So, for those of you who are joining us for the first time, which is um, well, not anybody.

Well, you don't know what they're but for channel 16.

Um, my name is Kathy Burton.

I am the current president for the Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations, and for those of you who may be watching Channel 16 for the first time and viewing McCannna's meetings.

We are a not-for-profit 501 C3 neighborhood-based organization that covers the entire county.

We were founded in 1990 as a way for neighborhoods from all across the county to connect and communicate with each other and talk about the issues that impact the neighborhoods on a countywide level as well as local issues that affect your specific neighborhoods to lend support to each other when we are trying to resolve an issue and to become more engaged in local government.

All neighborhood-based organizations, including HOAs, are welcome to join McCana.

These are open public meetings.

Our general membership meeting is on the third Saturday of every month from 9 to 11 in the morning at North United Methodist Church, which is at 38th and Meridian.

And you do not have to be a member of a neighborhood organization to particularly attend.

If you are just a community member that is interested in issues that are going on in your neighborhood or your city government, you're welcome to come and join us.

If you would like at our we do not meet in December, by the way, almost forgot that.

If you want to contact McCana, you can do so by email at CV7801 at AOL.com.

You can call me call or text me at 317 847 9959, or you are also welcome to visit our Facebook page.

We don't currently have an active web page.

I think we may be working on that, but um to get information, you can contact us through our Facebook page.

At our meetings, we talk about issues or have speakers that are top that are on issues, excuse me.

We discuss issues or have meetings on topics that are of interest to the neighborhoods.

So we always welcome suggestions if you have someone that you think might be a good speaker for neighborhoods to listen to what they're doing in the area.

Um today we are taking a step back from having speakers, however.

Um we want to talk about things on a very from a very neighborhood-based perspective.

We often see initiatives that are being launched on behalf of neighborhoods, but we want to talk about whether or not those issues are what are the priorities for the neighborhood leaders who are actually out talking to their neighbors, walking the streets, dealing with the issues in the alleys, the streets, the vacant lots, the parks, um, and then also to talk about the city budget, which is currently undergoing all of its hearings, and talk about from a neighborhood's perspective, what do we think the city's um priorities should be with how they spend their large but limited pool of money.

Um so we are and I apologize, um, we normally have a mayor's neighborhood advocate with us to talk about to just give us some high-level information about issues going on in the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, due to a death of a family, the MA that was scheduled to be with us today wasn't able to be here.

Um, but I want to start and ask if there is anybody who is here, and there are not many of us in the room, um, that have uh any events going on in their neighborhoods that they would like to make people aware of.

Upcoming meetings, events.

Okay, everybody's thinking.

Okay.

Well, I'm gonna kick this off by saying um McCannna has been meeting every Saturday, except during COVID, um, since 1990.

Sometimes our attendance is very sparse, depends on what else is going on in the city.

Um lots of neighborhood leaders who are advocates and active always have things going on in their own neighborhoods on Saturday.

Um we do have the good luck to have channel 16 with us to um tape, air, stream, record, whatever the current term is, um, so that people who are not here on Saturday can still get information, be aware of what's going on in their neighborhoods and share that.

And as we kind of move into the digital age, that is becoming a more and more common way for people to get their information and become engaged in their neighborhoods.

But one of the challenges that we then face is those of us who are here in the room and who have been active in our neighborhoods for a long time, know that sometimes you can't replace that face-to-face meaning and communication ability to bounce ideas off of each other in real time.

Like many other neighborhood organizations, McCana is facing those same challenges.

Um it is getting more and more difficult to get people to come to our meetings on Saturday.

Um, not because people are not interested, but because they're busy and because means of communicating have changed.

So one of the things that I want to talk about and get feedback from is having these meetings every month still a valuable tool for the neighborhoods.

So I'm gonna open up and hear what you have to say.

I think it is.

So those things can be discussed as people want to do.

But yeah, there are a lot of neighborhood groups that are active, and recruiting younger people is an issue for everyone as far as I can tell.

Whatever organization you might be a part of, whether it's a neighborhood group or a civic uh organization, um, so just having something regular where people can plug in and maybe sporadically, but they can still plug in and um find out what's going on and learn things from each other.

So I I um I advocate for keeping it kind of the way it is.

Once a month isn't strenuous, but still it's an opportunity for everybody to land as they wish.

Well, you know, I do think it's valuable because it is a means to try and plug into other means of communication besides in-person meetings, and I don't want people to get discouraged because they don't see a crowd full of people.

You know, this isn't this isn't a photo op or press conference opportunity, it's a chance for neighborhoods to really talk to each other.

Um, when I leave the meetings on Saturdays, if my time allows, I always try to drive through another neighborhood in the in the city.

It's you know, it's real easy for us to and and human for us to focus on what is closest to home and to be very familiar with our neighborhoods.

But I think about you know, we get so busy trying to deal with the issues that are right here, right closest to us, that sometimes we forget that those folks that live across town from us may be having the same trouble, or they may be having an issue that we've that's that we've dealt with that they haven't, and where we could lend some expertise.

It's hard to get around sometimes, it's hard to get to know the other neighborhoods, but having this meeting on Saturdays it it at least provides an opportunity to get to know each other and to find out what the different neighborhoods are experiencing and going through.

Um I mean, we do have speakers that come in that have wonderful information to share.

