B-Town – lee-lawmaster.com

Promises Kept

October 23rd, 2022 was a grand day for Star Trek, Bloomington & The Janeway Collective. On that day, Kate Mulgrew kept the promise she made on October 24th, 2020 when The Janeway Statue was unveiled.

On that cold, socially distanced day in 2020 she made a promise that she would come visit, and that it would be a great day. She was right.

The stars aligned and we were able to have an event with Kate. So many questions had to be answered, so many problems solved to make it happen however. Unfortunately, with my back problems and job change I hadn’t been able to give what I gave to the unveiling.

Event space near the statue was expensive, prohibitively. But the old Woolery Mill, that has been revamped by One World Enterprises wasn’t. It was out of town compared to the statue and other options, but it was overly welcoming. It was there where we held an event titled “A Conversation with Kate” which was a sell out, with close to 500 in attendance. The maximum occupancy was 520.

Kate had a long day that day, driving all the way from Iowa where she is from. Arriving at the statue I’m sure she was a combination of tired and excited at the same time, as we had roughly the same audience size in attendance as we did for the unveiling. There was also plenty of media there, from Indiana Public Media, to The Bloomingtonian, our own crew that was recording and streaming the goings on via Facebook, and a few others that I didn’t know or recognize.

While at the statue, Kate gave a speech and then took some photos. Due to the size of the crowd, and an angry older lady with a walker – the situation quickly became one of fear of the security of our esteemed guest. So I, our security team and other members of the collective quickly formed a bubble and whisked Ms. Mulgrew away.

We then proceeded to the event space, where I had helped do some setup. The event began with The Nerdy Flutist, who had also played at the statue before Kate arrived. She and her friends had made some videos on Tik Tok. It was then that I knew we had to invite her for such an event. I’m very happy the collective continued my motivations.

@thenerdyflutist
It’s been a while since I posted this, and now the @janewaystatue is on TikTok! #startrek #voyager #janeway #janewaystatue #trektok #trektokcrew #nx85313 #nxcosplay #flutequartet
♬ Voyager Flute Quartet – TheNerdyFlutist | Kelly 🎶

This is the video in question

When she was done with her set, Kate made her way to the stage. I’ll never forget Kelly’s words on the experience for her. As Kate bowed to her, it made her feel appreciated, it made her feel seen and loved. And loved she is, for just being herself.

After the event, we had a private dinner with Kate at The Irish Lion. I was told only the board would be present, but we had some other guests including said flutist, who sat next to me. She felt like she was in a dream that she didn’t want to wake from, and I was so happy for her. I told Kate about how the place we were having dinner was featured on the TV show Cheers, which she was on several times. It was a great day, and a great evening.

In many ways, it was the dream realized for the rag tag group of people that got together in 2019 wanting to build a statue for “our” captain.

POP! Goes the Back

Saturday night as I was laying down to go to bed, a large POP and CRACK occurred in my back. I’ve been dealing with this bulged disk for over a year now. Was this a good sign or a bad one?

So far, the news is positive. The nerve pain I have been having has almost disappeared. I still have some slight issues, but nowhere near what I was having.

This means I can actually stand without my leg going numb completely. I still have some numbness, but nowhere near the levels that I had previously.

I plan on getting a hold of the spinal specialist I saw previously to have another CT scan done to see if there are indeed any changes. If so, I definitely won’t have to have any surgery. Something I was genuinely worried about.

I felt so good that I was able to go out and see a couple of friends, one of which was in town from Milwaukee for the LOTUS festival. I had planned on seeing them during the festival, but my back had been hurting so much I barely moved the entire weekend.

Taylor, meet Taylor

My eldest princess turned 23 last week. She has decided to live a very private life, so I take whatever opportunity I can get with her. A few days before her birthday I found out that Taylor Tomlinson was going to play the Comedy Attic that weekend.

This screamed PERFECT to me. As she speaks about her hangups with anxiety, depression and even bipolar disorder in her routine. About what life is like for the 20 something crowd. There was one problem though, and that was the fact that all of her shows were sold out.

I almost got tickets for her show the night of my daughter’s birthday, but it was too late. I would have showed up late, I didn’t want that. I woke up Saturday in complete and utter pain. I just wasted the day away, figuring out what I was going to do. My little girl deserved to know her dad loves her, she deserved to know that she is my princess, and she will always deserve everything I can give her – even if she doesn’t want it.

