Van Buren Township, to the city's west-southwest, is the fourth most populous township in Monroe County (about 12,000 people as of the last census). In the first half of our interview, Township Trustee Rita Barrow (pronounced "borrow") lays out how she handles the role of trustee in Van Buren, including building new headquarters and dealing with disputes over weeds and fence lines.

In the second half, the episode really gets into the weeds: host Steve Volan asks her about fire department mergers, the still-cooking county development ordinance, and, the elephant in the room, Bloomington's notorious attempt at annexation of significant parts of the unincorporated areas nearest to it, including significant areas of Van Buren. (Full disclosure: when Steve was on city council, he voted in 2021 for the city's annexation proposal, while Rita has been leading the opposition to annexation since 2017.)

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