BLM Btown's 2023 Voter's Guide -Short & Long Form
This is BLM Btown's Grading Rubric we assess all candidates based on this grading rubric. While the questionnaire weights heavily in our decision making we also take into account the candidate political career if they have served before as an elected official, their campaign platform & performances at candidate forums, and their public persona especially if they have never held office.
Basic grading rubric for all candidate questions: Awareness Position Vision Voices at the Table Commitment & Effectiveness Passion & Comportment Assessment Guide: Strongly Agree Mildly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Mildly Disagree Strongly Disagree N/A |
2023 Primary Voters Guide Short Form
This guide is a short 'at the polls" guide meant for easy to access information about the candidates we assessed in our 2022 Primary Candidate Questionnaire
Here is a downloadable version of our Short Form "At the Polls" Voters Guide

primaryvotersguideshortform_2023.pdf | |
File Size: | 68 kb |
File Type: |
2023 Primary Voters Guide Long Form
All primary candidates received a questionnaire covering issues vitally important to the mission goals and values of #BLM Btown who then evaluated and rated each candidate’s responses for voters. These assessments are provided to voters for informational purposes. Black Lives Matter does NOT endorse specific candidates. BELOW is both a downloadable longform voters guide and the digital long form guide. Additionally the complete compiled answers from ALL of the candidates that answered our questionnaire is available as to download as a PDF.
BLM Btown’s Long Form 2023 Primary Election Voters Guide
Here is a PDF version of the Long Form Voters Guide or you can look below to see the digital long form guide!

blm_btown’s_long_form_2023_primary_election_voters_guide.pdf | |
File Size: | 97 kb |
File Type: |
Mayoral Candidates:
Don Griffin
Awareness: Strongly Agree
Position: Mildly Agree
Vision: Mildly Agree
Voices at the Table: Mildly Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Agree
Passion & Comportment: Strongly Agree
Overall: Mildly Agree
Don Griffin’s responses show a commitment to addressing injustices across the board and to fostering belonging for all marginalized residents of Bloomington. His positions are thoughtfully considered and detailed. His passion and commitment is clear even if we are not in sync with all of his positioning with respect to the police he is clearly open to other ideas and new ways at solving the problems BIPOC folks face in Bloomington. He has supported BLM Btown’s concerns in the halls of power in our community. Additionally we must clearly mention he has donated to BLM Btown in the past but not during his run for mayor.
Susan Sandberg
Awareness: Mildly Disagree
Position: Mildly Disagree
Vision: Strongly Disagree
Voices at the Table: Mildly Disagree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Disagree
Passion & Comportment: Disagree
Overall: Mildly Disagree
Susan Sandberg’s responses highlight her own positionality as a cis-woman and her historical commitment to cis-women’s issues in Bloomington. Her responses suggest less familiarity with how injustice impacts BIPOC members of the community or the intersectionality of those injustices. Reading between the lines she is pro-police to the exclusion of hearing the real statistics of what increasing police does in a community to BIPOC & other marginalized people. She also calls attention to her experience on the City Council, suggesting that she would like Bloomington to continue on the course it is currently on when it comes to policing, housing, and food justice. Sandberg’s responses offer little vision for a Bloomington future that is different from the present.
Kerry Thomson
Awareness: Mildly Disagree
Position: Mildly Disagree
Vision: Disagree
Voices at the Table: Mildly Disagree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Disagree
Passion & Comportment: Disagree
Overall: Mildly Disagree
Kerry Thomson provided very little details and seemed to have zero understanding or knowledge of BLM as a larger social movement of the work BLM Btown has done within our own community. It appears as though she didn’t even read our website “about” section nor google our organization to read articles. The only question she responded to with any amount of in depth knowledge was the LGBTQ folks but left out the intersection of BIPOC folks from her answer. Showing that her allyship is not intersectional.
City Clerk
Nicole Bolden
Awareness: Strongly Agree
Position: Strongly Agree
Vision: Agree
Voices at the Table: Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Strongly Agree
Passion & Comportment: Strongly Agree
Overall: Strongly Agree
Nicole Bolden as a Black Queer woman, she is very clear on the intersectionality of the anti-racist issues at the heart of BLM Btown’s questionnaire. She identifies many of the systemic white supremacist issues in our community from lower salaries for BIPOC folks to racist dog whistles in local elections. We would like to see more elaboration in her ideas for a prison free society and more details about restorative justice. While the Clerk’s job is not a policy making job per se Bolden does a good job of educating us on her beliefs and understanding of the issues at hand.