Luck would be on my side, as I was able to score tickets to her last show of the weekend. I then had another issue, my daughter is much like her father at that age. Sleeping is hard, waking up is even harder. I wasn’t going to waste the tickets – but I was definitely worried that we weren’t going to make it in time.

She killed it, and I loved the time with my Taylor who I’ve taken to see 2 famous other Taylors now. This should be a thing that I do, and I know she appreciates it.

Thrust into the Spotlight

While annexation in Bloomington is primarily a dead issue, areas 1A and 1B were not successful in completely squashing the attempt. They did however achieve enough verified petitions for remonstrance to have the case reviewed by a judge.

I have been keeping an eye on the social media site NextDoor, where my Township Trustee typically makes her official statements. There seemed to be an outcry of people wanting to raise funds and hire an attorney to use this final tool given to them by the state.

I told her when this all began that I would do whatever I could, whenever I could. So I began a gofundme for the explicit purpose of raising those funds, based on the leadership I had been provided by my Township Trustee.

https://gofund.me/66bb55b6

I did not want to share this personally, this issue does not affect me directly. Legally I have no say in how this annexation goes as I am not being annexed. Sure I can have an opinion, and I do. I would rather leave opinions to the side however. I did feel that informing the local press might be a good idea though, so I reached out to a personal hero who was a journalist for a long time to seek guidance on writing a press release.

He gave me a extensive and amazing primer that I followed. I then sent it to 3 outlets, with another asking for it the next day.

This led to being interviewed by 3 news outlets and a journalism student that another friend decided he would sic on me. Thanks Leo.

The first thing to hit was the front page of the Herald-Times on March 8th, 2022.

Then, on Friday March 11th I was on WFIU and WTIU (our local PBS affiliate). They used an audio clip of me and a video clip.

Meanwhile, it appeared to me that the wind that was in the sails from the people I looked to in this entire situation had to step aside. I’m no politician and I will never understand the games they play.

I felt a large responsibility to all of those who had donated. With the help of some volunteers upwards of 30 attorneys were called. Most of which have either not returned calls or stated that they had a “conflict of interest.” The lawyer I was originally told was going to take the case had to step down for similar reasons, and another I had spoken with was relying upon a local attorney to file the case before he would become involved. There is one local attorney that several referred me to, but I have still not received any communications from him. He is apparently “the” guy for this exact situation.

If you were paying close attention to the video clip, you will notice the County Residents Against Annexation sign. I had seen them in some of the more influential and better off areas of the county, but not mine. We had our own signs. It soon become clear that they were some sort of power as people would cite them as they stated they could not longer help with this effort.

Nevertheless I persisted.

I had a phone call with the president of CRAA, who introduced herself to me by boasting about accomplishments and listing “things” she had done, overall trying to somehow impress me. It only did the opposite. She then crossed the boundary, she asked that I give them all of the funds raised in the gofundme.

I have since received several negative messages about this organization through the gofundme. I’ve received many messages from it, I have responded to most of them in kind.

CRAA from what I know has not focused on the area I live near, but the areas ripe with cash and/or retirees. I do not know them from Adam nor will I speak on behalf of them.

I will however work with them (as difficult as it has been at times) to complete the mission, to let the residents use all tools legally available to them to stop this over reaching annexation by the city of Bloomington. An action that is really tantamount to a tax heist. When looking at the balance sheet, across the board the only org with a positive change are the city’s coffers. Even the public schools and county library will lose money. For me, that’s a non-starter.

I have not hidden behind an organization, I have used my name. In the end when dealing with community issues that is akin to putting it all on the line. The only way to be is to be honorable and moral. If I didn’t follow the will of my community members, I can literally see a “torches and pitchforks” situation occurring.

This has definitely been a very interesting experience in local political theater, reaffirming why my feelings of anarchy run deep to my core. My love for my immediate neighbors however will never fail or falter.

I’m Tired Boss

I’m writing this blog post early on a Saturday morning while I give technology assistance for a series of talks being given by pediatric healthcare professionals, one of which being my own pediatrician who was also the pediatrician for my own daughters.

The first part of the week was extremely difficult on my body, still primarily in significant amounts of pain from my still not completely but partially diagnosed problem. The department I work for remodeled two office spaces. While they hired moving and setups to move the equipment out, they wanted me to move it all back. Sigh.

