When she ran for the City Council District 5 seat in last year’s Democratic Primary, Shruti Rana called a lot of attention to her aspiration to be the first woman of color to hold a Council seat. She has once again set a new precedent: We’ll leave it to local historians to confirm this, but if Rana’s tenure, which is set to end with her resignation February 7, isn’t the shortest stay in the Bloomington Council’s history, surely it’s a contender.
Rana and her family are moving to Columbia, Missouri, where she has already taken on the role of Assistant Vice Chancellor and Professor of Law at the University of Missouri. (The law school there also has found a position for Rana’s husband, David Gamage, as Law School Foundation Distinguished Professor of Tax Law and Policy.)
There is…a lot to say about this turn of events. Perhaps we’ll say some of it in coming weeks. A post-mortem on Rana’s election and ephemeral service to Bloomington might be fun. But we have more immediate concerns now.
For the second time in the 2023 election cycle, a Bloomington Council district will be represented by someone chosen by a single-digit number of Democratic Precinct Chairs — at least one of whom doesn’t even live in the district — as opposed to being elected by district voters.
That two out of six districts (the other being District 6, in which Sydney Zulich was similarly caucused in) will be represented this way is an unfortunate reflection on the state of representative democracy in Bloomington. It calls for some serious introspection within the Monroe County Democratic Party. But again, that’s a story for another day.
The immediate, urgent focus now has to be the selection of a new Council member to fill Rana’s seat, representing the southeastern corner of Bloomington. That job falls to nine district Precinct Chairs, who must caucus before March 7, 2024 (30 days after Rana vacates the seat). District 5 will be represented by the individual who can secure the votes of at least five of the Precinct Chairs.
As of this writing, only former Bloomington Fire Chief Jason Moore has publicly declared a candidacy to fill the seat. But the Electorate of Nine have already begun hearing from constituents with ideas. We gather that several District 5 residents have at least hinted that they are interested in serving. (But we’ll wait to hear the official announcements.)
However, we humbly submit that the choice is simple. District 5 has its share of residents who can claim records of service and accomplishments. But only one individual has actually been tested in a Primary campaign in which she made her case directly to District 5 voters, for why they should elect her to represent their unique interests in City Council deliberations.
Assuming that she still wants the seat, for City Council District 5, we enthusiastically re-endorse Jenny Stevens — Shruti Rana’s 2023 Primary opponent.
Stevens received 930 votes in the Primary, just shy of 42% of the total. Did the 1,291 who voted for Rana actually vote against Stevens? We don’t think that’s a fair assumption; it is rational to assume many of them actually liked Stevens, even if they ultimately preferred her opponent. (Stevens and Rana are both progressive Democrats with records of service to the community.)
We assume the District 5 opening will attract other aspirants. The process for selecting Rana’s successor is set out in state law; it is what it is. But it would be unfortunate if the recorded votes of 930 actual constituents were effectively voided so that the seat could be filled by someone never vetted by District 5 voters in open forums or canvassing, but instead selected by a congress of nine MCDP insiders.
Stevens is a grant administrator for the University of Cincinnati (she works remotely — she formerly did similar work for Indiana University, and has lived in Bloomington since 1995). She has a masters in Education Leadership from IU. Bloomington Dissident Democrats spoke to her at length in the run-up to the Primary, and endorsed her candidacy.
Her background in local politics is principally through her work as a volunteer organizer for the 2010 MCCSC referendum, needed after the State cut public school funding. She took the lead in organizing packets, parents, students, lists, maps and training for volunteers to speak to their neighbors about the referendum. She committed herself personally, she told us, because the previous MCCSC referendum (handled mainly by the school board) had failed. She lives in District 5, but canvassed all over Bloomington and Monroe County.
Asked what she sees as the principal issues in the district, Stevens cited public infrastructure — the water supply, sewer lines, sidewalk maintenance, road maintenance and the drivability of Bloomington, and some traffic calming constructs and bike lane development, which she says have made Bloomington harder to navigate. She noted that the city’s recent proliferation of student housing development impacts demands on the infrastructure and sometimes seems out of character with previous building initiatives. The development at the former Kmart site, which she gave as an example, has a footprint that is in close proximity to roadways and, she asserted, is poised to congest traffic.
She also saw a concern among District 5 residents with citizen safety in public spaces, citing the 6% increase in violent crime in Bloomington last year. And she cited sharply rising property value assessments, resulting in increased property taxes that have coincided with increased water/sewer rates. Stevens flagged this as problematic for residents on fixed incomes.
Stevens promised a focus on infrastructure investments, public safety budgets and initiatives, and systems and services that impact housing affordability, i.e. tax rates and service cost increases. In her forum presentations, she emphasized her background in analyzing budgets and financial statements. She struck us as numerate and deep enough to ask the hard questions when budget cycles roll around.
And she came across as down-to-earth, a welcome impression in a town where political discourse tends to drift into macro issues of idealistic aspiration — big issues that are compelling but beyond the realistic scope of a small city’s local government. Her objectives seem realistic. She wants local government to focus on making sure the city is paying its 800+ employees a livable wage, that housing is affordable and attainable, that the public education system is strong, and that access to healthcare is achievable.
On Bloomington’s upzoning — one of the most consequential and divisive initiatives the city has seen in decades, and a core issue for Bloomington Dissident Democrats — Stevens suggested the elimination of single-family zoning “needs further study.” But she frankly opposed the blanket imposition of upzoning pushed by the Hamilton Administration, noting that what happens within and around neighborhoods impacts quality of life measures that matter to permanent residents. “It is important that developer rights do not supersede developed neighborhood rights,” she stated, adding that zoning policy needs to meaningfully involve neighborhood residents and businesses.
We found Jenny Stevens wholly qualified to sit on the Council, and we felt at the time that she had a somewhat broader and sharper vision of the local issues District 5 residents are talking about than her opponent had. We believe, now, that District 5 would be best served if the Precinct chairs vote to award the seat to the one candidate who already has satisfied 42% of the district’s actual voters that she effectively represents their interests. For the sake of District 5’s confidence in the city’s representative democracy, we urge the panel to put Stevens on the Council dais.
The Dissident Democrat 