At-Large Seat City Council:
Isak Asare
Awareness: Strongly Agree
Position: Strongly Agree
Vision: Strongly Agree
Voices at the Table: Strongly Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Mildly Agree
Passion & Comportment: Strongly Agree
Overall: Strongly Agree
Isak Asare’s responses show a vast and comprehensive, intersectional understanding of the broad spectrum of injustices that face Bloomington residents. He also expresses a bold vision of what true justice would look like. Additionally his visions for how to help bring about food justice are much needed ideas for our community. He not only understood the questions and their intentions but also knew how to answer them in his own voice with his education, experience and creative knowledge.
Matt Flaherty
Awareness: Mildly Agree
Position: Mildly Agree
Vision: Mildly Agree
Voices at the Table: Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Mildly Agree
Passion & Comportment: Agree
Overall: Mildly Agree
Matt Flarherty is one of the most progressive voices on the city council. Flaherty’s responses show a comprehensive understanding of the broad spectrum of injustices that face Bloomington residents. He roots his vision of a more just city in his experience on the City Council and the many shortcomings that institution currently has. Flaherty’s plans (especially for low-income housing) are detailed and rooted in research. Flaherty also demonstrates that even within the confines of city councils rules, there is still room to change how the council functions to move it towards more liberatory work in our community.
Andy Ruff
Awareness: Mildly Disagree
Position: Mildly Disagree
Vision: Mildly Disagree
Voices at the Table: Mildly Disagree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Mildly Disagree
Passion & Comportment: Mildly Disagree
Overall: Mildly Disagree
Andy Ruff’s has clearly done the bare minimum in answering these questions, not providing details or demonstrating any knowledge of the issues BLM Btown is bringing up in its questionnaire. He literally says “I am not aware of a general BLM ‘position on police’, but I’m confident that if there is such a single position then I’m also confident it’s more nuanced than many people assume.” BLM as an international movement was clearly founded as an organization combating police brutality & murder of Black people. This idea is easy to google or look up on our own website, which shows that he did no research on our organization nor of this guide. His answers were very surface level at best and provided no details to his plans as an elected official.
Jonas Schrodt
Awareness: Mildly Agree
Position: Mildly Agree
Vision: Agree
Voices at the Table: Mildly Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Mildly Agree
Passion & Comportment: Mildly Agree
Overall: Mildly Agree
Jonas Schrodt’s responses demonstrate a deep historical awareness of issues that informs positions that are progressive in nature. Some responses are quite abstract without specific plans for remedy. Schrodt does provide some specific criticism of the city’s current policies with regard to availability of food and traditional DEI initiatives. Schrodt's knowledge on the intersectionality of these issues is clearly solid. We are glad as a member of the LGBTQIA community that he can bring a much needed perspective on these issues from the queer community. He clearly is knowledgeable of BLM Btown’s work in our community and his final answer about anti-racism, DEI & anti-bias trainings shows he understands the nuance with the problems and benefits of these trainings.
Ryne Shadday
Awareness: Mildly Agree
Position: Mildly Agree
Vision: Agree
Voices at the Table: Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Agree
Passion & Comportment: Mildly Agree
Overall: Mildly Agree
Ryne Shadday’s responses demonstrate awareness of some of the complexities of injustices toward marginalized communities in Bloomington. His responses indicate an interest in progressive change from the status quo in some areas. While some of his conclusions are not as far down the path especially issues around the police it is clear he is willing to learn and listen to BIPOC folks on these topics. He demonstrates a good knowledge about food justice and the complications of getting nutrient dense food to those in need. He is very pro affordable housing and the ability of the council to ensure better access to affordable housing.
City Council District 1:
Joe Lee
Awareness: Disagree
Position: Mildly Disagree
Vision: Disagree
Voices at the Table: Neutral
Commitment & Effectiveness: Disagree
Passion & Comportment: Neutral
Overall: Disagree
Joe Lee specifically dodged the direct question of “Do you support the BLM movement” and instead talked about hiring the often heard concept of “good cops”. Lee gives little details that he understands either the questions or the issues and wider social problems behind them. He takes a stand for community officers and social workers within the police which is in direct opposition to BLM Btown’s positioning that specifically social workers should not be police. He speaks specifically about civility in his campaign material which we view as a dog whistle against Black and Brown people demanding their rights.