So I got to work on Monday, and spent most of the week ensuring it was all done. That said, in their grand plan they didn’t consider the infrastructure that was also needed to be moved during this remodel. Since I wasn’t even consulted about any of this, a new and ever increasing trend, I am going to let them lay in the bed they made. I had to run a cable across one room so a computer would have network access.

A office, created from what was open space

Then, the real bang for the week. I seem to have become a “figure” in the county’s continued fight against Annexation by the city of Bloomington, which I have written about before:
https://lee-lawmaster.com/no/
https://lee-lawmaster.com/a-nail-in-the-coffin/

My township trustee typically places her official communications to community members on the social media site NextDoor. On one post in particular, many were asking about how we can take the next (and final step) in fighting annexation, taking our case to court as we are allowed to by law. I use the word “we” metaphorically as I am not a member of any areas that are being annexed. Several asked about the creation of a go-fund-me as a common place to donate funds to hire counsel and get the process started.

This is when my “man of action” senses took over, and I made one. I then told all in that thread about it, providing them the link and told them to share. It has kind of blown up.

The township trustee said we would need a minimum of $10,000 to hire counsel, so I set the goal accordingly. I have heard from several in the business community who want to provide large donations as well. Per state law, if the case is sided for the remonstrators, they (members of the class to be annexed) can receive up to $37,500 back for legal fees.

Unaware of what attention this was getting, not seeing any mention of this on any other social media platforms, I reached out to a man I admire. He’s an amazing photojournalist and a self described pirate. He runs a respected news outlet locally that I try to support as much as possible, The Bloomingtonian. He asked for a press release and the wheels started spinning in my mind. I also had a phone conversation with the man that runs B Square Beacon. He said that he would put it in his daily release as a bullet point. I had never spoken or interacted with him before, it was kind of exciting.

I can barely write, now to write a structured document that you spread far and wide? HOW? So I reached out to a hero and friend of mine that knows a thing or two about press releases, Joe Nickell. In his very peculiar yet amazing way he gave me a 101 course on how to write one, including a couple of his own examples. I was off to the races.

Using Joe’s guidance, I wrote it and sent it to both places I previously mentioned plus the Herald Times, our “local” paper that has been taken over by a mega corp. Then I told my friend Michael Leonard about it, who runs The B-Town Bee and is a former long time columnist with the Herald Times. He said he would sic one of his journalism students on me, and HE DID. Gee, thanks there pal.

The Herald Times government reporter wanted to interview me, and before I knew it I was getting texts from an unknown number that was that journalism student. The reporter for the Herald Times said that they are putting a piece together for publication on Monday. The journalism student interviewed me as well, and introduced herself as being with the IDS (the IU Student newspaper) instead of being personal.

I have had almost daily calls with my township trustee as updates to the ongoing situation and feel as if I’ve become a central figure to this. I was just trying to help my neighbors, I love my neighbors and I love the area in which I grew up and live to this day.

I also received an odd email from a person representing a “news” site I had never heard of, The Lawrence County Zephyr. My youngest daughter, who lives in Lawrence county had never heard of it either. I sent him the press release and he published it.

The Gist of It

5 of 7 areas Bloomington wanted to annex received enough petitions for remonstrance to stop it, pending any litigation the city may file due to their believe that a state law that created an expiration date for utility waivers is unconstitutional. 2 of the areas received enough petitions for remonstrance to take their cases to court and be ruled by a judge.

Stolen from B Square Beacon and highly appreciated

State law states the court filing has to be done within 15 working days of the auditors released findings. Hence the rush. This is the only tool my neighbors in 1A have to use to stop this annexation from happening. We cannot leave 1B in the cold, and have been inclusive of them as well.

This annexation has been full of drama, with the state passing a law that was later ruled unconstitutional that stopped it for a few years. It’s also wide swathing with little promises for a big price.

Personally I call it a tax heist, as the tax rates for these areas will in some cases more than double, with those funds going to the city. My own tax rates will rise 26% per a county council member. Many question if any services the city promises will deliver will ever be delivered. This can also remove choice from the table for many people in these areas. The police department is under staffed and under paid, this will add to the stresses they are already facing, creating an even more hostile police force. The public school system that covers most of the county, MCCSC will also lose over 1 million dollars annually, at last I read.

