Mayoral Candidate Forum

On Tuesday, March 28, 2023, around 100 people came to the Crestmont Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington for a mayoral candidate forum hosted by Heading Home of South Central Indiana. The forum focused on topics regarding low-income housing and homelessness in Bloomington. 

The audience was filled with employees of local nonprofit agencies, supporters of specific candidates, and Bloomington community members and leaders. 

The co-sponsors for the event were the Community Foundation of Bloomington & Monroe County, United Way of Monroe County, South Central Housing Network, Bloomington Multi-Faith Alliance, IU Political and Civic Engagement (PACE), the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington, and South Central Community Action Program. 

Mayoral candidates Don Griffin Jr., Susan Sandberg and Kerry Thomson started the event by giving one minute statements. Following this, the candidates were asked questions by the event moderators: Mary Morgan, Director of Housing Security for Heading Home of South Central Indiana and Leon Gordon, Administrative Director of the Bloomington Housing Authority. Candidates had up to 90 seconds to answer each question. 

Candidates were asked questions about a variety of different things including their views on housing vouchers, engagement with Indiana University, zoning, encampments, and more.

Along with questions asked by the moderators, candidates also had the opportunity to pose a question to the audience through the Menti software. The moderators reported the audience responses to these questions throughout the forum.

To learn more about each candidate’s campaign, use the following links: Don Griffin’s website, Kerry Thomson’s website, and Susan Sandberg’s website. If you would like to watch the mayoral candidate forum, a link to a recording of the event can be found here.