Isabel Piedmont-Smith
Awareness: Agree
Position: Agree
Vision: Agree
Voices at the Table: Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Agree
Passion & Comportment: Agree
Overall: Agree
Isabel Piedmont-Smith often falls on a more progressive side of issues surrounding intersectional anti-racism on the city council however when working with BIPOC folks she can be very difficult to work with even when we agree on things which is often. Even when instructed not to repeat answers from previous years on this questionnaire she did so on a few questions which shows a lack of ability to follow Black leadership. Piedmont-Smith’’s responses show an understanding of many injustices that face Bloomington residents. Her responses reflect on her experience on the City Council, her history of using her position to push for progressive policies. She often almost gets the principles behind the issues but at times falls just short of a true understanding. We hope that if re-elected she spends more time listening to BIPOC activists in our community.
City Council District 2:
Kate Rosenbarger
Awareness: Mildly Agree
Position: Mildly Agree
Vision: Agree
Voices at the Table: Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Mildly Agree
Passion & Comportment: Agree
Overall: Mildly Agree
Kate Rosenbarger is one of the more progressive voices on the city council and works a lot with Matt Flarherty to form a progressive voting block. She does however have some gaps in her intersectional anti-racism specifically around the civility issue for activists and in public comment. She has a particular passion for affordable housing and the environment.
City Council District 3:
Ron Smith
Awareness: Disagree
Position: Disagree
Vision: Disagree
Voices at the Table: Disagree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Disagree
Passion & Comportment: Neutral
Overall: Disagree
Ron Smith supports community officers and social workers within the police which is in direct opposition to BLM Btown’s positioning that specifically social workers should not be police. And invoked Obama’s name when mentioning BPD’s attempts to follow the 21st Century Policing principles which felt like a pandering gesture to Black voters. He completely does not understand restorative justice intent or use. He couldn't even imagine a world without prisons showing no vision or imagination on how he could govern or any aspirations for our community or world. However he managed to come up with a good idea on how the city could vet out white supremacist from the city run market. He also agreed that local people should be the ones training on D.E.I training.
Hopi Stosberg
Awareness: Neutral
Position: Disagree
Vision: Disagree
Voices at the Table: Disagree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Neutral
Passion & Comportment: Neutral
Overall: Disagree
Hopi Stosberg while she seems to have an ok grasp on many fundamentals of intersectional anti-racism her concussions are often far off from achieving the goals of intersectional anti-racism. She did not understand the underlying principles of restorative justice nor be able to name any program in Bloomington doing this work. Her positions and vision were all fairly neutral and not nuanced or detailed though she made good points about food access and availability in her district. On matters of food insecurity & housing Stosberg seemed to have more knowledge on the multifaceted issues surrounding access. She however is interested in restricting public comment and protest at city council meetings in direct conflict with BLM Btown’s positioning.
Conner Wright
Awareness: Agree
Position: Mildly Agree
Vision: Neutral
Voices at the Table: Neutral
Commitment & Effectiveness: Neutral
Passion & Comportment: Agree
Overall: Agree
Conner Wright is a current Indiana University undergraduate student. While he is young he has a fairly good grasp on intersectional anti-racism though he did not understand the underlying principles of restorative justice nor be able to name any program in Bloomington doing this work. Wright did not have a lot of details in his answers leaving us to want to know more about how he plans to govern. The ideas and details he does provide seem promising; we just wish there were more to evaluate.
City Council District 5:
Shruti Rana
Awareness: Strongly Agree
Position: Strongly Agree
Vision: Strongly Agree
Voices at the Table: Strongly Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Mildly Agree
Passion & Comportment: Strongly Agree
Overall: Strongly Agree
Shruti Rana responses show a vast and comprehensive, intersectional understanding of the broad spectrum of injustices that face Bloomington residents. Her work in the community as an advocate for the BIPOC AAPI folks is clear in her answers. Rana has worked in restorative justice as a lawyer in our community and her positioning on a “world without prisons” was refreshing to hear from a candidate as she tied the vision and imagination to actual plans we could put in place in Bloomington. Rana move easily through the intersectional ideas in her answers to the questions.