Thankfully in the time period between when the first attempt was stopped and the second began, our township fire departments got together and created a Fire Protection District, which is protected from annexations. Originally the city was going to severely gut these fire departments, which are a staple in the communities they serve. A major factor in my choice to purchase a home where I did was it’s vicinity to a particular fire station.

It has required an increase in property taxes – but one I appreciate. Something the city does not exactly understand. They just put out bonds for millions of dollars and increase taxes on it’s residents to pay for it. Members of the city council have stated that they don’t listen to the people that elected them. I want nothing to do with the city, and showed as such during the first “informational” meeting they held. This meeting was just city hall full of signs, there was no actual meeting.

I Can Still Smell the Bowling Alley

Over the years, my stepmother has found odds and ends that were my dad’s. When she does, she lets me know about the items and asks me if I would like them. One time she found a bowling trophy, and I definitely wanted it.

While it was sitting on my couch, it fell off onto my carpeted floor for some reason and the pot metal figure broke. What do I do? The trophy wasn’t exactly important, but the information contained on it was to me. It documents a time and age that no longer exists.

I reached out to the Engraving & Stamp Center, which is the only place I know of locally that creates such items. The timing was bad unfortunately, as the COVID-19 Pandemic had just begun, and the climate was strange for just about anything.

I made an appointment, and we found a figurine that was almost identical to the original one. I was told I would get a call back when it was done, but didn’t hear anything back until yesterday.

It’s not a large trophy, my own baseball trophy is larger. It’s the words on the plate that matter more.

WESTINGHOUSE MIXED 82-83
HIGH GAME HDCP . -285
RICHARD

Westinghouse was the company my father worked for from 1969 until 1999 when they shut down. He was 6 months shy of receiving a full retirement when they closed, and spent the rest of his life trying to get “something” of those 30 years he spent there as an employee.

My maternal grandmother and grandfather worked there as well, with her retiring shortly before they closed, and he passing away on his job in 1988.

The name Westinghouse doesn’t mean much to most anymore, but it will always hold a special place in my heart. The income derived from the positions my family held with the company provided us with a decent life, a life that didn’t worry about where we would get our next meal, or if we would have a roof over our head.

Locally, they produced power distribution equipment, such as lightning arrestors.

My father has a different award regarding what they produced at the factory, this is more about the community that was found in the blue collar side of my home town.

They all had bowling leagues, softball leagues and I’m sure other sports leagues that included their own fields on company property and comradery that I haven’t experienced really. RCA and OTIS even had Christmas events for the children of employees, where each child got to meet Santa and receive a Chistmas present.

When I was 12, my mother was working for General Electric (one of the other large manufacturers in town, that I would eventually work for) and was playing in their softball league. She recruited me to help with her team. This was my first experience first hand with the social lives of the industrial workers in the area. I was told that I would be playing for the C-83 team, not knowing a thing about the organization of large industrial complexes, I took my cubs hat and took a square piece of paper that said 83, displaying C 83. We played a game against C-80 (the area of the plant where I would eventually work). It was a great time.

Sure, there are recreational sports leagues for all. There’s just something special when those leagues are with the people you work with. This is the Bloomington I grew up in. This is the Bloomington I miss. This is the Bloomington that made it a small town. This is the Bloomington that it seems to want to forget. This is the Bloomington I will never forget.

Stepping down, but not away

As I’m sure I’ve written about here, I am one of the original members of The Janeway Collective. We built a little birthplace statue in honor of a Star Trek captain who will be born in my hometown in the future.

Over the past year, I have been the President, as voted by the board. While incredibly humbled by that, I’ve never been a large fan of leadership. I still feel that I’m at that point of life where I seek out the more adult people.

Life has handed me many blows in the past few months, I’m beginning to think that a Voodoo priestess placed a hex on me. The problems didn’t really start until I returned from what can only be called an amazing vacation in New Orleans.

I have come to find that I need to let go of anything that is keeping me from my mental focus, my professional focus, and the projects that I have that are piling up has become overwhelming. Our elections are taking place right now, and I did not want to continue the role of President. I took one step further however and also stepped down from the board. I will continue in an administrative role. I will stay a member for the rest of my natural life. If I feel that I want to join the board again, I will wait until the next election cycle and let the board know.

As my last act, I sent the following email to the board. I feel that it’s proper to share here, on my personal blog.

Hello to the greater collective!

