Four people filed with the Monroe County Democratic Party on Thursday to fill the at-large County Council seat left vacant after Councilor Cheryl Munson’s death. A total of nine are running for the seat.
The Monroe County Democratic Central Committee Precinct Committeepersons will hold an in-person vacancy caucus at 1 p.m. Sunday. The party, with Monroe County, is tracking the winter storm projected to hit Sunday and Monday. If conditions prove unsafe, Monroe County Democratic Party Chair David Henry said, they could potentially postpone the caucus.
The final filings were from Matt Caldie, Rob Council, Joe Davis and Scott Shackelford. They join Andrew Guenther, Sarah Larson, Richard Carter, Liz Feitl and Ilana Stonebraker.
Matt Caldie ran in May for the Democratic nomination to the three at-large county council seats in the party’s primary but lost. In his statement, he wrote he’s running again because he understands the economic troubles the county faces, having worked “physical, largely underpaid blue-collar jobs” and changing rental properties nearly yearly in the past.
Caldie has served on the Bloomington Environmental Commission since 2017, where he’s published an air quality report and helped update the city’s Unified Development Ordinance and Climate Action Plan, according to his statement. He’s also business manager and coordinator at the IU Maurer School of Law Library.
Rob Council wrote he’s running to make Monroe County a place where future generations, including his children, can prosper. Council works as a compliance officer at the Bloomington Housing and Neighborhood Development Department, is a commissioner on the Indiana Commission on Aging and assists his wife, the Tri-North Middle School Parent Teacher Organization president, with organizing events.
Joe Davis is running after a prior candidacy for county council at-large that led to a write-in campaign in November. He previously ran for mayor of Bloomington in 2023 in an effort that fell 14 signatures short of the required amount to appear on the ballot after 200 were disqualified. In his candidacy statement, Davis decried what he called “misuse of taxpayer funds,” saying he wants to see public funds used on infrastructure and issues that impact residents’ quality of life.
Scott Shackelford is a provost professor of business law and ethics at the Kelley School of Business. He’s worked at IU for nearly 15 years after a comprehensive career in academia including fellowships at Harvard University, the University of Notre Dame, Stanford University and the University of Cambridge. Since 2020, he’s been the executive director of IU’s Ostrom Workshop, which focuses on the study of governance. He became the executive director of IU’s Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research in 2022. Shackelford has also served on the Hoosier Hills Food Bank’s board of directors and the Bloomington Environmental Commission.
In his statement, Shackelford said he would focus on fiscal oversight, kitchen-table issues, job development and ensuring Monroe County’s resilience for the future.
Each new candidates’ statements are attached below:
Scott Shackelford Candidacy Statement by ami3 on Scribd
Matt Caldie Candidacy Statement by ami3 on Scribd
Rob Council Candidacy Statement by ami3 on Scribd
Joe Davis Candidacy Statement by ami3 on Scribd