Jenny Olmes Stevens
Awareness: Neutral
Position: Disagree
Vision: Disagree
Voices at the Table: Neutral
Commitment & Effectiveness: Neutral
Passion & Comportment: Neutral
Overall: Neutral
Jenny Olmes Stevens supports community officers and social workers within the police which is in direct opposition to BLM Btown’s positioning that specifically social workers should not be police. Stevens is opposed to the Lenco Bearcat military assault vehicle but seemingly only on the financial basis and not on the basis of the danger to BIPOC or any other marginalized person. Stevens seems to have an ok grasp on a few fundamentals of intersectional anti-racism; her concussions are often far off from achieving the goals of intersectional anti-racism.
City Council District 6:
David Wolfe Bender
Awareness: Agree
Position: Agree
Vision: Agree
Voices at the Table: Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Agree
Passion & Comportment: Agree
Overall: Agree
David Wolfe Bender is a current Indiana University undergraduate student. As with the other undergraduate students there seems to be a good grasp on the fundamentals of intersectional anti-racism but there is a lack of details on how they will govern or what policies they would put in place, programs that exist in Bloomington already that do this work. The ideas and details he does provide seem promising; we just wish there were more to evaluate.
Statements on non-participating candidates & Additional Candidate Statements
Non-Participating Candidates:
There are a few candidates who choose not to fill out our questionnaire. Regardless of the reason not submitting responses for this Voter’s Guide shows disrespect to Bloomington voters. Further, since our organization supports and advocates for Black and other systematically marginalized people, candidates’ refusals to provide answers for this Voter’s Guide should remind us that the majority of the Bloomington political landscape is built to sustain anti-Black practices. It was made VERY clear the importance of this guide & those who we serve additionally we reminded them multiple times and gave them 7 full days to complete the questionnaire. We therefore render a STRONGLY DISAGREE assessment for each of the candidates who did not engage. Those Candidates are: Dave Rollo Dist. 4, Lois Sabo-Skelton Dist. At-Large, Sue Sgambelluri Dist. 2 & Stephen Volan Dist. At-Large
Additional Candidates Statement:
Susan Sandberg - Mayoral Candidate
Susan Sandberg’s responses highlight her own positionality as a cis-woman and her historical commitment to cis-women’s issues in Bloomington. Her responses suggest less familiarity with how injustice impacts BIPOC members of the community or the intersectionality of those injustices.
Kerry Thomson - Mayoral Candidate
Kerry Thomson provided very little details and seemed to have zero understanding or knowledge of BLM as a larger social movement of the work BLM Btown has done within our own community. It appears as though she didn’t even read our website “about” section nor google our organization to read articles.
Dave Rollo - City Council Dist. 4 Candidate
Dave Rollo has repeatedly blocked progressive measures put forward by progressives in city council and backed by progressive organizations in Bloomington. Most forcefully his support of the military assault vehicle for police where he invoked MLK in his support to BLM activists on the anniversary of MLK's death.
Don Griffin
Awareness: Strongly Agree
Position: Mildly Agree
Vision: Mildly Agree
Voices at the Table: Mildly Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Agree
Passion & Comportment: Strongly Agree
Overall: Mildly Agree
Don Griffin’s responses show a commitment to addressing injustices across the board and to fostering belonging for all marginalized residents of Bloomington. His positions are thoughtfully considered and detailed. His passion and commitment is clear even if we are not in sync with all of his positioning with respect to the police he is clearly open to other ideas and new ways at solving the problems BIPOC folks face in Bloomington. He has supported BLM Btown’s concerns in the halls of power in our community. Additionally we must clearly mention he has donated to BLM Btown in the past but not during his run for mayor.
Susan Sandberg
Awareness: Mildly Disagree
Position: Mildly Disagree
Vision: Strongly Disagree
Voices at the Table: Mildly Disagree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Disagree
Passion & Comportment: Disagree
Overall: Mildly Disagree
Susan Sandberg’s responses highlight her own positionality as a cis-woman and her historical commitment to cis-women’s issues in Bloomington. Her responses suggest less familiarity with how injustice impacts BIPOC members of the community or the intersectionality of those injustices. Reading between the lines she is pro-police to the exclusion of hearing the real statistics of what increasing police does in a community to BIPOC & other marginalized people. She also calls attention to her experience on the City Council, suggesting that she would like Bloomington to continue on the course it is currently on when it comes to policing, housing, and food justice. Sandberg’s responses offer little vision for a Bloomington future that is different from the present.