I write this message as your outgoing president. As many of you know, I am not one who seeks leadership, to the point where I actually despise it. I am one who sees problems and finds the ways to resolve said problems. It’s what I make a living doing.

After the unveiling, I saw a lot of things I did not like. I saw hopes and dreams falling by the wayside due to ego and in many cases, greed. This is not a collective, and behaviors I hope to never see again in this ever growing group. This is why I formally incorporated us, this is why I pushed to get by laws in place and get us that coveted 501c3 status.

In many ways, this is why I was voted to be president. I will always be appreciative and humbled by it.

With that, came opportunity. I got us our own Google Workspace environment, which includes many things I have seen few use. We have Amazon Smile, Kroger Community Rewards and other resources that could be used more as well.

As Peter once again takes the helm, I have a few things I must say beforehand.

Effective this evening, I will be rescinding my nomination for a seat on the board. While this project, and this group helped me survive the pandemic, other things in my life have presented themselves that I must focus on. I will remain a member for life, and I may want to be on the board again at another date.

I will remain as an administrator, unless there comes a time when the board wants to replace me with another. I have no issue executing any and all requests for updates/changes to anything. I take the word “Collective” very seriously, and always have. Is something wrong with our email, website, PayPal, etc etc? Just get a hold of me. We will fix it! I am not the one who shall not be named.

I will remain our agent on record for both the federal government and state government. A large reminder, as the year draws to a close, there is paperwork that needs to be submitted to both entities in different time frames.

I have the bust mold, the Janeway Cutout and lots of official paperwork on the formation and our official 501c3 determination paperwork as well. If it is ever decided that it should be held by another party, they are not being held hostage. Many of you know many and varied ways to contact me.

I have 0 issue in continuing the meeting on IU’s Zoom instance housed on my personal IU account. However, I feel it would be best if we move away from IU’s list system for communications in favor of the Google Group system that could be utilized. The more we stand on our own feet, the better. Our yearly expenses are under $1000 a year, which encompasses insurance, all inclusive website costs, and Quickbooks Online.

I would like to see the collective make some strategic moves financially. For example, the creation of additional accounts for our known expenses, event funds, scholarship funds, etc. Then it’s just a matter of funding them and making the mark. I don’t know if non-profits can utilize investments – but that is also a good thing to look into.

It is my wish that upon the change of officer/titled positions, a peaceful transfer of email accounts occurs. This way each office will keep the information it needs and or works with. There should be an accumulation of information, not a lack of. I will be handing this account over to Peter after our meeting this evening.

I have uploaded all usernames/passwords that are not already available to the board to the drive, sans the president, lee and admin google accounts. I have also uploaded all of the documents I created in an attempt to create a membership card, including an excel spreadsheet with a current list of our members (we have 13 right now). I will also upload all of the files I have on my computer, for the collective to use as it pleases. Many of these files are probably duplicate/triplicate of ones we already have.

Our website has an issue that needs to be attended to in a few months, and is something I have been meaning to communicate to the collective but have not. At the time we created it, we had no actual business entity. Due to this, it was all placed upon my account within the provider Namecheap. I have since moved the domain to our business account with them, but the EasyWP service cannot be transferred. It will require a purchase of a new EasyWP iteration, with an export/import of data to it from our old one. This process is not complicated or hard – but will require our website be down for a period of time.

The QR code on the informational table still needs to be changed. My best suggestion is to have Anywhere Signs create a new one and install it using epoxy. There is a Donors page (what the original one links to) on our website.

This is not a goodbye. This is a see you later. I am extremely proud that these collective groups were able to come together and accomplish such a task. The owner of the Comedy Attic named me, “The Man Who Hates Bloomington the Most” one evening in the green room (which is really green btw). I am spending more and more time away from our fair city, and it is a disservice to all of you if I cannot provide the focus I used to have. I do not know when this focus will return. I will always be with the collective in spirit, and hope I have only helped build a foundation that lasts for perpetuity, and that the dreams of scholarships for STEAM, and ways to be a beacon of equality in this world become reality.

I could write and write and write, but will end this message for now. I will see you all this evening.

LLAP,

Lee Lawmaster

President

What a Week

This week has been full of accomplishments for me as the president of The Janeway Collective.

I was working on a couple of things at the same time that came out beautifully. I will write about each one separately.

May 20th is the birthday of our namesake. A date we decided based upon a listing in the library of congress. It was one of our first points of order actually, as an “exact” date was not set in stone as it is now.

