December 2017 Newsletter

Friends,

In this holiday season, I want to share some thanks about our world.

In particular, I want to say how good it is that our community, and country, and culture have moved so far to recognize the rights and inherent dignity of the LGBTQ+ community. I know there is much work yet to be done everywhere – and we’re in Indiana for RFRA’s sake – but as the wise old leader said to Martin Luther King, Jr. when asked about civil rights progress:  “Well, we’re not where we want to be. And we’re not where we ought to be. But we’re sure not where we used to be.”

We enjoy marriages, including in Dawn’s and my extended family, that a few years ago were outlawed. Last week I enjoyed an hour on BloomingOUT, the terrific radio show on our local gem, WFHB, that focuses on issues of concern to the LGBTQ+ community. And as Rachael, Kim and Alex, the oh-so-smooth co-hosts, and I talked about challenges and opportunities, I was reminded that not so long ago such a radio show would have been underground or more likely unheard in America. It’s still unheard in too many.

Last month hundreds of Bloomingtonians celebrated as the Quarryland Chorus performed at the Buskirk, including the piece Tyler’s Suite, that was commissioned to commemorate the tragic suicide of young Tyler Clementi, bullied and hazed as a college freshman. (I was so pleased to get to sing a number with the chorus.) It was a reminder of the pain and damage still too present in our world. But as his mother Jane, who attended in person, demonstrated, so many people are dedicated to changing that fact, and simply demanding a better world for all of us.

I’m thankful not because problems have been fully solved or prejudices completely erased. I’m thankful for being reminded that things change, for the better, and they change because people of good will and determination make it so.

So be thankful, and be kind, and be determined to keep that change coming.

Democratically Yours,

John

Ps: Please note four upcoming events, some fundraisers to help our campaign be strong as we support local progressive groups through the Democracy Lab and continue our leadership of city government for more affordable housing, better jobs, environmental progress and more. Consider joining Dawn and me at one or more of the following gatherings:

1. Griffin Realty, Thursday Dec. 7th, 735 S. College, from 5 to 7pm (a fundraiser) co-hosted by Don Griffin, Fred Schultz, Melanie Walker, Jim Blickensdorf, and David and Martha Moore

2. The Johnsen/Hamilton home, Friday Dec 8th, 635 S. Woodlawn Ave, from 530 to 730pm (a fundraiser)

3. New Year’s Eve, and Bicentennial Kick-Off, Sunday Dec 31st at City Hall, late afternoon into early evening (NOT a fundraiser, just FUN!)

4. The Rickert home, Wednesday, Jan. 17th, 2018, 532 S. Ballantine, from 5 to 7pm (a fundraiser) co-hosted by the Sandweiss’s and the Audretsch’s

November 2017 Newsletter

Friends,

A stark juxtaposition from Washington DC.

First, I recently had the chance to visit the new National Museum of African-American History and Culture, when I accompanied Dawn to DC for her service on the board of the Guttmacher Institute.

Three hours wasn’t enough time to appreciate all that is offered by this spectacular addition to the Smithsonian Museum. It was time enough to be staggered, inspired, moved, devastated, uplifted, angered, informed, awed, and more.

Words can’t summarize the experience here. I can only affirm the museum’s message as so central to our American story, so powerfully portraying the depth of that story: the pervasive brutality that flowed alongside miraculous kindnesses, the cowardice and racial prejudice that paralleled bravery and dignity, the monstrous abuses of power that were met with unquenchable persistence and hope. I cried and I marveled and I worried and I wondered, about our American past and our future.

When you finish 600 years of history and then greet the image of President Obama . . . well it’s momentous. This visit gave me the most powerful museum experience I’ve ever had. I hope you get the chance to experience it. And soon.

Second, also in DC, come plans for a new federal tax code. The juxtaposition is chilling. Obscene.

Ponder the long generational arc of how wealth and power in America were created – robbed, in no small measure – and acknowledge the demographic inequalities that are so stark and worsening today. And then consider the proposed tax cut.

In the outline the administration proposed, 80% of tax-cut dollars go to people making more than $1 million dollars a year. (See analysis here)

Put another way:  The 99% of households that earn less than $500,000 per year will see their after-tax income increase less than 1% on average. Those earning more than $1 million will see after-tax income increase 9% on average. This is so REGRESSIVE!

Or put another way:  households earning less than $500,000 will see less than a $500 average reduction in their annual tax bill. Households earning more than $1 million will see an average reduction of $230,000 every year.

Serious work lies ahead, to improve our country and communities, for all. Dawn and I cherish the chance to work with all of you in that cause. Thanks for all you do.

