candidate and demonstrated effectiveness as a bloc and a constituency that needs to be considered in electoral matters.
“My hope is I would have the support of the LGBTQ community, but I’m not going to take it for granted. Just because I am gay does not mean that they’re necessarily going to vote for me,” said Hendricks. “I’m going to have to work as hard for their support and help as anybody else.”
Hendricks said he would work to court other key city constituencies such as business owners, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Realtors’ association. The chamber did not support him for council.
“However, I have supported many of their initiatives," said Hendricks. "As always, I am seeking their support. The Realtors as well. I want to be out there on the housing issue as strongly as humanly possible in my capacity as mayor, if elected. And I’ve attended many of their presentations on the missing middle. Those are issues that I fully support.”
He said there are many policy tools he finds attractive to address the housing shortage.
“I think that waiving possible fees for hooking up to sewer lines is something we could do. Think we need to review the zoning code, not that we’re going to change everything,” said Hendricks. “What I really like out of communities like South Bend, Indiana is they developed housing designs that were already vetted, already ready. All you had to do was take the design and build it.”
He held off endorsing other tools to address the financial barriers to the creation of new residential structures such as loan interest rate buydowns through a state and city partnership, or loan guarantees for private developers.
“I am open to the possibility of it. I want to make sure where are the taxpayers on the hook for those sorts of things,” said Hendricks, who previously served on the Pekin City Council.
On Monday, the council will likely take up a measure to create a downtown Tax Increment Financing District, or TIF, that divert property tax money from the increase in value of land in the zone to fuel further development, potentially preventing school districts, the major users of property tax revenue, from taking part in community growth.
Hendricks said he wants to hold District 87 schools harmless from a TIF, even perhaps including the district in the revenue stream from the TIF.
“I believe that is what they are working towards,” said Hendricks. “That is a process the city is working out. Currently, we are waiting for some additional information to come back.”
Hendricks also held off full support for city involvement in permanent supportive housing to address the rising number of unhoused people in the community.
“The stance from the city and the pulse I get from the council is that as a city entity that’s not something we get into,” said Hendricks.
He said the city is supportive of non-profit service organizations’ efforts to gain funding for such housing, though that complex process has not yet come to fruition.
“I like that our city manager has been working to bring the groups together to talk about the grant funds, the opportunities, and where are the properties. Are there city properties where this could be something that could be possible. Exploring all those options, I think that’s the role we have taken as a city, If we want to go a different route and take a more hands on approach, that that is a service we want to provide, I think that’s going to have to come from the community,” said Hendricks.
