Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations Meeting - April 22, 2024
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Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations Meeting - April 22, 2024
The Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations (MCANNA) held its monthly general membership meeting on Saturday, April 22, 2024, at North United Methodist Church. President Kathy Burton opened the meeting, outlining MCANNA's mission to connect neighborhoods across Marion County. The meeting featured presentations from the office of Congressman Andre Carson, the Indianapolis Public Library, and the Indianapolis Recorder, along with community discussion, board elections, and announcements for upcoming events.
Guest Presentation: Congressman Andre Carson's Office
- Andrew Baknica, field representative, provided updates on district boundary changes (now northern border at 96th Street, southern at Troy Avenue, excluding three southern townships) and constituent services. He noted that the office secured over $10 billion for the community in the FY2024 budget, focusing on youth services, crime prevention, infrastructure, public transportation, and housing.
- Baknica announced a youth opportunities fair held in March with 72 organizations, and an upcoming job fair in August for individuals 24 and older. He also highlighted the congressional art competition (deadline April 26) and the Congressional App Challenge (launching May 1).
- He emphasized casework assistance, noting that over $1.5 million was returned to constituents last year, with current trends in passport delays and food stamp theft.
Presentation: Indianapolis Public Library Strategic Plan
- McKenzie (representative, last name not given) presented the library's "Now and Next" strategic planning process for 2025–2027. She reported that the library system has 25 branches, with a new Glendale branch opened March 30, 2024. Approximately 300,000 of Marion County's 850,000 residents hold library cards, and 55–65% of cardholders are active borrowers. In 2023, physical circulation exceeded 5 million items, with digital circulation nearly doubling that figure.
- The library is seeking community input through surveys (available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Burmese, Farsi, French, and Punjabi), virtual focus groups, and in-person "connection tables." Key areas of focus include literacy (broadly defined), racial equity, and fostering a sense of belonging. The library also added a social worker at Central Library to connect patrons with housing, employment, and transportation resources.
Presentation: Indianapolis Recorder
- Tamika Jones, editor-in-chief, discussed the Recorder's 129-year history (founded in 1895), making it the fourth oldest surviving African American-owned newspaper in the U.S. She emphasized the Recorder's mission to be a voice for the voiceless and to educate, empower, and engage the community. Coverage includes hometown heroes, health equity, environmental justice, and minority business. The Recorder Media Group also publishes the Indiana Minority Business Magazine and the Minority Business Review.
- Jones shared that about 40% of readers are Caucasian, and the audience is primarily aged 35 and older. She invited community members to submit story ideas to newsroom@indyrecorder.com and noted partnerships with Martin University and the Hoosier State Press Association on health equity reporting.
Community Discussion & Q&A
- Attendees raised concerns about illegal dumping, potholes, and the responsiveness of the Mayor's Action Center. Several speakers noted that code enforcement and the health department often provide faster responses. Clark Collow advocated for climate resiliency and land use issues, urging the Recorder to cover variance board and Metropolitan Development Commission decisions.
- Ellen Antonitas discussed the need for affordable, quality housing and the lack of tenant protection laws in Indiana. Susie Stam mentioned a North District IMPD crime watch meeting on May 6 at 7 p.m. at Knights of Columbus. Alma Trawick and others shared upcoming neighborhood meetings and resources.
- Kathy Burton emphasized the importance of bridging gaps between downtown and suburban neighborhoods, and the Recorder's potential role in fostering unity.
Board Elections
- Kathy Burton read the proposed slate of board members: herself (president, Franklin Township), Pat Andrews (secretary, Decatur Township), Anthony Burke (Washington Township), Ed Locke (Pike Township), Jim Spoholski (Center Township), Jackie McMillan Dunn (Center Township), Jim Floyd (Warren Township), Alma Trewick (Washington Township), and Ellen Antonitas (Washington Township). The slate was approved by acclamation with no additional nominations from the floor.
Key Outcomes
- The board slate was elected unanimously.
- Upcoming MCANNA meetings: May 18 (speakers Laura O'Brien from Citizens Energy and Juliana Kennedy from Marion County Health Department) and June 15 (naloxone training provided by Jim Floyd of MESH).
