Meet the candidates running for Mayor of Bloomington

Susan Sandberg currently serves as an at-large member of the city council. A former IU Singing Hoosier and member of Bloomington's ukulele band, the UkeTones, Sandberg said she is a longtime supporter of the arts and understands the contribution to the city’s vibrant culture and economy provided by arts organizations and venues.

Sandberg recently retired from her job as a Career Services consultant with the IU O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Other jobs she’s had include working for the Green and Monroe County Departments of Child Services as an investigator and ongoing case manager, which she said gave her an appreciation for the challenges faced by vulnerable families in the community.

Why she is running:

Sandberg said she is running for mayor to make Bloomington a safer and more affordable place to live, build trust with community partners and prioritize essential public services and infrastructure, like streets, sidewalks, sanitation, water utilities, transit and emergency services. She said these are critical to support growth and withstand challenges from climate change.

Priorities:

• Support for the arts
• Safety
• Affordability
• Infrastructure
• Climate change

As former CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County, Kerry Thomson said she took over the organization while it was in debt and transformed it. Thomson said she created unprecedented growth for the organization, including a $6 million mortgage portfolio and hundreds of thousands of dollars in investments to allow the organization to build homes for more than 400 people.

After 20 years of service with Habitat, Thomson became the executive director of IU’s Center for Rural Engagement in 2018. In this role, she leads efforts to create results-driven initiatives to improve the quality of life and economic vitality of rural communities. Since leading the center, she has expanded its reach into 50 counties, impacting 20,000 Hoosiers through 300 different projects.

Why she’s running:

A lifelong Democrat, Thomson said she is running for mayor to address some of the city’s problems she believed have been long neglected. Her priorities include addressing the lack of affordable housing, the drug and mental health crisis she believes is plaguing downtown, better assisting unhoused residents and ending the political infighting and finger-pointing that Thomson believes has stalled progress in the city. After spending her career working to build better communities, Thomson said she wants to bring real progress, change and a new approach to city hall.

Priorities:

• Affordable housing
• Drug and mental health issues
• Homelessness

Donald Griffin Jr. was born and raised in Bloomington. He founded Griffin Realty Holdings, Inc. in 2003, which he still owns and leads. He was appointed deputy mayor of Bloomington by Hamilton in March of 2021 and served in this role through December 2022.

During his time as deputy mayor, Griffin oversaw 16 city departments and 850 employees. He collaborated with other city leaders to implement policies related to affordable housing, investments in the arts, diversity, equity and inclusion, improving quality of life and addressing homelessness. Griffin said he had an extensive record of civic engagement in the areas of racial justice, community development and the arts.

Why he’s running:

Griffin said he is running for mayor because he believes in Bloomington.

“Together, we must focus on sustainability, creating a community where we all belong, innovative housing solutions, and economic and cultural growth,” Griffin said. “Bloomington should be a shining example of a city with a high quality of life that is accessible to everyone.”

Priorities:

• Sustainability
• Diversity, equity and inclusion
• Housing
• Economic and cultural growth

“Born of a multigenerational farm family in Cass Co., Indiana, I am a regular Joe who was taught the values of a supportive community, stewardship of the environment, self-sufficiency, and entrepreneurship,” Davis said.

Davis calls himself a Bloomington transplant, having lived here for 30 years. He has worked as an organic farm producer among other self-employment ventures, but his longest jobs were as a community activist for the Center for Sustainable Living and the owner and operator of Indiana Natural Builders, a sustainable architecture firm.

After retiring from his building career, Davis began pursuing a sustainable tech startup called Community Carbon Exchange. The startup rewards people who conduct planet-friendly behaviors with money.

Davis said his family and community taught him to place others’ needs before his own, which has since become a key part of his philosophy.

“The sun shines on everyone, and there is plenty to go around,” Davis said.

Why he's running:

Davis said serving as mayor, or local offices in general, is about serving the people.

“The lights must be on. The water must be clean. The trash must be picked up. The citizenry must be safe,” Davis said.

Davis said he believes that governance in the city has been harmed by partisanship, what Davis sees as a predatory real estate market and a reliance on outside consultants.

“Outsourcing our future is not the answer,” Davis said.

Davis also lamented inflation and unchecked borrowing as issues in the city. A major focus of his campaign is self-empowerment, and Davis said he would donate half of his mayoral salary to self-empowerment initiatives.

“It is time to dig in,” he said. “Nourish our roots, protect, and let the enfolding flower of our best bloom for our Bloomington.”

Priorities:

• Transparency and accountability
• Universal basic income, $1000 per month, per citizen
• No prosecution for minimal amounts of THC possession
• Maintaining or reducing local income tax
• Increasing homeownership
• Supporting police, fire and utility union workers
• Eliminating partisan politics