Meet Susan. . .
She’s been a City Council Representative At Large for 16 years (re-elected in 2019 with more votes than any other Council candidate). She’s a four-time City Council President. She knows intimately how city and county governmental units work.
She’s a founding member of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, and previously served as Vice Chair of the Monroe County Democratic Party.
Susan has participated in training with Braver Angels, a group that brings people with diverse political views together in respectful and civil conversations. Susan believes that elected officials should learn from and serve all residents of Bloomington.
Susan has a Working Knowledge of Public Finance
Susan understands a wide variety of community needs and will hit the ground running as mayor.
In addition to serving on the Council through 16 budget cycles, she’s served on the Bloomington Utilities Service Board, the Bloomington Plan Commission, the Jack Hopkins Social Services Fund, the Waldron Study Group, and the Development Block Grant citizens advisory committee.
She Cares about Bloomington’s Unique Neighborhoods
Susan will prioritize respect for the human scale development that characterized Bloomington and made the city unique, diverse and livable.
Susan led the City Council opposition to the current administration’s out-of-context urbanization plan for Bloomington. She believed then and believes now that housing density must be managed responsibly, with respect for constituent input.
She’s committed to protecting the city from overdevelopment, overoccupancy and exploitation by rental real estate speculators. In the past, zoning served to reduce overoccupancy in the core neighborhoods, a fundamental element of Bloomington’s character. The current mayor promoted major changes to the Unified
Development Ordinance that incentivized multi-family at the expense of stand-alone housing.
Painting by Susan Savastuk
Susan Knows and Loves
this City
Susan is Committed to Social Justice
Susan supports the city’s efforts to moderate climate change and to harden its built environment against the effects of a changing climate. She understands the existential nature of this threat, and its disproportionate impact on the less advantaged.
Moreover, she has been and will continue to be an advocate for racial justice, gender equality, accessibility, and LGBTQ rights.
As mayor, Susan will raise awareness of the high rates of poverty that diminish the lives of far too many residents of Bloomington.
She Knows and Cares about People
Susan served as an advisor in the Career Development Office of the Indiana University O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
She’s a former case manager working with families and children in Child Protective Services.
Susan also served on the Board of the South Central Community Action Program and volunteered with New Leaf/New Life, teaching classes in the Addicts in Recovery dorm in the Monroe County Correctional Center.
Susan is in Bloomington to Stay
Susan has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Indiana University and was a varsity touring member of the IU Singing Hoosiers. Susan keeps her love of music alive as a member of a popular ukulele band, The UkeTones.
She’ll prioritize support for Bloomington’s unique and irreplaceable arts community, both as a cultural asset and an engine of employment.
Susan will make it her mission to keep Bloomington a fun and festive city.