We wanted to have a celebration much like our unveiling but unfortunately were unable to; partially due to the pandemic but also due to our other goings on. But we had a couple of things in mind. To petition the City of Bloomington to declare the day Janeway Day, and to ask persons attached to the show to give the captain some birthday greetings. We accomplished that goal.

The Video

With our former “Media Director” firmly banned from the Collective, it was on me to put together an easily digestible video for our fans, and fans of the good captain. While I certainly have the skills to edit video, I have never considered myself an editor. More of a “cut and chop” guy that fixes errors or removes flaws.

When we received the first two of four videos we received; I was given inspiration by the singing of “Happy birthday.” The song has built in pauses, which give an opportunity. Everyone knows that song. To most, just a video of that would be quite boring, not entertaining. So I intertwined a portion of each clip in those pauses. Nothing fancy; but it really didn’t need to be.

I then had to do some work on our logo for the credits at the end. Our existing logo, created by the aforementioned Media Director, was only suitable for display on white/light backgrounds. I was using a black one. I knew how to invert colors in Photoshop but it became far more complex than the video editing. The red in our logo spilled over into other areas, something I still need to touch up actually. Thankfully it was not noticeable however.

We released the video on her birthday, and I felt proud. The response was overwhelmingly positive. I even sent it to the man to whom I’ve always considered the standard to be judged by with regards to video editing, Editor B.

The actress who played Captain Janeway, Kate Mulgrew liked it so much that she asked the Collective to tweet it so she could re-tweet it. I felt honored. While it wasn’t my words, or my voice, it was my work.

Without further ado, I present to you the video:

Kathryn Janeway Day

Several of us have connections to people on the Bloomington City (common) council. In early April I reached out to my friend and contact, Steve Volan about it. The council had just dealt with some heavy issues and he told me now was not a good time. To wait a few weeks and ask again. So I did.

I also found a “proclamation” template and filled it out accordingly. Steve suggested some edits; which were completely understandable and made. He said he would be in touch. I then waited; somewhat impatiently. We wanted to be able to announce this, but we had to know. We didn’t know proper procedure, and we didn’t want to do anything that would upset the city in this regard.

The night of May 19th, I watched the live stream of the city council meeting; but I did not see a word of the proclamation. My only other experience with such matters was pre-pandemic and was announced at the meeting itself. I assumed the same would happen.

The morning of May 21st, as I woke up I found an email from Steve, with a scanned PDF of the proclamation attached with an invitation to city hall to pickup a physical version.

YES! We had done it. I told Steve how appreciative I was, as he and I have had a rough personal history due to the previous annexation issue that I wrote about previously. I only hope I have continued to show him that I am his friend even if we disagree on some local political points of view.

I picked up the physical copy the same day

The Collective is going through a major stage in transformation right now, as we work on the foundation of being our own non-profit. These things are a definite boost to not just morale but goodwill.

Non-Profit Creator

That’s a line I should add to my resume. It’s not something I was ever interested in. Along with others I was a part of the creation of The Janeway Collective, and built a statue for a certain Star Trek captain.

After our unveiling on October 24th, 2020 our group was in free fall. There were several arguments that led up to that point that spilled over afterwards; ones based on items I was not involved in nor had real decision making capabilities on. Something had to be done, or this trip was over.

The Reddit contingent saw more to be done. The possibility of scholarships, to be stewards of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics). I told both of my daughters that this was a lifelong commitment. I meant that.

So I did what I do, when indecision is running rampant; and I see a clear path forward, I make that decision. Firstly, I incorporated the Janeway Collective as a non-profit. I then applied for an EIN for us. We then had to make and agree to a set of by-laws to govern our activities. Once that was complete; I applied for federal 501c3 non-profit status, which involved a $250 fee.

Then we waited, and waited some more.

The first sign of anything was a response from the IRS, asking for our income/expenses over the last 3 years. Thankfully we had that information, which I was able to provide to them. They also had a few other questions; which we were able to answer quickly.

Last Sunday night, I checked my mailbox and inside of it was a singular envelope from the IRS. IT WAS A DETERMINATION LETTER! We did it. It was a group effort, but I did a lot of the leg work needed.

I then applied and received state designation on the same day.

We are now able to give Artisan Alley our 30 days notice. While they did us a world of good when it came to raising funds, and connecting us with artists for the statue; the rest has been quite over reaching. We have been obligated to name them in anything we do, but I have not seen anything in kind done for us. It’s quite frustrating.