Saturday mornings may not be the most convenient time for everybody, but everybody's so busy.

Um I'm now three years into retirement, and I have discovered that just because you're retired does not mean that you have a lot of spare time to do a lot of other stuff.

Um, and so Saturday mornings is kind of what works, and we also already have set up the tool of having Channel 16 and the church.

Um, and I failed to do that in my opening comments.

I should have said, thank you to North United Methodist Church, who's been our long-standing meeting location.

It's on the it's on the indigo bus line, um, it's centrally located, although I drive, I it takes me almost an hour to get here, but it is centrally located, it's easy to find, they're very helpful in providing meeting space to us, and channel 16 has us on their schedule.

So I am disinclined to say let's stop having meetings or let's have meetings less frequently.

And part of the frequency is oftentimes, even with only a month in between meetings, issues come up where you can't wait until the next quarter or the next part of the year.

So I would urge people, if you're available, to continue to come to the meetings on Saturday morning.

Um, again, 9 to 11, third Saturday of the month, North United Methodist Church.

And if not, certainly to watch us on Channel 16 or contact us.

I think that we should continue to have the meetings because it does give uh uh people information uh that can address some of the issues that's going on in their area, and uh and also to network with uh other neighborhood groups or other people in the room.

So uh I think it would be a disservice to the residents in each one of the areas uh if we discontinue the service.

I think we should continue.

Okay.

I was gonna say it's really good to have the meetings in person, and maybe there's a um some other ways to outreach to people in the neighborhood.

So the first thing that was coming to mind when you were talking was if there was um if you had a kind of a list serve of some people that you could do that you have that maybe various ways of communication.

You said you have the Facebook page, because I think sometimes people just may not realize what's going on.

I could think of people in my neighborhood that would probably be here.

Um depending on who the invited speaker is may invite more people to come.

But also perhaps if sometimes before the meeting there was the agenda was sent out that people on the lister, perhaps, or what other ways that you communicate with people?

Facebook, some sort of social media, so you've got to expand the way that the word gets out, and then um and then you know have the agenda as sort of reminder of the meeting, and like I said, depending on who the speakers are or what the topics are, may invite more people if they have a special interest.

But I do think that the in-person meetings are really far more valuable than just everything that's either online or on TV.

Because if you're watching it, you really don't have an opportunity to do the interaction.

I will say I do maybe I should do it farther in advance.

I do post it on our Facebook page, the agenda, and then I do have an email list.

Now I don't know the distinctions between last lists and listserv, but I do have an email list that I send reminders out to um every month, and I'm certainly willing to add people to that list, but if there is a more efficient way to do it, yes, I'm old school, I have AOL, so it's like I can only I have to send it out in in like eight different emails in a report AOL to send it out.

There's a more efficient way to do that, or somebody wanted to help do that.

Um, you know, I know that's a good way to reach people.

Phone call calling people gets to be a little more difficult sometimes.

Um, but if there are other ways that people know of that can that can help us reach people, like I said, I don't have the technical savvy to do all of that, but I am more than willing.

If somebody has some suggestion you can help me step through the process or is willing to take that task on.

Um, one of the issues that I face a lot of times, there's so many topics that we've had suggestions on about speakers that we could get to come in.

Um, but getting people to come and speak on a Saturday morning is also a big challenge.

Um everybody's schedule gets gets very busy.

So, and sometimes getting a cold email from me that somebody may not know or may not, you know, they don't know who I am.

If if you know of a speaker that might be interested and might be interesting to have people come and can help make that personal connection to maybe get them here, um I would welcome that assistance as well.

Um I try and schedule them pretty far in advance, but a lot of times I think I've got a speaker scheduled, and something happens and they say I'm sorry I can't come, or I don't get a response from them.

Um I don't want to call anybody out on air in particular, but that's what I'm going to.

Um, like I've been trying to get the IPS superintendent to come.

Um I've been um working with Bob Osley from the City County Council to come and hopefully talk to us about the budget before it gets approved in October.

But sometimes it's it's hard to get people to come, and I think if they get an email or a phone call from somebody they already know, that might be helpful.

So when you're making suggestions or when people have suggestions, um that might be helpful to try and get speakers in here.

Um, I think the one thing I think we need to do is send out the notices like a week before.

All right.

And uh because last minute uh people have already scheduled something, but if if they get the email a week before, they can kind of you know put McKenna in there and say, Oh, we've got a meeting coming up, I can't schedule anything else.

So I think if we could work on that, that also will help.

And I know it's difficult to find speakers, and so you know, sometimes that's last minute.

Uh, but if there's any way possible to send out the notice like a week before the meeting.

All right, let me ask it is there a question.

Does anybody know of a way where um meeting notices could be automatically generated to a specific list of people?

Is there any way like I have an email list, and that's who I usually send the meeting notices out to electronically?

Um, but as I was saying, I'm kind of old school, I'm not computer, I'm not terribly technically savvy.

Is there any kind of a programming thing that you can set up and it would need to be without cost, um, that will automatically generate those notices that say, even if I don't know yet who the speaker's gonna be, that would automatically say just a reminder the McCann meeting is coming up on at whatever the date is.

Right.

Um you know, if not, I will work on getting them.

I think I got them out earlier this time than I normally do.