Democratically Yours,
John

ps  Consider joining us for a New Year’s Eve a little different this year – an ushering in of Bloomington’s 200th year! Bicentennial details to come, but hold the late afternoon/early evening of Sunday, December 31st.

October 2017 Newsletter

Friends,
 
Last Friday in Bloomington we had a taste of the future:  an autonomous, self-driving bus operated along Kirkwood Avenue, carrying hundreds of passengers along a route three blocks long over a seven-hour period.
 
It was a demonstration—the street was closed to other traffic, the bus route and stops were pre-planned, and an operator sat in should any glitches occur (they didn’t). But it also was dramatic, as we loaded on the little bus, with no steering wheel or driving console, no driver in charge, moving quietly with all-electric battery power, forward and backward, turning in and out of the side street, so smoothly and reliably.
 
Riders and onlookers generally were excited. Two of the first passengers, in wheelchairs, talked about how mobility like this could change their lives in the coming years. Others imagined a city with more vehicles like this and fewer private cars. Some praised the sustainability of better public transit and shared rides—more people moving more efficiently, changing the look of downtown, the IU campus, and beyond.
 
It made me think about change. How it’s always challenging. And always coming. How communities MUST evolve, to welcome new residents, to accommodate new businesses, to adjust to new lifestyles, to try new approaches, new technology. How it’s tempting for many of us to hold tight to what we love about our community – which is natural – but sometimes so tight that we don’t make room for innovation, experimentation, evolution.
 
I’ve enjoyed the reminder that “all music was new music once,” that the classics we cherish often were derided, misunderstood, or lambasted first. (Perhaps it was the hilarious Peter Schickele who said it?)
 
So too, in our cities, we need the humility to support innovation that is challenging, to welcome new ideas and approaches, to avoid trying to hold still where we are. Bloomington in 50 years will no doubt look very different from how we do today. Who will be living and working here? What choices can we make today to increase the chances of a great future?
 
We’re offering a few glimpses of potential future change with an initiative we call Fast Forward Bloomington, starting with the “robo-bus” last week, and moving on to other short-term demonstrations of how our community might change in coming years. We need housing to serve the full range of human needs and capacities. We need beautiful public spaces and wild natural places for all to enjoy. We need diversity of thought. We need creativity. We need risk takers and change makers. And we need kindness and compassion toward each other.
 
Democratically Yours,
 
John
 
ps  You can check out a video of the autonomous bus demo here.
 
pps  Mark Thursday evening, November 9th on your calendar for our upcoming county Democratic Party dinner and fundraiser—fun, progressive fellowship for all!

September 2017 Newsletter

Friends,

Dawn and I hope you can join us for our Third Annual Hamilton Friends and Family Picnic – this coming Sunday, Sept. 10th, from 4 to 7pm at Bryan Park. (Henderson St side). We need each other more than ever these days. We’ll get to talk with and hear from local officials and candidates, too – and eat barbecue and hear live music from Huckleberry Funk! Free and open to public, contributions of side dishes and desserts welcome.

What we do together matters. Millions of our raised voices (and phone calls, marches, protests, and emails) recently saved American health care from potential disaster. Similar joint action rises to counter disgusting racial bigotry as seen in Charlottesville and elsewhere, and to seek to protect our Dreamers from shameful, terrible dislocations from their homes. 

I’m still reeling from President Trump’s pardon of the Arizona county sheriff convicted of blatantly violating a federal court’s direct order to stop racially discriminating against his residents. Is it a signal to radical right-wing activists that this president will have their backs? That personal loyalty and political expediency matter more than the rule of law?

Last fall President Obama said that no one really changes in the office of the presidency, but that the office “magnifies” who you already are. So it seems. And that’s trouble. It means all of us, in cities around the country, must stand up for what we believe in, for who we are, and against the divisive and backward leadership from Washington. This is our country, and it is up to us to fight for its future, for the coming generations.

Locally, this summer Dawn and I have enjoyed talking with several hundred residents in ten listening sessions in homes around the city. It’s inspiring to hear voices of compassion and creativity envisioning great things for Bloomington. Thanks to all who attended or hosted, and thanks for the questions, ideas, concerns, and dreams for our city. It’s up to us, so let’s keep working together.

Democratically Yours,

John

PS  At this Wednesday evening’s city council meeting, I’ll be supporting affordable housing by advocating for a pilot program for Accessory Dwelling Units (‘granny flats’) in town. Some of our neighborhood associations are concerned about the details. If you can join and support innovation and experimentation to study the effects of a pilot of 30 units throughout Bloomington, I’d appreciate your voices of support.

