According to city council candidate Alicia Graves, "a crisis is brewing in Bloomington." That crisis is children's safety.

Graves has distributed fliers in City Council District 5 that include statistics about the number of sex offenders in Monroe County and those who live or work in the district. She also has spoken at city council meetings, imploring the council and mayor's office to do something about sexual predators.

She said Tuesday that she hopes the fliers will increase awareness of the dangers facing the children of the community. Her fliers cite "attempted abductions of children within our city by both men and women."

When asked for details, she recounted a single recent abduction attempt, which was reported in The Herald-Times June 10.

Graves, a Republican, said she is "not trying to scare anybody with it. Some parents ... would be shocked because they didn't know."

The flier, which is available on HeraldTimesOnline.com, asks "What is being done??" And offers the response: "Nothing!! Instead of hiring extra police, the Mayor spends $43,000 on unneeded administrative staff and makes Boom Boxes and loud cars a top priority."

The $43,000, Graves said, refers to city staff working on downtown initiatives and the "Lower the Boooom" campaign. These, she said, should not be at the top of the city's list of things to do.

"What I'm saying is, the city has done nothing," she said by phone.

The 2007 city budget continues Mayor Mark Kruzan's plan of hiring 10 police officers from 2005 to 2010. So far, according to Bloomington Police Department Capt. Mike Diekhoff, four officers have been hired through that plan, and the department is on track to make the future hires as well. One officer was hired in 2004.

The mayor's office announced the $2.17 million public safety and community initiative late last month.

City communications director Maria Heslin said she finds it interesting that Graves spoke at a city council meeting against the appropriation ordinance that includes money for police training and equipment. She said the city already invested $4 million in public safety this year, and that will continue in the 2008 budget.

"When identifying priorities, it is important to examine and address all of the areas, challenges and needs - the infrastructure - required by a community," Heslin said. That includes safety, affordable housing, sidewalks, alternative transportation and neighborhoods.

Additional expense to the city from hiring two assistant economic development directors is estimated at $36,000. The "Boooom" campaign is budgeted as $4,148 of the $2.17 million appropriation.

Graves doesn't offer a specific solution to what she called a crisis. She said she is researching what other communities do and hopes to see better communication by the city in this area. She said she is trying to express the concerns of people she has met by going door to door, not saying that sex offenders shouldn't be allowed to live in the area.

Other issues she hopes to focus on before Election Day, which is more than three months from now, include sidewalks and other city spending priorities.

Democratic challenger Isabel Piedmont said the city council should make the city safer by focusing on sustainability issues. Laws are already in place, she said, to keep children safe.

"I do not see (regulation of sexual predators) as an issue for the city council. These are not laws promulgated by the city of Bloomington," Piedmont said.

She also said she hasn't heard complaints from residents about police officers being unavailable.