Fund Our Values. David On The Issues.
David believes that County Council has a role in laying the fiscal foundation for smart county policy. While County Council’s role in Indiana Government is to review fiscal matters, determine proper policy, and set priorities for the allocation and expenditure of county funds, David believes good stewardship starts with good leadership. David looks forward to working with the next Council, Commission, municipal and community partners on these priorities.
Housing as a Human Right:
In Monroe County, we believe housing is a human right, but we have a lot of work to do to make resolutions a reality. Like many, David believes we can fund infrastructure programs for transitional and emergency sheltering, such as palette houses, micro homes, and villages. Those opportunities will restore the rungs on the ladder to housing security.
David supports the efforts of many for housing first programs. As a member of the Monroe County Affordable Housing Advisory Commission, David and others promoted shovel-ready projects for housing including rental inspectors, owner-occupied improvement programs, and direct assistance for downpayment and closing costs using COVID era American Rescue Plan grants to the county.
Prioritize Essentials:
Government often deals with crucial matters like fixing potholes and enhancing infrastructure. In our uncertain economic future, we need to invest in both diversifying our economy and maintaining essential public goods.
Whether public restrooms or restored culverts, government is about prioritizing basic obligations. Key to that approach is staving off revenue reduction. As cities grow and annex county parcels, we have to find alternatives to cutting essential services, and continue to work with city partners on cost saving interlocal agreements.
Encourage Economic Opportunity:
Despite low reported unemployment, Monroe County faces underemployment and high poverty rates. Kids who grow up in Bloomington and wish to stay in their hometown face a limited job market to keep them here. IU graduates could call Bloomington home, but they find challenges in offering their experience and energy into the local workforce.
David wants a future where Monroe County has a diversified economy. This includes respecting dignity in the service, labor, rural and blue-collar jobs that are essential for our community to function.
Through smart agreements, Council can play a role in welcoming all types of businesses, including those supporting labor dignity, pay equity, unions, and ESOPs with smart incentives and abatements to plant the jobs of the next generation here in Bloomington. Focusing on economic opportunities for non-college-bound students, David believes caring for young workers and professionals in a diverse economy makes room for service, light industry, and green technology. This approach aims to keep our youth in the community without forcing them to move away to thrive.
Break the Opioid Cycle:
Acknowledging the real challenges of poverty and its direct connection to the opioid epidemic, David believes county government is in the lead for prevention and response through public health.
As a former county public health employee, David knows our public health practice is poised to fully implement the work of the Opioid Summit and in partnership with harm reduction organizations in the community. Public partnerships finish the job, and David fully supports expanding the Sophia Travis Grant Program to help our NGO’s deliver in partnership with government.
Public Health Security and Prevention:
Public health is where our county shows and lives our empathy. It is where we can assure preventative care, reproductive healthcare, and protect personal liberties for families and women. We can bolster our public health system to improve sanitation and drug intervention. We can also support both our public health system and service providers to assure reproductive liberty and options up to the letter of Indiana law.
David sees opportunity for public health solutions, from prioritizing public restrooms and increasing funding for needle exchange and drops on county property in partnership with the Commissioners. And David proposes to fully fund our partners who deliver liberty for pregnancy and developmental prevention in our community. This isn’t just a women’s health issue, it is an everyone issue.
Serve the Workforce:
While the Monroe County Council has made some progress on raising wages, we need a long-term plan to assure we keep up with rising costs of living. We should be working hard to retain top talent to join local government. David is a big believer in servant leadership - if you take care of the front line, they will take care of the county.
When David worked for the District of Columbia, his program office innovated pay for performance and spot bonuses for municipal employees when folks were caught doing something good. He also supported the development of more collective bargaining units to provide workers a chance to negotiate for fair wages. To serve our front-line, we need to find daycare options for county employees too, as women bear disproportionate burdens when it comes to workforce entry and childcare. David believes our county is ripe for opportunity in attracting and retaining a workforce to serve our whole community through good HR innovation.
One Voice:
County government needs to fund a full time public information officer for times of crisis, official notices, and shared civic accomplishments. Funding a position among so many elected county offices could be challenging, but a cooperative cost-sharing approach would help to break information silos and help the public understand its government at work. David is committed to finding a good solution to the information sharing challenge.
A Constitutional Jail and Restorative Justice:
Simply put, we need to fund the fairness of a criminal justice system that looks beyond enforcement and includes paths to restorative justice. We require a humane, constitutional jail for violent offenders and a restorative justice system to prevent recidivism, aligning with our values.
The next step is long-term stability of the whole criminal justice system in the county, its intersection with health, and vigilance against bias. As nearly half of the county’s budget is obligated to criminal justice, we need a holistic funding philosophy for the entire system. At present, we have too many vacancies in the public defenders office for example. We simply must incentivize, and have a fully hired public defender’s office.
David believes that a criminal justice campus is just the beginning. We need to fund approaches to diversion for non-violent offenses that keeps our backlog down, and reserves incarceration for the truly dangerous while providing pathways to positive re-entry into our community. That requires assuring, as revenue streams are depleted through annexation and economic pressures, that we do not treat restorative justice as an “either/or” option in the criminal justice system.
Voter Access and Enfranchisement:
As president of the Election Board, David facilitated bipartisan cooperation to restart the vote center process, that could ensure multiple voting locations on election day. This effort, approved by the Commissioners and Council, recently relaunched in December. The next Council will be called upon to balance an approach that both reduces costs and enfranchises voters. David will work to assure the funding so voters have multiple choices to exercise their rights throughout Monroe County on election day - whether a first time voter, a college student, a working person, or retiree.
Smart Economic Development and Housing:
With I-69 now a reality, we lack the real-world development plan we need for the 45-minute commute from Indianapolis. Council can partner with the Commissioners to use Tax Increment Financing to prepare for housing and commercial infrastructure and improvements, fostering a diversified economy without losing development opportunities.
David believes good zoning leads to housing choices for wherever you may be on your pathway to home ownership or attainable housing. County Council has a role in making resources available to improve parcels and infrastructure to attract housing choices in the county.