Um because I had to go to somebody else's house and use the internet.

But if you want to send me the your class list, okay, I can send it out, and you'd have to continually give me new um email addresses to add in.

Okay, but I'm used to sending out notices for my organization, and I have to split them up too.

Oh goodness, I thought it was just because I was still using ALL.

No, no, there's limitations.

They don't at some point it becomes spam.

Well, that's it, and I wonder sometimes.

You know, people I I'm getting email um things either when people send me a request directly off of Facebook, or when they sign up on the sheet outside, that's where I'm getting my email notices from.

And then Alma had done a lot of work trying to get current email addresses for um HOAs and neighborhood organizations that were still active.

But I wonder sometimes, are they going to spam?

And I don't I don't know how to stop that.

Well, the the carrier that well must be spam because of so many um addresses.

Yeah, so we're not gonna send they're not a contact, so it goes into spam or trash.

Yeah, so the number seems to have some magic.

I'm not sure exactly what the number is, the cutoff, but that is seems to be a thing.

Okay, yeah, that may that makes sense.

Well, I think I'll get that list to you, and then you know, I usually get when I send them out, then I usually get a notice that says this this is undeliverable because the mailbox doesn't exist.

Well, then I just eliminate that one.

Okay.

But if it just says because it's not an accepted email address or an accepted contact, then it's just like, well, okay, do I stop sending?

So I I will share that with you.

But but if even just a general reminder before I know who the speaker is, would be helpful.

I think that can happen.

Yeah, with all uh I try to send things out a week ahead, even if I don't know it's the final agenda, and then I'd give an update if it if it has to change.

Okay.

And there are automated solutions, but I don't I'm not familiar with any that come without cost.

Okay.

So that's why I was hesitant to like you say it without a cost off I think.

Well, and I suppose it could be glunches, you know, what would the cost be?

I mean, we have people who join and pay the membership due.

So we have a small budget, but it can't be one of those you know, monthly cloud subscription things that do it.

Yeah, we definitely would love to talk more about that.

We are the technology AI Tom, so we want to utilize these things when we you know, yeah, well, we can.

So definitely want to talk more.

Like we would we can help as well.

I love that join that conversation because that's what we that's what um what he does.

We have a business that helps with that.

So did you sign up on the shootout side of kids?

Okay, so then that kind of leads to the next one.

Yes, suggestion as well.

I think that um there's two things that came to mind.

One of them is you know, um, if you could find a school or something and find an intern that would like to work with you and have some goals set, like the goal would be maybe to increase membership at the regular meetings and perhaps help you and this couple back here with some technology, and you know, I mean, interns, colleges, they don't I I have them at work, and some of them get paid, but many of them don't, and they are wonderful because that's their experience.

Your payment is their experience and like opportunity and challenge and some credit for school.

That's one thing.

And then the other thing is maybe there is a small grant that could be written that could help support some of the activities of McCann to for whatever stated goals it would be.

We probably have in the Apple Standard Resource Center for grant writing help, and they didn't really have anybody available that could help do that to help write a grant.

Yeah, so I don't know where to turn to help get that done.

So if you have some suggestions, you can I mean if and that'll come to you right now, but you can let me know and we'd be glad to pursue that.

So the yeah, and the grant would be you know, for just like maybe there's a cost, like the showman said about some technology if you could be a grant for that, but then an intern could be one that works on maybe getting the word out, maybe finding the contact list for the neighborhoods organizations, and so that there could be some direct outreach to them, they could be any sort of thing, so you don't have to be called yourself, and they have the extra motivation of their school, their class, or whatever, and I know that my experience with interns has been really positive.

Sorry.

Okay, so that kind of leads us to the next thing.

If I say anything offensive, please I apologize for that.

One of the things that I think most neighborhood organizations, not just in Marion County, but all across the country are facing is how we're getting old.

Um how do we engage younger people in the process?

And you know, I said, if I've been there, we got a couple of younger people all day.

This is great.

That's right, lock the doors, but stay here.

So what can we do?

You know, there's a lot of stuff going on in this country right now.

What can we do to get young people involved on a longer term basis?

Um, I think it is, I think it is again kind of human nature.

When there's a I remember when I was in college, we I had a community organization professor who said, and well, I was in college almost 50 years ago, um, who said the best way to get people to come to a meeting is to have a crisis or food, and if you have both, that's great.

So you do see people respond to what would be considered crisis situations, but when you're talking about long-term resolutions, long-term sustainability, what can we do to get younger people involved?

Everybody's you know, they're working, they're trying to, they're just trying to live, and so you've got to take care of your own that you know, in your own backyard first, and I think that's true.

You gotta take care of what's closest to you first, but what can we do differently to get the next generation of people involved?

Because I'm not planning on living forever, I don't know about the rest of you.

Well, there you when you learn the magic solution to that, will you share it?

Well, you can appear.

So, what can we do to get the next generation involved?

And I know that that's not really a question that we can answer today.

You know, we gotta have some of those younger people here in the room to talk about that.

Um and technology is advancing at a rate where you know, like it or not, we've got to step into that venue, but it can't be the only way we communicate with each other.

Um, I think technology a lot of times allows us to become a little more isolated.

Um you know, it is it is real easy to become armchair quarterbacks where you're posting your advice or your opinion online, but it never goes any farther than that.