August 2017 Newsletter

Friends,

It’s hard to keep up – Obamacare lives on, for now. Gone are Spicer, Priebus, & Scaramucci. Sessions next? AWOL: the State Department, the budget, infrastructure investments, environmental protection, reason, and judgment. Will the center hold?  Amid all this national chaos, I want to share two encouraging words about an exciting new local effort I am helping initiate and fund, with our Monroe County Democratic Party:  
 

DEMOCRACY LAB

After the 2016 election, so many people were motivated to stand up, dig in, and get involved in progressive change, to protect our values and our people. New groups and renewed efforts sprang up all over our community: Indivisible. Call to Action. Hoosier Action. A local NOW chapter. Mom’s Demand Action. A Black Caucus for our local party. The Democratic Women’s Caucus. Hoosier for a Commonsense Health Plan, Coalition for Public Education. Democracy for Monroe County. UndocuHoosiers. That’s just a sample list of local groups focused on health care, education, climate change, immigrants and refugees, economic justice, racial justice, LGBTQ rights, reproductive health, gun violence, and more. And new candidates arise seeking office.

With our local Democratic Party, I worked to figure out how we can learn from 2016, and from the diverse, creative, innovative efforts growing from our grassroots. We decided thata vibrant local party should tangibly support these emerging and growing progressive efforts. That our party’s future depends on new people and new ideas colliding and collaborating and shaking up our old systems and challenging our thinking.

So we created DEMOCRACY LAB:  a co-work space and set of services, to encourage progressive groups to co-locate and co-create. To push the envelopes of change and to innovate in our political world. To show our local Democratic Party supports new creative people and ideas and approaches. (Perhaps it helps that our top party officers are “Four under Forty” – young and creative themselves.)

I am excited to announce my commitment to help support Democracy Lab, through funds that I hope that you will continue to help me raise. I’ve offered to underwrite up to 10 local groups to join Democracy Lab – paying 2/3rds of their monthly costs so they can easily join this co-work space and help chart the future – focus on progressive change and inclusion and creativity.It’s exciting to picture progressive change agents colliding with each other, challenging each other, teaching each other, as we move into the 21st century and all the demands ahead. I hope you’ll check out DEMOCRACY LAB – offering shared space, and media services, and printing and publicity, and training – to help build momentum with a bigger, bolder vision being developed by a big open tent of people. Thank you very much for your past support for my work, and if you like what we’ve been doing, I hope you will consider a contribution at this special time to help build DEMOCRACY LAB.

Democratically Yours,
John

PS  You can learn more about DEMOCRACY LAB at http://www.monroedems.org/democracy_lab. And if you can help support this exciting local effort, please send in a contribution here.

PPS And don’t forget to hold 4-7pm Sunday afternoon, Sept 10th, for our third annual Hamilton Friends and Family Picnic at Bryan Park!!
 

July 2017 Newsletter

Friends,
 
We had a rough day in Bloomington last week. During one 24-hourperiodfifteen people overdosed on drugs – with one fatality. It was an awful series of tragic individual stories, some involving heroin, and others spice.
 
Like communities across the country, we’re seeing casualties of addiction and poverty and mental health rise. Including kids. It’s swamping our emergency and health care systems. It’s overwhelming our local advocate for neglected or abused children removed from their homes. Two years ago they got one referral per day. During the first half of this year, it exploded to more than three per day – a tripling in less than two years, almost all drug related. It’s staggering.
 
We’re trying to respond locally as best we can, with additional housing and health services, with a needle exchange program, a new addiction clinic announced just this week, and more. But we need help.
 
It makes our national health care debate so critical. It’s outrageous that the House and Senate are trying to push a terrible bill through without public review. What kind of country would deliver massive tax cuts for millionaires paid for by huge cuts in health services to our poor and working families? Who would reduce coverage for addiction services or mental health in our health plans, while a public health emergency rages across thousands of communities?
 
Please stay strong in demanding real health care improvements for our friends and neighbors. This is a moral issue.
 
Thank you for your persistence and resistance in the face of injustice.
 
Democratically Yours,
 
John
 
PS  It’s a good time to call our US Senators and Representatives to demand common sense health care reform – they need to hear from all of us! (at 202-224-3121)

June 2017 Newsletter

Friends,

One aspect of being mayor is swinging constantly from the micro to the macro and back. 

