Loading ...RESISTANCE IS FUTILE
Anyone who has ever watched “Star Trek; The Next Generation” knows that title is the standard line of the Borg, a cyborg-race of creatures who assimilate other cultures. I use that line to describe the excluded cities of Marion County. I moderated the city of Lawrence mayoral candidate’s forum last night.
They addressed a number of issues: crime, taxes, economic development, etc. However there was an underlying theme that Lawrence should be “separate” from Indianapolis. They wanted control of the major roads and zoning. I really don’t understand this need to be separate. If you look at a map of Indianapolis, it all looks the same. And if you drive through town, it all looks the same. Everyone looks like a resident of Indianapolis to me.
And if these people truly wanted to be “liberated” they would assume control of all their local functions and them smile when they got the bill. There is no reason that Beech Grove residents should pay for two library systems or Lawrence residents pay for three fire departments. Make them all one. Assimilate everyone. Resistance is futile.
September 27th, 2007 at 10:44 am
Ah, we Hoosiers seem to be great traditionalists. As in, “we didn’t have to have photo I.D.’s in 1857, so why do we need them now?”
Most people don’t like change. Having to start over within an unfamiliar power structure, moreso with less influence, is likely not a prospect that most smaller governmental entities savor.
They’ll change if they have to (because they’re broke, for example), but they’ll have to be dragged the whole way down the aisle.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:03 am
Where does Abdul stand on the consolidation of Marion county schools?
September 27th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Abdul, just a quick correction. The residents of Beech Grove and Speedway do NOT pay for two library systems. They support their own independent library through property taxes. They are not part of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library system, nor are they taxed by the IMCPL Library Board.
Southport and Lawrence, of course, are part of the IMCPL system.
Short of everybody in the state of Indiana paying a very small amount of money for the Indiana State Library, I don’t know of an instance where any Hoosier pays for two library systems at the same time.
—A Librarian
September 27th, 2007 at 11:54 am
Abdul,
To me it all comes down to a single issue -
a transfer of power and authority. One you have that level of control, you don’t like to give it up.
September 27th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
It seems to me that it’s up to the voters in these cities to decide if they want to assimilate or not. Or at least that’s the American way.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
It all looks the same? Maybe on the surface, but this life long Beech Grove resident would point out just a few of the service differences below that surface.
If I re-do my kitchen I can drop the old cabinets, counters, stove, and fridge on the curb and they’ll be taken on any trash day - no waiting for some designated “heavy” trash day for my renovations.
If I notify the BGPD that I will be going on vacation, they will walk my property twice per day to make sure all is secure, and give me a written report when I return.
IF you can actually make it out of your Indy subdivision during a snow storm, drive on in to the Grove, where you’ll find every little residential side street plowed clear multiple times a day throughout said storm. From what I see many Indy residential streets don’t see a plow all winter. Heck, some of the major arteries are lucky to get plowed once.
And btw, whens the last time you saw a street sweeper clearing the clutter from your curbs? For me, it was Monday.
If I need to see my mayor I’ll walk into city hall and see him. If I miss him there, no worries… I can knock on his door (if I don’t see him out mowing his lawn) and find my neighbor/mayor home and ready to chat, unhindered by body guards or PR reps, and certainly not 25 floors above sea level.
If I want to have a chat with his opponent, no problem there either… he’s in his jewelry store on Main Street.
Libraries? I only pay for one… and I only paid for the concrete in its expansion once, cuz they got it right the first time.
Sure, we’ve got the highest property tax rate in the county, but I get my money’s worth out of it. Can Indy residents say the same?
Sorry, but I for one want us to keep our independence. Speaking of which, drop by Sarah Bolton Park on the Third of July - the Beech Grove Promoters Club’s fireworks rock!
September 28th, 2007 at 9:19 am
I have to disagree with Abdul. I support what he says as it would apply to places with really high numbers of governmental bodies - like northern New Jersey, with its myriad small towns. But here there’s not that many and these local governments can help prevent tax burdens from being slammed on to small towns by a corrupt government.
For example, in Indy they just passed an income tax increase in part to cover shortfalls in the IPD and IFD retirement plans. This effectively shifts responsibility for the debt from the old city limits to the remainder of the county. The City wanted to do this because they’ve already spent a ton of their money on a new, unnecessary, stadium for the Colts and (b) they’ve given tax abatements to so many of their cronies’ downtown projects. The City mismanaged its money, it still has a debt to cover from one IPD/IFD, so they raise taxes on all of us.