Financially it has been draining as well, as they have charged us a pretty steep amount, monthly for well over a year now. We don’t sell things; we aren’t in the business of “making money.” Each dollar we receive really counts. From a simple point of view, that cost has been HUGE for not much benefit received.

I’m excited for the future of The Janeway Collective. I am proud that the cornerstone of my presidency will be this. I am incredibly happy that most of the original people have stayed on. I’m also exicted about our new people; and what marks they may leave on this legacy I am happy to be a part of.

A Nail in the Coffin

This week, the Bloomington city (common) council voted yes on amendment 2 of the UDO (unified development ordinance), which allows residential properties that are zoned as “single family” to be converted to a “plex” meaning there can be multiple residences on that property.

It has caused a large outcry with many, for reasons I completely understand. I will try to outline my points of view with this post.

The city of Bloomington has for as long as I can remember, and for as long as we’ve had a university presence, had issues with housing. In the beginning the students stayed with families who had extra space, paying them for their trouble; and helping out with their household.

The price of housing for those not affiliated with the university, the life long residents; has been out of line with the earned wages in the community for as long as I have a memory. My mother would move constantly simply because the price of her rent would increase; sometimes by $100 a month.

Fast forward 30 years. We are in a housing crisis. It is almost impossible to find an apartment under $700 a month. There is an entire industry of apartment complexes that rent by the bedroom to mask the true amount the apartment rents for, which in many cases is $2500.

Most of the construction happening in our area is focused directly to the student population; one that typically does not have to worry about the normal struggles life brings. Beginning in the late 1990’s, this construction has filled our downtown area with an ugly form of architecture that is plaguing our country. I call it “The future ruins of Bloomington” as an ode to what the Bloomington of my youth was called. There has been no sign of it letting up either.

Those who can afford to purchase a home keep facing an ever upward trending slope of pricing that invites those coming from the coasts as “cheap” and “affordable”, directly pricing those who live and work here out of the market. Many are forced to the surrounding counties to find affordable housing.

When I do the math; I cannot afford a more expensive place than what I have lived in for the past 15 years. AND I MAKE THE MOST I EVER HAVE. Almost double the median income level for Bloomington per The US Census. The only way to increase my income in my job title is to move to San Francisco or Washington D.C. Meanwhile, a home just up the road from me that had been abandoned for years was flipped. It was purchased for $60k, and placed on the market after remodeling it for more than 10x the original purchase price! They have since dropped the original asking price by $80k, and for all purposes the home no longer appears to be for sale.

While wages have increased significantly in the area; the housing market has increased even more. There’s no chance to get ahead, many are forced to choose between food or electricity, etc.

While the more affluent neighborhoods of Bloomington, with their historical and stately homes will not be affected by the UDO and plexes, the poorer ones are under direct and immediate attack. Those working class neighborhoods will be priced out of the homes they worked hard for due to a mix of tax rates and plexes increasing the values of the area to a point where they can no longer afford to live there.

Due to the Indiana state legislature’s all out attack on “home rule”, the city officially does not have many tools in their toolbox to give assistance or regulate housing costs. They clearly saw this as a method to help ease the ever increasing pressure on our local housing market. When your only choices aren’t what you ideally want; but something that helps – I get it. I just believe it’s a wrong move, one that will dramatically change the nature and character of the city in coming years.

This gives monied interests another tool to continue the plundering of the city for their own financial gain. Instead of remodeling a home; turn it into a quad-plex and make 4 times as much!

At the same time; Annexation is on again. So these policies will move to other areas that are ripe for that sort of development if it passes.

I still can’t help but see these policies as a sign from the city that they are broke. The debits are more than the credits. Prior to all of this, the Mayor pushed to increase the income tax rate for the entire county; to which the city council has a majority vote on. All other boards put out messages of non-support; and the city council did not put up enough votes to make it happen.

Yet, a 25 million dollar park with bond the city tax payers are paying for is a good use of money? A park that more and more, I see reports of issues with families encountering homeless shooting up heroin and or having sex in public bathrooms.

Which brings me back to my original point; our homeless population is exploding simply due to the sheer expense of housing. Yet the city is doing everything to attack them, not support them.

Please, sign me up. I totally want to be a part of this, said no person ever.