Kerry Thomson
Awareness: Mildly Disagree
Position: Mildly Disagree
Vision: Disagree
Voices at the Table: Mildly Disagree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Disagree
Passion & Comportment: Disagree
Overall: Mildly Disagree
Kerry Thomson provided very little details and seemed to have zero understanding or knowledge of BLM as a larger social movement of the work BLM Btown has done within our own community. It appears as though she didn’t even read our website “about” section nor google our organization to read articles. The only question she responded to with any amount of in depth knowledge was the LGBTQ folks but left out the intersection of BIPOC folks from her answer. Showing that her allyship is not intersectional.
City Clerk
Nicole Bolden
Awareness: Strongly Agree
Position: Strongly Agree
Vision: Agree
Voices at the Table: Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Strongly Agree
Passion & Comportment: Strongly Agree
Overall: Strongly Agree
Nicole Bolden as a Black Queer woman, she is very clear on the intersectionality of the anti-racist issues at the heart of BLM Btown’s questionnaire. She identifies many of the systemic white supremacist issues in our community from lower salaries for BIPOC folks to racist dog whistles in local elections. We would like to see more elaboration in her ideas for a prison free society and more details about restorative justice. While the Clerk’s job is not a policy making job per se Bolden does a good job of educating us on her beliefs and understanding of the issues at hand.
At-Large Seat City Council:
Isak Asare
Awareness: Strongly Agree
Position: Strongly Agree
Vision: Strongly Agree
Voices at the Table: Strongly Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Mildly Agree
Passion & Comportment: Strongly Agree
Overall: Strongly Agree
Isak Asare’s responses show a vast and comprehensive, intersectional understanding of the broad spectrum of injustices that face Bloomington residents. He also expresses a bold vision of what true justice would look like. Additionally his visions for how to help bring about food justice are much needed ideas for our community. He not only understood the questions and their intentions but also knew how to answer them in his own voice with his education, experience and creative knowledge.
Matt Flaherty
Awareness: Mildly Agree
Position: Mildly Agree
Vision: Mildly Agree
Voices at the Table: Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Mildly Agree
Passion & Comportment: Agree
Overall: Mildly Agree
Matt Flarherty is one of the most progressive voices on the city council. Flaherty’s responses show a comprehensive understanding of the broad spectrum of injustices that face Bloomington residents. He roots his vision of a more just city in his experience on the City Council and the many shortcomings that institution currently has. Flaherty’s plans (especially for low-income housing) are detailed and rooted in research. Flaherty also demonstrates that even within the confines of city councils rules, there is still room to change how the council functions to move it towards more liberatory work in our community.
Andy Ruff
Awareness: Mildly Disagree
Position: Mildly Disagree
Vision: Mildly Disagree
Voices at the Table: Mildly Disagree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Mildly Disagree
Passion & Comportment: Mildly Disagree
Overall: Mildly Disagree
Andy Ruff’s has clearly done the bare minimum in answering these questions, not providing details or demonstrating any knowledge of the issues BLM Btown is bringing up in its questionnaire. He literally says “I am not aware of a general BLM ‘position on police’, but I’m confident that if there is such a single position then I’m also confident it’s more nuanced than many people assume.” BLM as an international movement was clearly founded as an organization combating police brutality & murder of Black people. This idea is easy to google or look up on our own website, which shows that he did no research on our organization nor of this guide. His answers were very surface level at best and provided no details to his plans as an elected official.
Jonas Schrodt
Awareness: Mildly Agree
Position: Mildly Agree
Vision: Agree
Voices at the Table: Mildly Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Mildly Agree
Passion & Comportment: Mildly Agree
Overall: Mildly Agree
Jonas Schrodt’s responses demonstrate a deep historical awareness of issues that informs positions that are progressive in nature. Some responses are quite abstract without specific plans for remedy. Schrodt does provide some specific criticism of the city’s current policies with regard to availability of food and traditional DEI initiatives. Schrodt's knowledge on the intersectionality of these issues is clearly solid. We are glad as a member of the LGBTQIA community that he can bring a much needed perspective on these issues from the queer community. He clearly is knowledgeable of BLM Btown’s work in our community and his final answer about anti-racism, DEI & anti-bias trainings shows he understands the nuance with the problems and benefits of these trainings.