So, what do we do?

We just have non-stop prices, let's hope not.

So, be giving that some thought, and like I said, I am thrilled.

We're gonna do introductions in a minute, but I'm thrilled to see somebody here who's new, who's a little younger, not to denigrate those of us that have been doing this for a while, but we've got we have to find a way to keep people meaningfully engaged on a long-term basis.

But that's sort of um thinking about how I became involved.

There has it has to come from inside the person, so you know, um, and looking at my nephew and things like they do a lot more of the communication electronically, and they're comfortable there.

So I don't and busy, busy, busy.

But um, so I'm not the answer, has to be coming from them as to what they're looking for that causes them to go out, like they brought to the family.

So I'm gonna put them on the line in a minute.

Yeah, but yeah, for the folks who come to our, you know, my my civic council meeting, I think most of them are there because they're learning um the they're getting updates on what's going on, and that's important to them, and they don't find that information just anywhere.

Well, I'm gonna start by I'm gonna ask everybody to go around the room and introduce themselves and what part town they're from.

And we're gonna end up again.

I hate to put you on the spot.

Well, maybe I don't because I'm going to, but to ask you, you know, what how did you find out about this morning and what made you come out?

So I will start.

My name is Kathy Burton.

Um I live in Franklin Township, which is the far southeast corner of Marion County.

Um I got involved in McCannna when it started because of a land use issue that was going on in my community.

Um Ruth Hayes from the North Northside Community Council was a good friend of my mother's, and she came and gave me some advice and got me involved in McCannna, and um here I have been forever and ever.

So, Jim.

I am Jim Spoholski.

I represent the Near East Side Community Organization, which is an umbrella organization over uh about 19 or 20 Nesco neighborhood individual neighborhood associations.

And what got you involved in neighborhoods?

I had I I had the time to do it, and I'm fairly good at organizing and pulling things together, but I'm very poor on getting work done.

Okay.

What is it that well you can you can load the gum and you can't pull the trigger?

Yeah, that's the end of it.

Okay.

Um my name is Alma Treywick, and I'm the president of Keystone Millsville Neighborhood Association, which is on the northeast side of town.

Um I've been involved with McCannna for a long time, I don't remember.

And you know, I think what got me involved is a lot of the zoning issues that in my area that I constantly fighting all the time, and seemed to get nowhere.

And when I first saw McCannna online, it felt like the right thing to do to be involved, you know, because if if you're not involved, you can't make any changes, you know, and so that's what uh got me involved with McKenna.

Okay.

I'm Carla Johnson, and I'm actually here for Dana Reedwise, so um for the Marion County Public Health Department, but I'm also um on the board of my neighborhood association, which is historic reading park, so it's not that far from here.

Um yeah, that's it.

Okay.

My name is Willona Adkins.

I live on the east side, Okeo, which is in the Martindale Brightwood area in the neighborhood association, and we also have an umbrella of neighborhood associations our one voice.

Um but I've only been fairly new here to McKenna.

But it was um, yeah, speakers come out, I come to one place and hear the different speakers and learn different things to take back to our area as far as how to get you thinking working, we have those same uh problems in our neighborhood associations.

Um but but thinking back, I was nearing retirement age before I thought about it.

Um time it just didn't allow for because it just gave the impression that it took so much time to be involved in those meetings and that engagement and get things done.

When you work in raising kids, time is not on your side here near retirement.

Then you guys started getting involved.

I'm Pat Andrews.

Um I'm with the Decatur Township Civic Council, and the care towns just is the southwest corner of Marion County.

Um I got involved um there was a variance across the street from me, and um a neighbor said, Well, the civic council is going to be uh considering it and voting on it, and I didn't know that it existed.

So we went and it seemed like a town hall where everyone got a say, and um there was a vote, and uh everyone could participate, and that just resonated with me for that reason.

That was back in the 90s, and then around the turn of the millennium is when I started in McCana.

Um, so and again, that's you know, the same idea, but joining in with other neighborhoods all over the county, and you start to see common issues, and you start to see um individual um individual spots where there are specific kinds of problems that are that are different than everywhere else.

So that also is kind of resonates for me.

Okay.

Let me preface this by saying, I'm glad you brought your child with you.

I work with kids for four years, so I got a soft spot.

But the fact that he's making a little noise back there, that doesn't bother any of us.

So you know, he needs to get up and move around and he, right?

If he needs to get up and move around in the back of the room, like go crazy, that's fine.

You know, it's hard for one that age to sit still for someone.

And I think he urge because that is just fine.

So tell us introduce yourself how you found out about why you came this morning.

Yeah, thank you for doing this.

I'm Adriana Riggs.

I am the treasurer for Crown Hill Neighborhood Association, and Tony shared it.

I came across the meeting.

I haven't heard of McKenna before.

This is my first time.

If it has been shared, I probably skimmed it.

You know, sometimes I yeah, I need to look at my message a little bit better, but that's how I heard about the organization, and I am yeah, we're just looking to continue to engage, you know, and yeah, just continue to make those connections.

That's what brings me here to to today, and um the lack of my other, you know, kind of parts were unable to come, you know, to visit, and so that's what what brings me here.

And did you say, like, why um why you got involved?

Yeah, how did you get involved?

How did you get involved in your game with your ground labor?

