Mayor Kerry Thomson

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June 2021 News Releases

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Mayor Hamilton Announces City Holiday Monday in Recognition of Juneteenth

In recognition of the new federal holiday establishing June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day, Mayor John Hamilton has announced that the City of Bloomington will close its offices on Monday, June 21.  City employees who are not scheduled in essential capacities will not be expected to report for work, and will receive holiday pay for the day.  The City’s sanitation schedule will not be delayed.  Juneteenth is not on the 2021 City of Bloomington holiday calendar, but in addition to observing the new holiday on Monday, the administration will present a resolution to Council for its official adoption as a holiday in 2022.   

City Reports BFD Employee is First New COVID-19 Case Among Workforce in Five Weeks

A Bloomington Fire Department (BFD) employee is the first City worker to report a positive result of a COVID-19 viral test in five weeks.  The employee began experiencing symptoms on Thursday, June 10 and received a positive COVID-19 viral test result on Saturday, June 12.  No close contacts were identified among the employee's coworkers or the general public.  (Close contact is defined by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as someone who was within six feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from two days before illness onset--or, for asymptomatic clients, two days prior to positive specimen collection--until the time the patient is isolated.)

City Launches “1,000 Households Who Mulch” Challenge as Expansion of Innovation Pilot to Improve City Service Delivery

In a report to the Bloomington City Council Wednesday evening, the City’s Director of Innovation Devta Kidd announced an expansion of a 2020 pilot program designed to evaluate and improve the City’s leaf collection system.  The 1,000 Households Who Mulch Challenge seeks 1,000 Bloomington households to commit to mulching and composting most of the leaves on their property and opting for a new on-demand vacuum-based leaf collection only if needed at the very end of the leafing season.