- The library will continue collecting community input through April and May; paper surveys are available at branches.
- The Indianapolis Recorder encouraged submissions of neighborhood events and story ideas to newsroom@indyrecorder.com.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome everybody this morning. My name is Kathy Burton, and I am the current president for the Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations. I appreciate all of you who are able to come in person today. And for those of you who are watching on Channel 16 or who are in attendance with us for the first time, I want to tell you briefly what McCannna's mission is. The Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations was founded in 1990. In fact, it started in this very room before there was carpeting. And we are a 501 C3, not for profit neighborhood organization that includes all the boundaries, include all of Marion County. Our mission is to try and connect neighborhoods across the county to be able to talk with each other about issues that are critical to them, events that they may be hosting or want people to attend and know about. We want people to be able to share their experiences, look to other neighborhoods for support, or help locate resources for an issue that they want to try and resolve that they where they may not know who they need to talk to. But we found it very valuable. Sometimes what seems very what is very personal to you, and it seems like maybe nobody else has gone through this. You might find that somebody all the way across the county from you has indeed gone through something similar, and they have some experience that they can share with you. We want people to be talking with each other. Marion County is no longer a community that is segregated into nine townships. It is a full community from border from you know border to border. So we do meet on the third Saturday of every month for a general membership meeting at North United Methodist Church, which is at 38th and Meridian, and we meet from 9 to 11 a.m. And at that meeting, we have a speaker or speakers who come in and talk about issues that are of interest to neighborhoods. We also are fortunate to have Channel 16 who tapes and airs our meetings every month to allow us to read reach a broader audience for those who either can't come or or are choose not to come for one reason or another, they may have a conflict. But that way they will have an opportunity to see what's going on in Marion County's neighborhoods, whether they are here in person or not. So we are very fortunate to have that resource available to us, and we encourage people to take advantage of what Channel 16 has to offer to the residents of Marion County in keeping you up to date with what's going on with Marion County government as well as what may be going on with individual organizations. We also want to thank North United Methodist Church for continuing to host our meetings for us. They have a vast variety of community outreach programs, one of which is a food pantry and food bank, and we encourage people who come to the meeting to bring with them a couple of non-perishable food items that be can be contributed to the church's food pantry. If you would like to reach McCannna, you can do so by reaching me at my email, which is CB7801 at AOL.com. You can contact us through our Facebook page. You are welcome to contact us via mail, although it's slow and it's an app. If you want to contact us, it's probably better to either contact us by email or Facebook, or you're also welcome to call or text me at 317-847-9959. I will tell you that I do not answer phone numbers that I do not recognize. So please be sure and leave me a voicemail with your contact information, and I will get back to you as soon as I am able to. And so that you can be aware, you will be able to vote if your member if your organization has paid their membership dues for 2024. On the slate currently would be myself, Kathy Burton for president, and I am a resident of Franklin Township. I'm hoping this is going to be about last year and I'm going to retire, but we'll see what happens. Pat Andrews is the secretary. Pat is from Decatur Township. She is not able to be with us this morning as she has been traveling out of the country. Anthony Burke, who will be a general board member from Washington Township. Ed Locke, who will be a general member from Pike Township. Jim Spolski. Thank you. Someday, Jim, I promise I'm going to learn to pronounce that last name. Jim will be a general board member from Center Township. Jackie McMillan Dunn, who will be a board member also from Center Township. Jim Floyd, who will be a general member from Warren Township. Some of you may remember Jim was a speaker with us last month from Emergency Medical Services Coordination Organization. Alma Trewick, who will be a general member from Washington Township, and Ellen Antonitas, who will be a general member also from Washington Township. So we will conclude those elections at the end of the meeting. With that, I am going to invite this is when we do some general announcements. I will open that up in just a moment, but we do have a guest here from Congress in the Andre Carson's office. We certainly always welcome representatives from our elected officials who can come and give us updates on what those elected officials may be doing. But as some of you are probably aware, Congressman Carson is also up for election in the upcoming primaries. So I have we have with us today.
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