There is a City bus stop shelter just north of Thorton Drive on Henderson (across the street from Black Lumber). The last few evenings, it looks like someone is staying in there overnight. Is this allowed? Also, there is a lot of trash in the area. Can the city clean this up and monitor the area for illicit activity?
The response provided for Case# 201024 (https://bloomington.in.gov/crm/tickets/view?ticket_id=201024) was insufficient and dismissive ("Cases are left open until they comply. A large number of tickets were issued, however, tickets are tracked in a separate system from Ureport."). It is not true that all the "Sidewalk Snow Removal" complaints were followed up with tickets. Rather, they were *all* updated soon after 8am on Wed 26 Feb with various comments such as, "Snow has melted", "No longer valid", etc. There is no reason to lie - better to just ignore requests from residents and go back to whatever it is you do all day long. Eventually, we will get the message that submissions to UReport are a waste of time and we will stop bothering your office with such things.
I've noticed that the uReport system no longer shows the text of the updates made. There are only dates and words like "open" and "assignment" and "closed." Citizens cannot see what the City has said or reported about these uReports. There are no details on who is working on the case, what is being done, etc. Is there a reason why this information has gone away and transparency is now lost?
Homeless people are again living in People’s Park. They’re using drugs, fighting, leaving trash everywhere, screaming and yelling, urinating and defecating and have taken over most of the benches and tables. It also appears that they are sleeping there overnight. We bought ice cream across the street and expected to have a nice Sunday afternoon in the park for thirty minutes or so… we tried sitting on the steps of a business on the opposite side of Dunn Street but the shrubbery nearby was probably soaked in urine based on the stench. We simply left at that point….. No other Indiana city of the same size and population has a homeless population of 1 % of that of Bloomington and that is directly attributable to the fact that Bloomington attracts these people by virtue of feeding them and enabling them unlike anywhere else in Indiana. I’ve lived in and near Bloomington since 1974 and this has simply gotten totally out of hand.
We live just a few blocks north of Bryan Park. At 4:09AM Saturday, Jan 15 my family was woken to what sounded like 8 gunshots, followed by two more a few minutes later. These noises sounded like they originated only a couple blocks south. Then there were 2 more shots (much fainter) at about 4:19AM. I never heard any sirens. Anyone have any insight into this occurrence? What is going to be done about the current state of affairs in regards to violence and drugs in the city of Bloomington? My wife and I have been increasingly concerned with the general state of "health" in Bloomington for the last few years. We have had random weapon-bearing tweekers and would-be thieves wander/stumble into our yards and onto our porches, we have had packages stolen from porches and mailboxes, we have had items stolen from our vehicles and property. My wife even witnessed a man masturbating in public! We now have cameras set up on our property to monitor 24/7 and I have a baseball bat next to my bed that I have already had to use once to run off a potential thief. We are two productive members of the community who pay our taxes and contribute to the local economy. But, we are considering moving due to the eroding quality of Bloomington. We know many others who feel the same way. In the last week alone we have heard of at least one stabbing death and one gunshot death. And upon a bit of reading of the Bloomingtonian it appears that Bloomington is doing rather poorly overall in this category. According to BPD Chief Mike Diekhoof, from a March 2023 article in the Bloomingtonian, in 2022 in Bloomington a gun crime occurred every 2.77 days. And someone shot at someone else every 5.2 days! And this is an upward moving trend. What the hell is going on here!? The previous mayor seemed to care little about this. Is the new mayor working with you to do something about all this? What do you plan to do about it? thanks. Ian Miller
See tix 187165. Local merchants don’t flood the community with criminals, mental health patients, and drug users that are responsible these carts being abandoned all over town…the city does!! Like all the other issues in this town, local government passes the blame on others (property owners)….hard working tax paying citizens and employers! Stop accepting state money for rehabilitation of all the states delinquents! I highly advocate for people to lawyer up take action against this city with answers like that!!!!
Please allow all citizens to stay up to date by using an open to all system without the need to sign up to social media. What is posted on social media could be posted on a single city website page, no? Facebook is exclusionary, does not allow all citizens to see all that you post. If you want to reach people through facebook and others great but the information should be available to all with out jumping through those hoops.
I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to bring a concerning incident to your attention. As a Clinical Case Manager with Centerstone, one of our clients recently disclosed an encounter with a city employee named Charles. According to the client, Charles, who was working after hours but who was not wearing a police uniform, took the client's bottle of whiskey and traded it for a pack of cigarettes. Unfortunately, this client had to be sent to the Emergency Room later that day due to withdrawal symptoms. Due to HIPAA regulations, I am unable to disclose the client's identity. Despite potential risks to my position, I felt it was important to share this information with you. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
When is the city going to match the County for work hours/hours worked? Closing at 4pm makes public meetings available to start earlier in the evening, reduces traffic stress on roads as a major employer (remote work accomplishes this too), and creates less confusion on need of City versus County services and what hours they can be reached.
For the Mayor's office: Can you please consider posting information somewhere besides Facebook? I should not need an account for that platform just to get information. Post it on the City website, or if you want social media, use something more open source like Bluesky. I appreciate the sharing of information, but wish it was in a different platform. Thank you.