Ryne Shadday
Awareness: Mildly Agree
Position: Mildly Agree
Vision: Agree
Voices at the Table: Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Agree
Passion & Comportment: Mildly Agree
Overall: Mildly Agree
Ryne Shadday’s responses demonstrate awareness of some of the complexities of injustices toward marginalized communities in Bloomington. His responses indicate an interest in progressive change from the status quo in some areas. While some of his conclusions are not as far down the path especially issues around the police it is clear he is willing to learn and listen to BIPOC folks on these topics. He demonstrates a good knowledge about food justice and the complications of getting nutrient dense food to those in need. He is very pro affordable housing and the ability of the council to ensure better access to affordable housing.
City Council District 1:
Joe Lee
Awareness: Disagree
Position: Mildly Disagree
Vision: Disagree
Voices at the Table: Neutral
Commitment & Effectiveness: Disagree
Passion & Comportment: Neutral
Overall: Disagree
Joe Lee specifically dodged the direct question of “Do you support the BLM movement” and instead talked about hiring the often heard concept of “good cops”. Lee gives little details that he understands either the questions or the issues and wider social problems behind them. He takes a stand for community officers and social workers within the police which is in direct opposition to BLM Btown’s positioning that specifically social workers should not be police. He speaks specifically about civility in his campaign material which we view as a dog whistle against Black and Brown people demanding their rights.
Isabel Piedmont-Smith
Awareness: Agree
Position: Agree
Vision: Agree
Voices at the Table: Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Agree
Passion & Comportment: Agree
Overall: Agree
Isabel Piedmont-Smith often falls on a more progressive side of issues surrounding intersectional anti-racism on the city council however when working with BIPOC folks she can be very difficult to work with even when we agree on things which is often. Even when instructed not to repeat answers from previous years on this questionnaire she did so on a few questions which shows a lack of ability to follow Black leadership. Piedmont-Smith’’s responses show an understanding of many injustices that face Bloomington residents. Her responses reflect on her experience on the City Council, her history of using her position to push for progressive policies. She often almost gets the principles behind the issues but at times falls just short of a true understanding. We hope that if re-elected she spends more time listening to BIPOC activists in our community.
City Council District 2:
Kate Rosenbarger
Awareness: Mildly Agree
Position: Mildly Agree
Vision: Agree
Voices at the Table: Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Mildly Agree
Passion & Comportment: Agree
Overall: Mildly Agree
Kate Rosenbarger is one of the more progressive voices on the city council and works a lot with Matt Flarherty to form a progressive voting block. She does however have some gaps in her intersectional anti-racism specifically around the civility issue for activists and in public comment. She has a particular passion for affordable housing and the environment.
City Council District 3:
Ron Smith
Awareness: Disagree
Position: Disagree
Vision: Disagree
Voices at the Table: Disagree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Disagree
Passion & Comportment: Neutral
Overall: Disagree
Ron Smith supports community officers and social workers within the police which is in direct opposition to BLM Btown’s positioning that specifically social workers should not be police. And invoked Obama’s name when mentioning BPD’s attempts to follow the 21st Century Policing principles which felt like a pandering gesture to Black voters. He completely does not understand restorative justice intent or use. He couldn't even imagine a world without prisons showing no vision or imagination on how he could govern or any aspirations for our community or world. However he managed to come up with a good idea on how the city could vet out white supremacist from the city run market. He also agreed that local people should be the ones training on D.E.I training.
Hopi Stosberg
Awareness: Neutral
Position: Disagree
Vision: Disagree
Voices at the Table: Disagree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Neutral
Passion & Comportment: Neutral
Overall: Disagree
Hopi Stosberg while she seems to have an ok grasp on many fundamentals of intersectional anti-racism her concussions are often far off from achieving the goals of intersectional anti-racism. She did not understand the underlying principles of restorative justice nor be able to name any program in Bloomington doing this work. Her positions and vision were all fairly neutral and not nuanced or detailed though she made good points about food access and availability in her district. On matters of food insecurity & housing Stosberg seemed to have more knowledge on the multifaceted issues surrounding access. She however is interested in restricting public comment and protest at city council meetings in direct conflict with BLM Btown’s positioning.
Conner Wright
Awareness: Agree
Position: Mildly Agree
Vision: Neutral
Voices at the Table: Neutral
Commitment & Effectiveness: Neutral
Passion & Comportment: Agree
Overall: Agree
Conner Wright is a current Indiana University undergraduate student. While he is young he has a fairly good grasp on intersectional anti-racism though he did not understand the underlying principles of restorative justice nor be able to name any program in Bloomington doing this work. Wright did not have a lot of details in his answers leaving us to want to know more about how he plans to govern. The ideas and details he does provide seem promising; we just wish there were more to evaluate.
