Mayor's address draws protest, added security

Four uniformed police officers watched the door Thursday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater when Mayor John Fernandez gave his State of the City Address.\nThe security detail isn't usually so high at the arts venue, even if the mayor -- whose home number is listed -- makes an appearance. But the end of Fernandez's speech was disrupted last year by environmentalists protesting his support of the proposed I-69 highway. They chanted loudly, drowning him out, and unfurled a banner from the balcony in the city council chambers.\nWhile Fernandez's address went smoothly this year, the protesters still made their voices heard out on the sidewalk, in the middle of rush hour traffic.\nEnvironmentalists performed street theater, singing songs and depicting the mayor in bed with "Ms. Corporate Greed" in a skit. \nShane Becker, who played the mayor, gave his "stick it to the city address," poking fun at the mayor's public intention to run for state office.\n"I am here to let you know how I got over the citizens of Bloomington before I continue to buy my way up the political ladder," he said. "As you know, living here is too dangerous for me; I cannot in good conscience raise a family in this PCB-ridden town."\nBearing placards and banging on makeshift drums, the demonstrators questioned the mayor's commitment to the environment.\n"He's in the back pocket of the developers," said Jeff Melton, a long-time environmental activist. "He's quick to condemn the ecoterrorist acts of the Earth Liberation Front, but he's been silent on the real ecoterrorist act, logging on our state forests."\nFernandez made an off-the-cuff remark as he took the stage, saying he hoped the audience had "enjoyed the entertainment before the speech."\n"This is what I love about Bloomington," he said.\nLeftist activists weren't the only ones waving signs and shouting.\nLibertarians also hit the streets to object to the venue for the address, which is usually held in the city council chambers. The mayor decided instead to hold it at the struggling arts venue, paying the $920 rental fee from the business promotion fund in the annual budget.\n"The mayor wanted to express his support for the local arts community," said Deputy Mayor James McNamara. "I think the price is worth paying."\nBut the libertarians condemned it as a wasteful expenditure.\n"The mayor missed a real opportunity to show his support of the arts," said Jim Billingsley, who wore a polka-dot clown costume and a red wig. "He could have written the check out of his own pocket and made a real statement about voluntarily supporting the arts."\nBillingsley said he didn't have any problem with the cause the mayor had taken up, just the way he went about it.\n"I support the arts," he said. "I go to the Buskirk and I buy paintings when I can afford them. But I shouldn't be forcefully coerced into subsidizing art."\nBillingsley said he resents the use of his tax money.\n"(The Buskirk-Chumley) is not surviving on the free market," he said. "They shouldn't be pointing a gun at you to support it. That's essentially what it is -- if you don't pay your taxes, they'll send you to jail or seize your property."\nFernandez devoted a portion of his speech to the theme of "investing in community character," which he said entails supporting local arts and culture. \n"I say we shouldn't spurn contribution to this theater," he said. "It adds to the vibrancy of our downtown. It's the right thing to do. It's the smart thing to do. It's the Bloomington thing to do"