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This is the WFHB Local News for Monday, October 18th, 2021.
Later in the program, WFHB News talked to social work students who protested the City of Bloomington’s National Conference on Police Social Work. More coming up in the bottom half of our show.
Also coming up in the next half hour, we have some recent prison related news and announcements from the producers of our public affairs program, Kite Line.
But first, your local headlines:
Bloomington City Council Pushes Back Against Proposed 2022 Budget
The Bloomington City Council pushed back against the proposed budget at the October 13th meeting.
Mayor John Hamilton introduced the 2022 city budget, and warned council members that the 2021 budget will be reinstated if the new budget is not approved.
Council member Susan Sandberg commented that she would rather renegotiate the budget with the Mayor rather than approve a budget she does not agree with. She said she would prefer to see sufficient funding for the basic necessities and wait to fund additional amenities.
Council member Matt Flarehty also said that he would be voting no on the budget unless changes were made. He said that he did not agree with the budget’s inability to meet the demands of the city’s climate action plan.
Council member Isabel-Piedmont Smith pointed out the mayor’s role in collaborating with the council to pass a budget. She emphasized that both parties share 50 percent of the budget obligations. That way, the council should have just as much input.
Council member Steve Volan explained that the mayor can increase funds in the budget, but the council can only decrease funding. He highlighted the fact that the position for a Director of Climate Action has not been funded, and only the mayor has the ability to change that.
President Jim Sims said that based on his colleagues’ comments it is quite clear that the budget still needs work. The city council recessed for the night, and will revisit the budget at 6:30 p.m. on October 27th.
Bloomington Board of Public Works Talks About Bike Lane Project
On October 12th at the Bloomington Board of Public Works meeting the board discussed the 7th Street Protected Bike Lane Project.
Senior Project Manager Roy Aten gave an overview of the project’s funding, and explained the changes they have made to the contract with Milestone Contractors.
Board member Beth Hollingsworth asked about the educational outreach the project has been doing to reach the public.
Senior Project Engineer Neil Kopper shared that they have been getting more questions from the public since the construction is almost finished, and that they are working with the Planning and Transportation Department to decide what future outreach they can do.
The board approved the changes to the contract with Milestone Contractors unanimously. The next board meeting will be held on October 26th.
Monroe County Commissioners Discuss Safety in AMC Movie Theaters and More
On October 13th at the Monroe County Board of Commissioners meeting during public comment resident Guy Loftman thanked the commissioners and Monroe County staff for their work, saying that he has been able to pay more attention due to the meetings being held on Zoom.
Shelter Outreach and Safe Place Program Coordinator Brigitt Nasby presented a contract with National CineMedia to promote the Safe Place Program to Monroe County residents in AMC movie theaters.
Commissioner Lee Jones said that she was glad the program is able to advertise this way, and that residents will be able to learn about the programs Monroe County has to offer.
The commissioners unanimously approved funding for the outreach campaign. The next meeting will be held on October 20th.
Bloomington Utilities Service Board Mention a Bid Opening for the Deer Park-Devon Lane Storm Water Project
At the Bloomington Utilities Service Board Meeting on October 12th, Utilities Engineer Phil Peden gave an update on a bid opening for the Deer Park-Devon Lane Stormwater Project. He said they only have received one bid so far, and it is higher than the board anticipated.
Director of Utilities Vic Kelson explained that the funding for the project is different from a typical neighborhood project since it is creating new infrastructure in the area. Assistant Director of Engineering Brad Schroeder added this project would count as Green Infrastructure which has a budget of 400,000 dollars per year.
Kelson explained why the project is a priority for the city and its residents.
Kelson said that additional maps and details will be provided the next time they discuss the project. The next meeting will be held on October 25th.
Social Work Students Protest the National Police Social Work Conference in Bloomington
On Monday, the Bloomington Police Department hosted the National Conference on Police Social Work at the Monroe Convention Center.
According to a city press release, the conference provides an opportunity for national leaders in both law enforcement and social work to share best practices in embedding social workers into police departments.
In response, a small group of social work students formed to protest the conference. Grace Mitchell and Jacquie Cope, organizers of the Indiana Abolitionist Social Workers, said that social work and policing should not be combined.
“Well, it’s absolutely offensive that the solution to state violence is to have social workers walk alongside state agents,” said Mitchell.
“We have our own history of social control that we need to reckon with and pairing us up with the police is not going to do that and it’s antithetical to our values of social justice,” said Cope.
The Indiana Abolitionist Social Workers wrote a letter of dissent to all deans, associate deans and directors of Indiana University Schools of Social Work. Mitchell describes the points outlined in the letter.
“Putting us side-by-side with the police, these agents of the state when their very existence speaks to structural violence, really violates community trust,” says Mitchell. “It violates the aspirational values of our profession in our field.”
Cope and Mitchell said that the values of social work do not match the values of law enforcement.
“The police were born out of slave catchers in the south and union busters in the north. We are not aligning ourselves with that, and we shouldn’t. Social work has its own history of policing communities as well. And that’s something that we also need to reckon with,” said Mitchell.
“There’s no objective evidence that social worker and police collaboration mitigates the harm of policing. All of that evidence comes from police self reports. There is no objective data on citizen outcomes,” said Cope.
Cope says that collaboration between law enforcement and social work is not a new phenomenon.
“Social workers have worked with police in the past, and call them can police social workers as the name of this conference. So this isn’t actually very new. There is a history of social work complicity with police,” said Cope.
Mitchell says there are alternative solutions that our society can explore in order to address the root of the issue at hand.
“We can imagine better worlds,” said Mitchell. “People think that our options are to do nothing and sit on the sidelines or to walk hand in hand with the cops. Those are not the only two options.”
Mitchell and Cope said to reach out and support your local Black Lives Matter organization to learn more about reallocating funds from the police department to other city departments.
Credits:
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,
Today’s headlines were written by Kade Young and Noelle Herhusky-Schneider, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Kite Line is produced by Mia Beach.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Engineer and Executive producer is Kade Young.
Anchors are Don Geyra and Nicki Stewart-Ingersoll.