Imagine if we had one big government and the same lunatics that led the Lawrence town council to make their water deal had been in charge county-wide.
A ton of people want one big government throughout central Indiana, so they can run everything as they see fit and raise taxes on the burbs. The only exercise so far that follows this model has been the half-percent tax increase on people in the doughnut counties to benefit the Colts stadium. The people in Morgan county refused to pass this tax. If we had the one big government Abdul pines for, Morgan county too would have to pay taxes to support a private corporation - the COlts.
In Beech Grove, local control means they can fund public safety to the extent they want, which has given them a safe place to live. With One Big Government, Beech Grove’s tax dollars that now pay for a high level of police would be siphoned off to pay for police in other areas of town.
As for Abdul’s argument that a big fire in Speedway would require help from IFD - it works the other way too.
The amount of waste from the excess overhead of having multiple local government bodies within Marion County pales in compairson to the amount of waste from the city of Indy’s downtown development projects - Colts stadium, Circle Centre Mall, hotels, convention centers, etc.
Tax dollars have been unfairly shifted away from quality-of-life purposes - police, bus service, sidewalks - and instead applied to help the wealthy people who own sports teams and hotels. The result is that much of Indy has become unliveable. Black people and white people with the means are getting out of dodge. This is the legacy of the Peterson administration, and also of people like Abdul who strongly favor taxpayer subsidies to downtown development. Downtown Indy has been dead since the mid 1960’s, when I-465 was built and led to an exodus from the center city. It might *look* lively on the 41 nights the Pacers are in town and the 8 Sundays the Colts are in town, but if you pump hundreds of millions of tax dollars into ANYTHING it will look lively.
Downtown Indy is so dead that the Market Square condos can’t get built, now, after 6 years of having that vacant lot sit there. People with money don’t generally want to live downtown. They want to live in Carmel, because Carmel has invested THEIR money in quality-of-life items like parks and sidewalks, instead of 5 star hotels and sports stadiums.
September 28th, 2007 at 9:49 am
“Black people and white people with the means are getting out of dodge.”
They are getting out of dodge, and moving into new subdivisions in the surrounding counties. Developed and built by - you guessed it - Bart Peterson’s Precedent Corporation. So the mayor is at the wheel, ruins the quality of life in the city, and directs people right into the net which benefits his family (and therefore him, indirectly) the most.
What a nice, convenient scam he has going on.
September 28th, 2007 at 10:51 am
Anon,
Precedent is small-time in the suburban residential development game. I doubt if they’re even one of the top ten.
September 28th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Abdul - might be interested that the Jeff Pidgeon resignation story has generated quite a few comments about you on Indystar.com; all positive thusfar except for the initial commenter
September 28th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Ya know Abby, if I were a lock step marching Bush Neo-Con (as most folks are in Marion County), I would pack up/flee/run/move and leave the county, move out to the burb’s. Fishers, Noblesville, Lebanon, Danville, Franklin. Leave. Crime is bad, mayor is bad, politics are bad, taxes are bad, economy is bad, sports figures are bad, air/water quality is bad, education is bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Funny thing is if I were a lock step marching Bush Neo-Con, I would fully support the Iraq War. Sacrifice our young soldiers, spend trillions in resources for a slim to none chance that democracy will take a toe-hold, WMD will be abolished and terrorism will be eradicated. In a sick way, it is funny. Neo-Cons won’t fight and sacrifice to save and improve OUR city of Indianapolis, from crime, corruption, and a better quality of life. Instead, Neo-cons flee to the burb’s (or in your case, Illinois). But when it comes to Iraq, stay. Only if I were a Neo-Con. Sad thing in the end, if we don’t take stand on the homefront, here in our backyard, societal ills will spread to there precious burbs. Call me old fashioned, I will fight for my community and excercise my rights to live free, right here in Marion County.
September 28th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Huh? People are neo-cons for expecting to see their tax dollars on the back end? I pay for schools that don’t work, public safety that’s short, roads that get chopped up at least once every 5 years, and a new stadium my own city won’t get any revenue from, and if I DON’T like that I’m a neo-con? I thought I was a South Park Libertarian, maybe I’ll just convert to being an anti-Democrat. Can I do that?