Yeah, sure.

I feel like overall is because I have a passion for community development and building.

I was working a like an inside job, like a um inside of a building, I guess.

I was working for an agency, and so like I wasn't really outside that much, and I wanted to change the scenery, and my aunt was already on the board of Crow Hill Neighborhood, and she knew that I was like I volunteered a lot, and I really just cared about like just volunteering, giving back, and she was just sharing some opportunities, and I uh was walking, she was walking with 10 point in Crown Hill, and they gave me an opportunity to see Crown Hill in a different way.

Like I drove in the in the neighborhood, I'm familiar with it, but I never really walking with 10 point and allowed me to see it in a different point of view.

Like I seen the potential, I seen the development.

I just seen so much like walking there, communicate, I mean, just fellowshipping with the neighbors, like they really enjoyed us being out there, like we weren't you know, breaking calm or anything, you know, we were there to just share resources, and I really enjoyed that, and that's again what us my I'm passionate about.

And so I was like, wow, okay.

And she was like, Well, we have an opportunity, you can be on the board.

I was like, the board, and I don't even know what that means.

Yeah, I said, Wait, I was just I just wanted to volunteer, you know, and then I but I just seen like I just seen potential in Crown Hill.

So I was like, okay, I thought I joined the board, I was just just a regular just a board member, and then I mean it was just I just continued to show up and volunteer, and it was the opportunity to be treasurer, so now I am the treasurer, but I yeah, overall I'm here and I care about that community, and I want to I care about community development and community building, and I see the potential that it has, and as I drive in other neighborhoods, not saying that we all should look alike, but we I can tell that there's some support that can be uh done there, and we've also done um some asset mapping in that area to get feedback that I wanted to, you know, kind of share too.

I seen some some points, but you know, I don't you know wanna you know get too crossed, but just we I again we want to hear from them and provide them what they need, like and not just come into a community to develop it.

But what does the people that really live there want?

And then a lot of they they a lot of them want to what is it live in living is it live in agent place, that's what it is, you know.

And so like it's just a again, I seen that the potential, and I got a lot of we had opportunity to get feedback again.

We did the asset mapping, and a lot of our community, you know, they they they're just they they desire a grocery store, you know, they could desire better food, feel safer, you know, better streets, sidewalks, you know, vacant housing and buildings, and they feel they feel like the neighborhood is being ignored or no voice, the drug use, lack of youth community activities is something that they have shared with us, and so just just um wanted to continue to get energy and connect with other organizations to help help with that.

But I I just yeah, overall, I wanted to just highlight we have some data from our from our community.

We did a survey and we have about 29 209 inch um uh submissions, and so yeah, we want to you know support.

I I really think that um we've got to start from somewhere, you know, and then I uh I lastly have some information from a youth, like they do want to get involved, like, and that youth is like my sister, and I was like, you do you you want to help?

Like we have committees, and so she's interested in being a part of our committee, so that's something that we have to kind of like start from somewhere to get people involved, and so I I was like, okay, you know, so she she's kind of expressed some things that she needs.

I know this is not really like engaging again as a conversation, like I feel like we have to continue to uh have, but just needing them where they are.

But I feel like this youth has talked about assistance for people trying to get jobs with background felt with felony friendly.

She said she's looking for positive things for kids to do, uh community interaction, uh ways to create better habits, addiction, mental health.

She was saying that is what she's she's she's been experiencing in her in her youth.

I think she's in her 20s, that 20 age.

I'm I'm still young, I'm 30 uh three.

But she's still in another generation than me, you know, and so I wanted to just kind of throw that out there too.

Uh sometimes uh yeah, to develop more leaders, not followers.

It's something that I was like, wow, okay.

So hey, like, no, I'm glad she said these things, and I know we'll just continue to work on their needs, but I love again one of the uh have a conversation about how we get our youth involved, and you know, just for one, what comes to me is just meeting them where they are, but what if we're like you know, I feel like that's on many levels, but that's what just kind of comes to me as far as like helping.

But that's that's um that's what I wanted to say.

Sorry, I don't know if it's a lot.

We're gonna continue to have eating this long.

Yes, sorry.

Now we have this young man.

Yes.

Uh my name's Chris Williams.

Uh this is my wife.

And uh just to be completely transparent.

I mean, as you can see, you know, she's extremely passionate.

I don't want to negate myself being passionate about serving my community.

Um she ultimately knew about this, and she was like, hey, you need to get it up.

Yeah, you need to get up to me there.

I was like, okay, uh, you know, uh I ultimately I'm a I'm a creative.

Um I'm sorry, what you need up with.

Okay.

Uh ultimately I am a creative.

Uh I started an organization titled I Rock the Beat.

I know it sounds like it's predominantly music related, entertainment related.

However, uh it's just a real catch-on uh uh creative catch on words.

Uh essentially what I do is I assist side hustlers, thought leaders and nonprofits and helping them and assisting them on rocking to the beat of their own drunk.

Uh I do that through branding, uh, marketing tools.

You know, you spoke about like automation and stuff like that.

That won't really run a belt on me.

So, yeah, and strategy, so we also offer like coaching and things of that nature.

Um, so I'm sure when she was like, you know, telling you I need to get up and come, I'm sure she understood that there's some possible value that can be added to this conversation and to receive, you know, um, not to get completely derailed, you know, but when you were asking about certain things like you know, what do we do to connect to the to the youth, you know.

