The 812 - Steve Volan / Plateia Media

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016: Beverly Calender-Anderson, the City's Chief Kindness Officer Feb 06, 2024

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Kindness in the public realm, as it turns out, takes a lot of work to nurture. Today, we interview what you could call the city's chief kindness officer: Beverly Calender-Anderson, director of the city of Bloomington's Community and Family Resources Department. She's held the job for nine years and was the city's Safe and Civil City Director for nine years before that. She'll explain some of the myriad programs she oversees that help people get by, whether it's appealing to the city's human rights code when there's a violation, helping people in need downtown, or offering opportunities for people to volunteer in the community.

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015: Gilmore, Brown, Zulich: A Digest of the Week of Jan. 29 Feb 05, 2024

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We revisit interviews with the Rev. Forrest Gilmore, executive director of Beacon, Inc., about the challenge of fighting misconceptions and bias against people in extreme poverty; Laurence "Buff" Brown, who influenced changes in city transportation policy by bringing in the experts; and the new District 6 city councilmember Sydney Zulich, who talks about what her newly-drawn constituency, the vast majority of whom are students, want from the city.

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014: Sydney Zulich, Councilmember (D6), on Youth and Politics Feb 02, 2024

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Our guest is Sydney Zulich. She got her bachelor's degree after only three years at IU. At 21, she became the youngest-ever member of the Bloomington City Council last month, and (at least through next week when Councilmember Shruti Rana steps down after a very short tenure to take a job in another state) is a member of the first majority-female council in city history.
Zulich replaced Steve Volan, who interviews her today, in the District 6 seat on City Council. She shares her thoughts about how she handles being young in politics -- and people who have trouble with her youth. She also talks about issues she's begun working on, including increasing late-night public ride services to discourage drunk driving, and better access to housing data for the two-thirds of the city who rent.

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013: Introducing The Primer...Lesson One: Bloomington as a Second-Class City Feb 01, 2024

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We're taking a break today to retool. Instead of our usual full-length interview, we're starting an occasional segment called The Primer. We don't want to assume that you have all the background you need to fully enjoy the show. The Primer is designed to give you that background.
In Primer lesson one, you'll get background on what exactly it means for Bloomington to be a "second-class" city in the state of Indiana, including how its executive and legislative branches work. We also explore the city's population figure and the role its biggest neighborhood plays in that figure.

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012: Buff Brown, Transportation Activist, in the Long Fight to Wean Bloomington from Cars Jan 31, 2024

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Our guest, Lawrence "Buff" Brown, has been a transportation planner for 20 years, working with INDOT, IDEM, the Columbus, Indiana, MPO, and cities on the west coast. Buff's childhood experiences in Bloomington included being able to bike freely around town, which instilled in him a profound appreciation for accessible urban spaces. In the nineties this led him to involvement in transportation policy starting with the Citizens Advisory Committee of the Bloomington MPO, and then the Traffic Commission. In 2004, he founded Bloomington Transportation Options for People, or B-TOP, to champion sustainable transportation solutions for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users, including by inviting academic experts to town to give public talks on transportation policy.

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011: Rev. Forrest Gilmore, Executive Director, Beacon Inc. Jan 30, 2024

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Rev. Forest Gilmore, an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, is the Executive Director of Beacon Inc. He discusses the evolution of the organization from its origins as the Shalom Center, established in 1999 as a response to the lack of daytime resources for people experiencing homelessness, as it gradually expanded its services over the years, including hunger relief, case management support, an overnight shelter, permanent housing, and street outreach.
Gilmore dispels common misconceptions about homelessness, emphasizing that it primarily stems from housing issues rather than personal choice or lack of employment, and that housing is the fundamental solution to homelessness. Furthermore, he addresses the challenges of substance use disorders and mental health within the homeless population, while also discussing Beacon Inc.'s future plans, including a new facility aimed at centralizing and expanding their services to better serve the community.

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010: The812's Digest for the Week of January 22 Jan 29, 2024

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Selected clips of last week's conversations with: City Councilmember Matt Flaherty, City Human Rights Director Michael Shermis, former Fire Chief and now candidate for the open District 5 Council seat Jason Moore, and Charlotte Zietlow, who was the city's first-ever female council president in 1972.

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009: Charlotte Zietlow: The City's First Female Council President Jan 26, 2024

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Charlotte Zietlow is well-known in Bloomington and Monroe County for many reasons. This episode focuses her time on the Bloomington City Council in the early 1970s -- the subject of her second book, "1971: How We Won". She talks about how the previous council was unresponsive to public input and concerns, motivating her to run for office. She campaigned on issues like zoning changes and lack of transparency. By 1972, she was one of ten newly elected city officials who had swept all but one incumbent out of office.
As the new council president, she led reforms to open up government and increase public participation. The new council addressed a long backlog of issues through committees and initiatives focused on social services, infrastructure, and the environment. After one term, Charlotte decided not to run for reelection when she disagreed with the mayor on an issue, instead running for mayor herself.

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008: Jason Moore, Candidate (1 of 3) for the Council District 5 Vacancy Jan 25, 2024

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Shruti Rana recently resigned as the District 5 representative on the Bloomington City Council. barely two weeks after being sworn in, to take a job out of state. This episode is the first of three to meet the candidates running to replace her: Courtney Daily, Jason Moore, and Jenny Stevens. (Invitations have been extended to Daily, Stevens and Rana; we hope to have them on the show as soon as possible.)

Citing his background as Bloomington's most recent fire chief, Jason Moore discusses his motivation for running, his experience with city budgets and public safety issues and weighs in on key issues like economic development, homelessness, and quality of life concerns.

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007: Michael Shermis, City Human Rights Director (Just One of Many Hats He Wears) Jan 24, 2024

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This episode features an interview with Michael Shermis, the city's Human Rights Director. It's probably good that he likes wearing hats: he's also the the Special Projects Coordinator for the city's Community and Family Resources Department, which earned him titles like the city's ADA Coordinator and liaison to the Council for Community Accessibility, the South Central Community Action Project, and the Nonprofit Alliance. He investigates claims of discrimination, ensures compliance with accessibility laws, and acts as a liaison to various groups focused on issues like disability rights, transportation, economic stability, and digital accessibility.

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