The Bloomington City Council's Ward 1 is one of two wards to have contested races in the April 1 municipal election.
The ward runs through the central part of the city, east and west. It includes both Miller Park and Mercer Avenue. There’s residential. There’s business. Both candidates say Ward 1 captures the true culture of Bloomington.
The incumbent is Jenna Kearns. She's had the post a couple years now. Kearns’ day job is with a foundation. She runs a statewide AmeriCorps program that helps people who are trying to navigate the legal system with civil issues. She trains volunteers, usually students, looking to go to law school, to help people.
Kearns said she wants to hear from people with a variety of lived experiences. In that way, she said she is liberal and inclusive. Regarding taxpayer dollars and taxes, it’s another matter.
“When I'm thinking about how we manage money, I just don't know how you get around not being at least moderate in the way that you think of how we use the money appropriately for the right things, for the things that we know people want and to not be wasteful," said Kearns, who grew up in Bloomington and attended District 87 schools.
Her opponent grew up in Pekin and went to a private Christian School. Ben Zimmerman worked for years in IT at State Farm before the insurance giant outsourced him. He now manages the Apple-Mac unit at State Farm, employed by a consulting firm.
“I guess you could say moderate conservative would be the way that I would say that I lean. But on the same token, I'm very open-minded. I'm a common sense kind of guy, and just in the middle on a lot of the topics,” said Zimmerman.
Zimmerman and Kearns both said roads and water are the top issues they're hearing about from voters as they walk their precincts.
“They say, 'Hey, we've lived here on Mercer and we don't have sidewalks. It's … we moved here because we're close to Jewel Osco, and we want to be able to walk there, but there's no sidewalks to walk there, that type of thing. I'm hearing that there are streets with ... no sidewalks, no street lights,” said Zimmerman.
Housing incentives
The two candidates prioritize different issues.
For Kearns, the housing shortage is why she asked for a council seat in the first place. Coming to the council soon is a proposal to waive fees for developers. City staff had pitched several possible levels of waiver, 50%-75%-100%. Kearns said she'll support waiving all city fees for projects the city decides are crucial.
She said higher incentives can translate to additional points on a developer's loan application and can bring in grant funding and state tax credits for affordable housing projects.
“That's not money that we're missing out on anyway, it's like, but for these projects, we wouldn't be collecting these fees, and if it means that we can attract some affordable housing developments, to me that sounds like a win,” said Kearns, adding stable housing is an important building block for someone to be a successful community member.
Zimmerman said he could support a middle ground waiver of half the city fees to stimulate new housing construction, noting his top priority is to hear constituent voices and to make sure the council reflects those opinions.
“I was hearing that my constituents felt that they weren't being heard. They were submitting emails and phone calls to their alderperson that we have now, and they weren't being responded to,” said Zimmerman.
Kearns said she gets into the details of issues before the council, asks the right questions, and counters that she is very responsive to voters. She said a recent example is Meadowbrook subdivision water and road replacement that is affecting access to homes.
“I've been able to communicate with them and talk to the city, and then on top of that, that's contracted out with the third party. So then, there's more moving parts. I think people have really appreciated being able to feel like they're being heard and being responded to,” said Kearns.
Eastland Mall
Kearns said the city’s role is to apply pressure to Eastland Mall's owner as it did in the case of the Front N Center building downtown, but also to encourage development and find ways to make that area useful again.
"I would love to see like a food hall. You know, some of these with an activity, where we can bring people together, where it's a space that people can hang out, get some food, do an activity. There, that third space where people can can build community. If housing makes sense, I would love to see that,” said Kearns.
Zimmerman said there’s not a lot the city can do to force action by a private owner.
“We need to encourage people to come in and bring new business to town,” said Zimmerman. “I do think if it's not going to be such a valuable spot commercially, that it could be repurposed for some type of affordable housing solution.”
He also noted there are dilapidated properties [not Eastland Mall] the city could attend to, such as the former Long John Silver’s and the shuttered Kentucky Friend Chicken buildings in town.
“If you look around at the other abandoned properties in town, I think that we could reclaim some of those abandoned properties and resell some of that land for pennies on the dollar to developers, to encourage them to come in and redevelop that space,” said Zimmerman.
Property taxes
For the last two years, the city council has passed a flat property tax levy even as costs have risen sharply. That has reduced property tax rates, and even prompted a plan to reduce the size of the city workforce over three years by attrition.
Kearns said that strategy has reached its limit.
“To be perfectly honest, I don't think it's sustainable. I think we're going to have to think more long term, because, you know, we have to make sure that we can maintain our level of services,” she said.
Zimmerman effectively said that limit on spending is not enough.
“Our budget this year is over $320 million; it keeps going up and up and up in an unsustainable way,” he said.
School referendum
As you might expect from this issue, Zimmerman and Kearns also differed on the county-wide referendum over a sales tax to support school facilities, mental health services, and school resource officers. Kearns said she trusts in the community leaders like former District 87 superintendent Barry Reilly who advocate for the referendum.
“I come from District 87 and so I know that you can get a great education and go on to do great things and build up your community. And so I think if we have smart, well-educated students, we're going to have to have a smart, well-educated workforce and a strong economy and a strong community,” said Kearns.
Zimmerman said he does not support the sales tax referendum, arguments that promise property tax relief in exchange for that new revenue source, or that a portion of sales tax money comes from people who live outside the county.
“My opinion is that people are taxed enough currently, and that we need to find better ways to spend the money that we are already collecting,” he said.
Public safety
After making sure he hears the voices of voters, Zimmerman said his next priority is ensuring public safety.
“Making sure that we're taking care of the policemen, making sure that the police staffing numbers are appropriate for the growing city size, making sure that they are getting the time off they need, that they are getting the mental and emotional support that they need,” said Zimmerman.
Kearns said she, too, is committed to adequate funding of police and fire pensions. Both candidates said they embrace the nonpartisan qualities of the city council. Based on groups Zimmerman embraces, Kearns said she's not sure Zimmerman believes that.
“On his messaging, he talks about wanting to keep partisan politics out of the race and out of municipal government. But I, you know, I don't know if that's the case,” said Kearns.
Zimmerman noted Kearns campaign literature is partisan, promoting her support for Democratics and labor unions.
Kearns said she has no hidden agenda and the way she works with colleagues now is what voters can expect from her in the future.
Zimmerman said he takes the position the city should not have an open checkbook on capital projects. Kearns said she's hearing from a lot of voters that the general direction of the city is positive, even with the challenges of infrastructure, water, and housing.
Editor's note: this story has been changed to reflect the addition of Zimmerman's comment about Kearns' campaign literature.