Um, I don't want to pretend like I have all the answers.

Um, but I do one thing I will say is you know, um, when I think about there being a gap, uh, and not necessarily in age, but really uh what I think is understanding and resources.

These kids don't really know the type of resources that they have readily available to them where they're living.

You know, we think we think there's like, oh, there's stuff that's not out here, but look at this conversation that's happening right now, you know.

Um so I I definitely think it's an exposure thing, yeah, yeah.

As far as connected to them, it's easy to say, you know, have events and do entertainment, but if it's if it's entertainment without like an intention, right?

Uh then it's just entertainment, right?

And there's there's no there's no direction that the youth are being given to even you know what I'm saying, like you go through the have a good time and then they go home and then exactly.

But you know, what if there's something with just a small idea, you know, what if there is something with their with the intention behind it, where you know, uh uh, and not to get too deep into this, you know, with like uh modern day hip hop content right now, you know.

Um it's glorifying a lot of things that's completely opposite to what our kids should be celebrating, and I mean it's kind of like worshiping, you know what I'm saying?

Um you know, going after those things, obviously in a tasteful way, but you know, uh, but again, the ultimate thing when I speak about the gap is you know, I don't even like using the word old, right?

You know, uh everyone in here are experienced people.

But you get what I'm saying, you know, um, and you guys have foundational understanding of resources of life of experience that uh if the youth were given, they would be able to navigate and make wiser decisions on their path to wherever they're going.

You know, because a lot of them's just lost the over again.

I think we need to have an another conversation after about you coming up and talking about what you all were just voting, voicing, but introduce the young man that's with you, CJ.

Say hello.

Hi, hi, how are you?

And think about all the possibilities that are looming out there for him.

And they can be good experiences, they can be bad experiences.

Hi, CJ.

Hi, are you familiar with INRC, Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center?

Yes, I have uh came across, I think some glass that they've sent made or the organization.

Okay, because they are having a series of listening stations right now that cover a lot of the same basic topics of what we are talking about today.

And I know they still have five or six to go.

Uh check out INRC or also, are you familiar with keys to work?

No.

Okay, check out that.

I don't know if that's a dot com or dot org.

Um it's as it's spelled or as it sounds, keys, K E Y S.

I believe they use the number two work.

They are an organization for people trying to get re-entry.

Ah, okay.

Okay, and there is a company on Sherman, about 8 and Sherman, called Recycle Force.

And Recycle Force hires those people that have been recently released that were incarcerated, and need to have support in the community, namely a paying job.

Right.

Thank you.

Okay.

I want to run an idea by everybody and see if this is a way that we can begin to get neighborhoods from across the county to communicate with each other and to support each other.

Um that is one of the basic foundations of McCannna is getting neighborhoods to support each other.

When McCann first started, um, there was a whether it was real or perceived, this idea that the people who live in center township, the old city, and the people who live in the outer townships, the suburbs, don't have to in competition with each other, didn't have anything in common, didn't care about each other.

And that has gotten better, but I think that's something that we need to keep building on, is knowing that yes, we need to take care of what's in our own backyards first, but we also need to know that if we're gonna solve citywide issues, we have to talk with each other, not just to our elected officials who are absolutely part of the problem, or processing slip.

Okay, I'm leaving now.

Part of the process and part of the solution.

Um before I do that, however, since I put my feet, which are red or orange in my mouth, I do want to think the Marion County Health Department also has been a very constant presence at the McCann meetings, but in support of the neighborhoods.

And they are not, they work with city government, they are not part of city government, but they work to provide so many solutions to people.

Childhood abusations, help with dentistry, school supplies, birth certificates, um, helping neighborhoods get cleaned up, doing elderly checks, they environmental um issues they can help control.

There are so many things that the health department does that I think a lot of people are not aware of.

Yeah, and their presence in Indianapolis has made a huge difference in quality of life.

So, you know, I want to thank Carla for being here today.

Dana Reedwise has often been here.

Um Dr.

Kane was our speaker a couple of months ago as the director.

Um but what I have found with the Marion County Health Department is even if you have an issue that is not in their purview, they don't just say we don't do that hanging the phone up on you.

They will work to help provide solutions.

So when it comes to their services and helping support their funding, I urge you to go visit their website, give them a call.

Carla, can you reiterate the main number for people to call and the website people can go to?

Yeah, it's 317212000.

That's the main number.

And you're gonna get me on the website, but I believe it's MarionHealth.org.

And for those people who are here at Russell things, we do brochures that are outside the excellent.

So after last month's meeting, I had this idea trying to move into the digital age.

Um what if we picked out either one or two days for each township in the county a month for very specific neighborhood issues?

For example, we'll pick on almost neighborhoods, car repairs in the street.

They have been battling this issue forever.

What if we said on the 7th and 8th of this month?

We're going to ask everyone to contact, and we'll provide a blast list for the city county counselors, other people that might be affected, send them emails, make phone calls that say, would you please pay attention to this problem in this neighborhood?

Let's get let's start trying to solve some of the small issues.

I don't know if it is still a theory that's taught in social work classes.

Um my background is in not-for-profit agency administration, even though that is not where my career led me.

