An educator with no political experience says she would bring servant leadership to Bloomington if she's elected mayor next year.
Misty Metroz is a teacher assistant at Bent Elementary School. She works mostly with children who have special needs.
“I am a servant first. I think leaders need to lead by serving,” Metroz said. “(The city) needs someone who is in leadership who is not out to take advantage of us, of the people, somebody who is trying to lead by example.”
Metroz is a write-in candidate for the April election. She explained she wasn't aware of the filing dates for Bloomington mayor until Tari Renner announced he wasn't running for a third term. She said she had to suspend her efforts to collect signatures in early November because she had to isolate due to a close contact with someone who had COVID-19.
Metroz said she plans to run an aggressive grassroots campaign to pick up enough support to win a four-person race.
“I know that for a write-in candidate it’s very difficult,” she said. “There’s almost no mention of them. There’s nothing on the ballot, so really it would be word-of-mouth, or some sort of printed material.”
Three candidates will be on the ballot next April: former McLean County Board candidate Jackie Gunderson, city council member Mboka Mwilambwe and entrepreneur Mike Straza.
Metroz said she decided to run because she “grew tired” of some of the initiatives she had heard local and national leaders advocate, including defunding police.
"That just does not make sense,” Metroz said. “Law enforcement … they are there to keep you safe, to keep your businesses safe, to keep your homes safe, to keep your streets safe.”
Renner has called on the city’s police advisory board to explore reforms to department policies regarding public engagement and use of force. Renner added he doesn't support defunding police.
Metroz said the city should do a better job explaining how it's spending tax money. She expressed dismay over the gas tax increase the city council approved in 2019 for road repairs.
“You have taxes and then you added taxes on top of those taxes and then you come up with more taxes and then you increase those,” Metroz said. “You keep taking, but when you keep taking what are you giving back?"
Metroz added she wants to see creative ideas to spur economic development, such as transforming Eastland Mall into a recreational sports complex and indoor garden.
“When I look now and see a lot of those shops closed, I just shake my head and say how sad that a lot of that’s gone,” Metroz said. “Make it something for the community that they can do indoors during the winter. Not everybody can afford a gym membership.”
Metroz said she would support the city buying the mall and seeking grants to cover some costs, including the garden.
Metroz added while she lacks political experience, her time in the classroom working with children for the last eight years has prepared her to understand the needs of a diverse population.
“You’ve got to have some sort of stability, some sort of mental acuity to lead the different types of children in various stages of growth. You’ll find that on a larger scale with cities. You have all types of people at different stages of life, different backgrounds, different viewpoints, different perspectives."
The municipal elections will be held April 6.
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