This is the WFHB Local News for Monday, February 28th, 2022.

Later in the program, WFHB Correspondent Zyro Roze speaks with Emily Hamilton - a senior research fellow and Director of the Urbainity Project at George Mason University - about affordable housing. More in today’s feature report.

Also coming up in the next half hour, WFHB Correspondent Nathaniel Weinzapfel reports on environmental groups’ meeting with IU President Pamela Whitten to discuss environmental goals for the university. But first, your daily headlines:

Monroe County Personnel Administration Committee

The Monroe County Personnel Administration Committee met briefly on February 21st to discuss how the committee will proceed when meetings return in-person.

Council Administrator Kim Shell explained what the guidelines are for when the meetings resume in the building.

Council member Marty Hawke stated her preference for the committee meetings to be held at noon while staff members are already at work.

The committee approved the electronic attendance policy for public meetings. The next Personnel Administration Committee will be held next month.

Bloomington Redevelopment Commission

The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission discussed the development of IU Health Bloomington Legacy Hospital Site at the February 21st meeting.

Project Manager Deb Kunce gave an update on the site’s redevelopment.

The redevelopment process is ongoing. The commission agreed to discuss more updates in the future. The next meeting will be held on March 7th.

Environmental Groups Meet with IU President Pamela Whitten

Photo Courtesy of the Sunrise B-Town Instagram

 Nathaniel Weinzapfel

A new development has risen in the story WFHB has been following concerning the Sunrise Movement of Bloomington, which has been insisting that the IU Foundation divest from fossil fuels and reinvest into sustainable energy. Along with the IU Student Government and the Students for a Green New World, Sunrise met with IU President Pamela Whitten and IU Foundation President JT Forbes on February 9th to discuss their goals.

The meeting began with students, members and supporters of the numerous organizations involved taking turns discussing the importance of sustainability on campus, the need to become carbon neutral, and the overall desire for a climate action plan. IU President Pamela Whitten announced during the meeting that she was assigning Tom Morrison, the Vice President of Capital Planning and Facilities, to lead a, “planning group for our action plan." However, there were no strong details provided, and the only commitments made were to smaller changes such as driving electric cars. President Whitten did not mention who would be members of the planning group and there was no set timeline provided for the group to work towards. This left many students feeling frustrated as they saw no formal commitment to the development of an aggressive and long-term climate action plan.

The Students for a Green New World organization was disappointed by the university’s response, as they see a long-term climate action plan as the only step forward with a chance of success. The organization also stated that the administrators during the meeting spent, “much of their time questioning student commitment, praising IU’s previous climate action, and avoiding or redirecting students’ questions. Members of the Sunrise Movement of Bloomington were also disappointed. Another moment of the meeting involved Sunrise Bloomington," asking IU Foundation President JT Forbes directly if there is an actual, tangible plan to divest from fossil fuels. His response was to falsely state that Sunrise Bloomington needed more collaboration between students, members of the public,