The micro can mean paying attention to the details of Bloomington and doing what we can to improve life a bit for some people, for some places, for some time. Recent initiatives include:
 

• Sixteen units of affordable housing to be built next to our newest public park. The first new housing to go in by Switchyard Park will be permanently affordable housing, developed by the new nonprofit affiliate of our Bloomington Housing Authority. This is walking the walk at a micro level: protecting the mix of residents in this neighborhood and helping ensure our new park will be enjoyed by all our residents.

• A pilot program to employ people experiencing homelessness or deep poverty in servicing and protecting some downtown public parks. We’re contracting with Centerstone, our community mental health provider, to employ several individuals starting this month, to offer them a job with accompanying wrap-around services and a decent wage. This is helping a few people to start; we hope it works well and we can expand it.

The macro can mean responding to state, national, or global issues, from our place in Bloomington:

• Last month we sued the state of Indiana for violating our state constitutional protection against special legislation, when the legislature singled out Bloomington and shut down an ongoing annexation process. The fundamental issue is protecting local democracy and autonomy against a conservative state government’s intervention in response to special corporate interests. From affordable housing, to environmental protection, to public schools, to local finance – we face constant meddlingin very local issues, and we must stand up against it.

• Like many people, we were aghast and outraged when President Trump announced the plan to withdraw the US from the Paris agreement to address climate change. We were an early joiner among 180+ cities who have formally protested and committed to continue the efforts outlined at Paris. (see our letter here)  We won’t stop our resistance to national disasters like this, and will keep acting locally to do what we can.

From micro to macro, we keep working daily to put progressive values into action. This is our city, and country, and planet, and we need to do our level best to create the city and country and planet that we want to live in and pass on to the next generations. Thanks for all you do.

Democratically Yours,

John

Ps  Look for house parties this summer where we can meet and talk about our city – where we are, and where we want to go. Details to come atJohnHamiltonforMayor.com. 

May 2017 Newsletter

Friends,

Well, the Indiana legislature finished their work for the year. What a fiasco. And what a reminder that we in Bloomington need to keep our progressive efforts strong. And stand together.

This Thursday, May 4th, at 5pm at City Hall, please join me, Council President Susan Sandberg and other elected officials for a 30-minute program outlining where we are and where we should go, in light of recent legislative actions.

I won’t try to catalog all the ways the legislature’s priorities don’t match the needs and opportunities of our people. The deliberate, steady destruction of the public education system with vouchers and takeovers. The meager investment in pre-K that denies our children a brighter future. The failure to address redistricting reform, hate crime legislation or promote economic and job development to help lift Indiana wages. Continued corporate tax cuts joined with tax hikes on working folks. And another serious assault on women’s rights. The list goes on and sadly on.

Three legislative actions are particularly bad for Bloomington and undermine our ability to address local challenges together:

• Reducing the incentives for solar energy, by drastically cutting the net metering approach for home-generated solar, at a time when Bloomington is seriously expanding solar. I urged the governor to veto this bill, as terrible for both the environment and jobs, but the utility companies spoke louder.

• Restricting cities’ ability to support affordable housing with inclusionary zoning or other progressive techniques. This bill was supported by apartment owners and developers, and was prompted by our local efforts to support affordability. The protection of powerful moneyed interests is the clear motive for this interference with our ability to meet critical housing needs.

• And most blatantly, immediately terminating Bloomington’s annexation process mid-stream and prohibiting only our community from any such annexation for five years. This law, designed to apply only to Bloomington, I believe violates the Indiana Constitution’s prohibition on special legislation. It was led by particular corporate interests that got the unprecedented provision stuck in the budget bill with no hearing, no public comment, in the dark of the night just before the legislature adjourned for the year. A classic smoke-filled room operation. Whatever you think of the particular annexation proposal that began this process, a state legislature has no business hijacking and terminating an ongoing legal process that already included more than a 1,000 local residents participating.

We all should be distressed at the state legislature’s blatant and in some cases discriminatory over-reach. These and many other issues were ours to debate, and ours to decide. But our ability to govern ourselves was hijacked. Conservatives’ words favoring local control ring hollow. And their actions threaten our future ability to ensure that Bloomington remains Bloomington.

I want you to know that, without fail, we will go on fighting for all the progressive values of our community, and the right of our people to chart our own future together. It may not always be easy and we won’t always prevail, but we will persist, and resist, and work tirelessly for a better Bloomington.

Democratically Yours,

John

P.S.  Please do join us if you can on Thursday, May 4th at 5pm at City Hall for more discussion of these issues. And let everyone know of your disagreement with this anti-democratic slap-down of our community.