A longtime organization that fosters an inclusive community has called on Bloomington city officials to reaffirm a pledge against intolerance and bigotry.
A packed board room at Monday’s Bloomington City Council meeting included several members of Not In Our Town renewing their request for support.
“From the from the beginning of Not In Our Town, the City of Bloomington has always been a partner,” said Mike Matejka, the group’s co-chair. “So I don’t know if every individual council member 30 years later is still involved and affirming, but we want to give them that opportunity and that invitation.”
Mayor Dan Brady joined council members in filling out pledge cards and returning to the Not In Our Town representatives, viewing it an expression of unity in regard to public safety.
“We want to treat each other as human beings, respect our differences and make sure that we abide by what those differences are, and allow people to make sure that whatever their way of freedom of speech is, that it’s safe and that it does not disrupt and that is something that is allowed under all law,” Brady told reporters, noting he previously signed the pledge when he served as a state representative.
The push comes after flyers of unknown origin, with an image of a swastika inside an American flag, called for a “March on Bloomington” this coming Saturday morning. It remains unclear if the gathering actually will occur.
“I think it’s important that we say, when groups try to divide us, that we stand together, that we accept all our neighbors, we love all our neighbors, and we’re a community that values every person,” said Matejka, labeling the event as a “hate march.”
While the flyers’ message states, “We have the White House, Congress, the courts, and the Bloomington Mayor,” Brady disavowed having any affiliation to any march or extremist group.
“When you have something like this that’s circulated and is attributed to — it’s very difficult to find out; there’s no one standing behind it. It’s cowardly,” said Brady. “It’s something that’s certainly I don’t stand for, certainly that I find very distasteful, very disrespectful.
“It’s something that, without a doubt, none of us believe in. We want a safe community in Bloomington that [we] respect each other and our differences, and that we work together as a community like we always have.”
Many of the 13 residents who spoke during public comments followed Matejka’s lead in advocating for the pledge. Others raised more concerns over Brady blocking the city’s involvement in an event about immigration earlier this month.
“Sometimes there’s things behind situations and decisions that are made that no other people know about, see, or understand. And when that leader has to make that decision, it can be very difficult,” Brady said during the meeting. “But he does it with the best intent of those people who either voted for him or didn’t vote for him as mayor of the City of Bloomington, because I’m the mayor of all the people.”
Council member Micheal Mosley said the citizens’ comments persuaded him to sign the Not In Our Town pledge, but noted similar actions sometimes can feel like empty gestures.
“I’ve had some conflicts with this approach and the pledge, not because that I don’t recognize the importance of the pledge or the intended purpose to unite our community. When you have messages like this, because there’s a target that we’re trying to address, at times those messages can get skewed,” said Mosley.
“As a Black man, I sometimes feel that a pledge is not always experienced as empowerment. At times, a form of reverse pressure, it can feel like. We’re targeting anti-bullying, anti-bigotry, and at times it can come across in the messaging and the delivery is that I’m being bullied to stop a bully.”
Other council members signing the pledge also commended those in the audience who pleaded with them to take action.
“It is time for our community leaders to be leaders and stand up and speak up. Words speak loudly, actions speak louder, but silence screams,” said council member Mollie Ward. “This is the moment where each of us on this dais has an opportunity to break our silence and to speak up and to denounce the kind of hatred that has been spewed in this community again.”
Enterprise zone adjustments
As part of a 15-item consent agenda, the council approved boundary changes to the Bloomington-Normal Enterprise Zone originally certified in 2017.
Among the modifications is the addition of about 62 acres that include some Eastland Mall lots, the Verizon Empire Street subdivision where the Holladay Properties housing development is planned, and other adjacent and connecting parcels.
The changes also remove about 116 acres associated with the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District, some property near the Interstate 55 corridor and former railroad rights-of-way that are ineligible for enterprise zone benefits.
An enterprise zone is designed to offer incentives to developers to improve blighted areas. The Town of Normal voted to approve changes to the enterprise zone last week.
'Missing middle' housing
Two items on the regular agenda proposed zoning code text amendments partially tied to “missing middle” housing solutions were postponed as recommended by the staff.
The proposals followed the council’s lengthy discussion about missing middle housing needs during its previous committee of the whole meeting. However, City manager Jeff Jurgens said the various suggested code amendments, including “practical buildability” of mixed- and multiple-family residential districts, were drafted separately from the recommendations in the mixed middle analysis from Opticos Design, Inc.
“These are issues that have come up separately that we want to present to the council, and staff is recommending approval of these,” said Jurgens. “So one option, again, is to just move these and we can have a larger discussion about it at a future meeting.”
The council voted to move both items to the Sept. 8 meeting, with Jenna Kearns casting the lone vote in dissent.
In another regular business item, the council unanimously approved a $155,000 budget amendment to have Kluber Architects and Engineers develop a conceptual plan for a public works campus at the city-owned former Owens Nursery property on Morrissey Drive.
Presentations to the council included a water supply quality update from Water Department Director Ed Andrews, and the latest monthly financial report from Finance Director Scott Rathbun.