Um, but it was that broken windows theory that you gotta take care of those small things that affect people before you can tackle the big things.

So if we said for Washington Township on the 7th and 8th of this month, we're going, and you're Washington Township, right?

Okay, we're gonna ask every neighborhood leader in the area will provide some basic information that the neighborhood will have to provide to us to contact so that people are getting a very concentrated the elected officials and the people that can bring resources to the table, either because they're charged to do so by law, or they have additional resources, they can bring all of those issues to focus.

The paving of the the alley behind the post office, you know, so that even though I live in Franklin Township, I don't drive through almost neighborhood on a regular basis.

That's not the post office and the library that I go to, but say, you know, this problem has existed for a long time, or this problem seems small, but it is so overwhelming to this neighborhood that they can't really focus on anything else.

Help fix this problem.

It would be a kind of a difficult process to manage because then you know we've got to pick and choose, okay, which issue gets focused on these days.

But do you think that that is a process worth pursuing?

Yes, absolutely.

Yes, I um was at a meeting with I I think there were senators, but based on that said that they were the senators was in a meeting, um, and somebody's uh their page or the phone kept going off to get dinging, they kept getting messaged because there was something going on in their area, and they had everyone contact them, and every time they got a contact, their phone dinged.

So they're sitting in this meeting with all their peers, their colleagues, and his phone keeps digging, and he keeps dinging, keeps dinging.

Um everybody's looking at him.

What's going on?

What's going on?

It must be some emergency, and he looked, and it was 500 blasts about working in the street, and he got up and took care of so yes, that does exactly work that way.

Yes, it does.

Okay, so would it be um pertinent in some cases to everybody also blast into um reporting it to code enforcement through the Mac or you know, remote?

Yeah, but you have when we had the when we have the people out here with the Mac Center, they say if they get multiple complaints about one problem all at one time, it kind of gets escalated.

That just depends because they he was just there saying how like if too many people report the pothole, then it just goes back into spam.

Okay, then it does not escalate it.

So it might just depend on the problem, but then you have to be careful.

I guess I will say I have been frustrated with the math center in the past.

I will say I have been frustrated with the Mac Center in the past.

Not always, sometimes things do get resolved.

But but sometimes it just seems like you call you or you go online and you make the report and nothing happens.

And I think they're working on it.

Well, there's some maybe not today, but there is a way to use Excela to find out exactly what happened.

And um whether you're not you need to keep at it because it fell through cracks.

It falls through cracks a fraction of a time.

Okay.

So that this is an idea that we might need to flesh out a little bit.

Um like we need to figure out a way.

Facebook, I we don't have a website.

Facebook is is what I use, it's what I know how to use.

Um, but also use the email blast where we could send out a list and say, you know, this township is gonna have these dates, these dates, these shades, um, and then begin to solicit um the issues that people want to focus on, and that's where I'm probably gonna use the people that have been attending on a regular basis, start with them and say, Okay, we got this complaint.

What do you think is most important?

But let's try and build on it that way.

Yeah, and take a little bit of time for you to get this together, so it's not gonna happen tomorrow.

Um, but I do think it's something that we really need to concentrate on because I don't think we see enough cross-communication between the neighborhoods.

Um, but I think that's something that that we can do, and I know there's a couple of online calendar scheduling kind of a thing that you can use.

Facebook has an event um for organizations have an event thing, so you can post uh event with dates, and that can be into the future.

Okay, um, and then it'll drop off after it's over.

See, this is what I don't know, but I don't know.

I didn't I didn't, I mean I knew that was available like on a personal basis if you want to send out invitations to a birthday party or something.

I didn't know that that was available to organizations.

Okay.

So I think at this point, it sounds like Facebook and the email list that we have is probably gonna be the most effective way to at least get this launch.

So what I would ask is if there is a specific issue in your neighborhood that you can pinpoint that say, let's let's address this problem.

It isn't the only problem, but let's start with this problem.

Um if you could get in touch with me, um, again, my email address is CB7801 at AOL.com, or you can reach us through the Facebook page for the Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations, or you could you could call or text me.

My number is 317 847 9959.

I do not carry a smartphone, so don't I carry a flip phone, so don't send me a link I gotta click on that ain't gonna work.

Um and often I don't pick up numbers I don't know.

So if you call, leave a voicemail, um, and let's get the communication system started.

And this is something that I'm gonna ask for some help doing because there are clearly technology methods that I'm not that I don't know about or I'm not comfortable using, but I think that's something that I would get like to get launched by October.

Um, and let's begin to get the information out there.

The one other thing that I would ask is if you have time, as you are out taking care of your other business, going to work, picking up groceries, taking your kids to their sporting events, take a little time to go drive through a neighborhood you're not familiar with.

How many people in this room?

Carla doesn't count because she's with America, well, you do have no with the Mary County Health Department, you go out.

How many people in this room right now can say that they have driven, really driven through a neighborhood and looked at it that was not in their township in the last month?

You know, it takes a little time, but I've seen a lot of things around this city that I didn't know about just by taking a different route home from here on Saturdays.

Um maybe sometime next year, we could many years ago um under a different administration.

I think it was the Peterson administration, they set up a series of township tours.

They got a C bus and they set up a tour for a different date for each township where people from the township could invite people out, and they just got we got to Scotland buses and we drove.

