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.