Achievements

Renovated Bloomington Public Library in 2024.

Newly constructed O’Neil aquatics center on the west side of Bloomington in 2024.

In 2021, I ran as a candidate for mayor of Bloomington on a promise to achieve five goals: to improve collaboration among City Council members, foster economic growth, emphasize public safety, enhance infrastructure, and maintain our community’s appeal through quality-of-life venues and offerings. Three years later, we have largely fulfilled or exceeded these expectations. These achievements were made possible by a united City Council that provided vision, dedicated staff who executed that vision, and a strong commitment to fiscal transparency, exemplified by our monthly Finance Director reports.


Summary of Accomplishments:

Economic Growth

  • Spurred more than half a billion dollars in new and existing business investments.

  • Approved a Downtown Streetscape Plan that serves as a roadmap for the long-overdue revitalization of downtown. The creation of the Downtown TIF will help rehabilitate many downtown buildings.

Public Safety

  • Provided strong support for public safety, an essential component of economic prosperity.

  • Enabled our Fire and Police Departments to achieve record levels of community engagement and increase staffing levels, both in number and diversity.

Quality of Life

  • Renovated the Bloomington Public Library in 2024.

  • Constructed the O’Neil Aquatics Center on the west side of Bloomington in 2024.

  • Created an Arts and Entertainment Division to manage the Arena and the BCPA, revitalizing these venues and drawing the attention of patrons and promoters.

  • Brought an ECHL hockey team to the Arena, ensuring future NHL-caliber talent plays in Bloomington. With 37 home games, this addition should have a significant positive impact on local businesses.

  • Expanded cultural events, such as Juneteenth, Festival of Joy, Holi Moli, and Welcome Week, to foster community connections and learning.

  • Partnered with a local hospital and non-profit group to provide a mobile health care unit for underserved populations.

Housing

  • Facilitated the renovation of the former CII East building in downtown Bloomington, transforming it into an attractive residential and commercial space.

  • Approved the development of nearly 1,000 housing units to date, with half being multi-family.

  • Allocated over $500,000 in ARPA funding to local nonprofits to address homelessness. 

Infrastructure

  • Increased the annual road and sidewalk repair budget from $7M to $10M.

  • Approved an agreement between the City and Connect Transit for a design contract to create a new climate-controlled lobby and multilevel parking transfer station at the Market Street parking garage location. 

  • Accelerated the Locust-Colton sewer separation project, which will now be completed three years ahead of schedule, helping to mitigate flooding for residents in the Eastgate area.

  • Used hydraulic modeling to identify the East Street Basin as a solution to mitigate flooding for areas on Bloomington’s west side.

Bringing more dollars back to Bloomington

  • Developed a robust approach to securing funding to maximize our ability to provide additional services to residents.

  • In 2023, secured $4M in community funding projects from our congressional delegation and $53M from the U.S. Department of Transportation through IDOT for a major overhaul of Empire Street west of Veterans Parkway.

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