City Council District 5:
Shruti Rana
Awareness: Strongly Agree
Position: Strongly Agree
Vision: Strongly Agree
Voices at the Table: Strongly Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Mildly Agree
Passion & Comportment: Strongly Agree
Overall: Strongly Agree
Shruti Rana responses show a vast and comprehensive, intersectional understanding of the broad spectrum of injustices that face Bloomington residents. Her work in the community as an advocate for the BIPOC AAPI folks is clear in her answers. Rana has worked in restorative justice as a lawyer in our community and her positioning on a “world without prisons” was refreshing to hear from a candidate as she tied the vision and imagination to actual plans we could put in place in Bloomington. Rana move easily through the intersectional ideas in her answers to the questions.
Jenny Olmes Stevens
Awareness: Neutral
Position: Disagree
Vision: Disagree
Voices at the Table: Neutral
Commitment & Effectiveness: Neutral
Passion & Comportment: Neutral
Overall: Neutral
Jenny Olmes Stevens supports community officers and social workers within the police which is in direct opposition to BLM Btown’s positioning that specifically social workers should not be police. Stevens is opposed to the Lenco Bearcat military assault vehicle but seemingly only on the financial basis and not on the basis of the danger to BIPOC or any other marginalized person. Stevens seems to have an ok grasp on a few fundamentals of intersectional anti-racism; her concussions are often far off from achieving the goals of intersectional anti-racism.
City Council District 6:
David Wolfe Bender
Awareness: Agree
Position: Agree
Vision: Agree
Voices at the Table: Agree
Commitment & Effectiveness: Agree
Passion & Comportment: Agree
Overall: Agree
David Wolfe Bender is a current Indiana University undergraduate student. As with the other undergraduate students there seems to be a good grasp on the fundamentals of intersectional anti-racism but there is a lack of details on how they will govern or what policies they would put in place, programs that exist in Bloomington already that do this work. The ideas and details he does provide seem promising; we just wish there were more to evaluate.
Statements on non-participating candidates & Additional Candidate Statements
Non-Participating Candidates:
There are a few candidates who choose not to fill out our questionnaire. Regardless of the reason not submitting responses for this Voter’s Guide shows disrespect to Bloomington voters. Further, since our organization supports and advocates for Black and other systematically marginalized people, candidates’ refusals to provide answers for this Voter’s Guide should remind us that the majority of the Bloomington political landscape is built to sustain anti-Black practices. It was made VERY clear the importance of this guide & those who we serve additionally we reminded them multiple times and gave them 7 full days to complete the questionnaire. We therefore render a STRONGLY DISAGREE assessment for each of the candidates who did not engage. Those Candidates are: Dave Rollo Dist. 4, Lois Sabo-Skelton Dist. At-Large, Sue Sgambelluri Dist. 2 & Stephen Volan Dist. At-Large
Additional Candidates Statement:
Susan Sandberg - Mayoral Candidate
Susan Sandberg’s responses highlight her own positionality as a cis-woman and her historical commitment to cis-women’s issues in Bloomington. Her responses suggest less familiarity with how injustice impacts BIPOC members of the community or the intersectionality of those injustices.
Kerry Thomson - Mayoral Candidate
Kerry Thomson provided very little details and seemed to have zero understanding or knowledge of BLM as a larger social movement of the work BLM Btown has done within our own community. It appears as though she didn’t even read our website “about” section nor google our organization to read articles.
Dave Rollo - City Council Dist. 4 Candidate
Dave Rollo has repeatedly blocked progressive measures put forward by progressives in city council and backed by progressive organizations in Bloomington. Most forcefully his support of the military assault vehicle for police where he invoked MLK in his support to BLM activists on the anniversary of MLK's death.
Primary Candidate Questionnaire & Candidate Answers
Downloadable 2023 Primary Candidate Answers to Questionnaire.
Just click the link below to download the total answers of all of the candidates that responded to our 2023 Questionnaire.
Just click the link below to download the total answers of all of the candidates that responded to our 2023 Questionnaire.

complied_candidate’s_answers_to_blm_btown’s_2023_primary_election_questionnaire.pdf | |
File Size: | 843 kb |
File Type: |