Showing people our township, even our elected officials were on the bus.

The rep the department heads.

Do you remember that?

I don't remember that, but it's a good idea.

Especially for we have so many new department heads, and they used to call and introduce themselves.

They don't do that anymore.

Um yeah, it would be nice for them to get out and see the different neighborhoods and paying attention to things that need taken care of.

Yeah, you know, it's I mean, it's you can sit here and talk about it.

Um, but until like the post office that we keep talking about with the unpaid alley.

I heard about that for months, and then I finally, when I left here one day, drove down that alley.

And driving down that alley, and Jim, can you remind us again of the location?

Uh 2801 North Shaytland, I believe, is the address of the post office.

Oh, Sherman.

Sherman.

Sherman, thank you.

I said trade lending.

You know, I've been looking at Chairman.

I've heard about that for months, but hearing about it in this room and actually trying to drive down that alley and seeing the condition that it was in, that was a whole different situation.

We invite the viewers to drive down the post office alley because it is the only means of egress from that post office.

You come in off Sherman, and then you cannot go back out on Sherman.

You have to go out behind the post office through that alley.

So please drive through there, call your uh your city representative up, not necessarily the city representative of that area.

Well, that is going to be one of the worst things because to my knowledge, it's still taken care of.

The only alley that I know of that has been taken care of was in the 800 block of just completely blanked on the street.

Oakland of Oakland Avenue, because they had so many complaints from one of our residents there about a variety of issues.

And if we get together and call about that, it might get taken care of.

Are you listening?

Jim, you had you had indicated that you had a comment you were going to make a couple minutes ago.

Maybe it is time for McCannna to purchase a table covering and uh start appearing at functions like IMPD community days, Feast of Lanterns, uh different community events that are going on around the city, and have a presence there so that the people who attend those events become aware that we exist.

Well, we actually have a banner that is residing in my garage currently that's a large banner that we used to use at Earth Day.

Some of the problem with that is we have to have the people who are willing to do it.

Right.

Um, unfortunately, because of my own circumstances, I'm not as mobile or able to get out like I used to be.

So we need to find people who can do that.

Um, and I and I think before it's kind of one of those chicken and egg things.

We got to have people to do it to get people to do it, we've got to get them to know who McCanning is so that they will realize it is worth their time.

But I but I do agree.

As those of us who got involved with McCann to begin with, ate or pass away or move away, those who are willing to go out and represent us in public has diminished.

So we've got to build that basic communication court back up.

So, Kathy, I'm wondering if um, and I don't know that this has happened or maybe it has, and I'm just not aware of it, but some direct outreach to the neighborhood leaders at this point.

So, like this young lady said you you had not heard of it before.

No, and so I'm not even sure for my neighborhood if anybody's ever really heard of it, and I actually forget about it until maybe Dana asked me to show up.

Um so some direct outreach to the neighborhoods, and then asking for some financial support from the neighborhoods, maybe $50 or whatever, um, from the neighborhoods so that they could support this because this is a good uh partnership with neighborhoods, but maybe they just don't know.

So if you just even outreach to the presidents of those neighborhoods and HOAs and letting them know and inviting them and asking them for contributions and so forth.

We do have dues that are $20 a year, which is a start.

We don't want to exclude anybody if they can't pay the dues.

Um but we do have the dues, and Alma had done a lot of work contacting um the the neighborhood organizations and the HOAs to get current emails.

Maybe what I need to do to start with, instead of including them in a blast list is actually do individual emails.

Direct outreach I think would really be more effective.

I don't know how many neighborhoods and HOAs we have.

A lot.

But even if it was just maybe I don't know.

But somehow some direct outreach.

Get the little hanging through first, those who you're pretty sure might participate and then go for the other ones.

Do you think people would respond better if we did that if we did those individual emails rather than that group blast thing, would that be a better way to reach them?

I think that uh the way you've been doing it, send it to all of uh of the people that you have the email address to uh because uh uh those emails that we have gone through are to the president of neighborhood organizations and uh HOA you know so that's a great idea.

The whole point is uh, you know, when I get the email, I send it to the people in my area, uh, that I have email address to what uh what I would like to do, you know, because I'm out riding my bike, uh, is to print off those things and deliver it to uh some of the people who don't have email address.

Okay.

Um so it's a great idea that the president actually gets those emails so they can pass it on.

It's just that which would make getting it out sooner a better thing.

Right, right.

So just a reminder so they know it's coming up, you know.

Um, you know, because if they can't make it this this month, then maybe next month they can put us on the calendar so they can come to that.

Uh you know, we just need to get people involved.

Do you think it would help if I send an email out fairly soon, I hope.

Like so I've had some things going on personally where communications had some roadblocks.

But to send out things that say, here are all of our meeting dates for the rest of this year, even going into 2026, even if we don't know who the speaker is or what the topic is, here's the meeting date.

Same with yeah, okay.

Well, you know, the other meeting is coming up, and you know, so that's that will help.

You you say you bicycle a lot.

Yes.

Are you aware of bike indie?

Yes, okay.

Yep.

People like the in the bicycling community.

Black girl do bikes, uh, riverside riders, I rode with Riverside Riders.

Um they did 17 miles, I didn't do that.

Ah, come on.

It's it's their uh organization above them.

Uh you know, like like McCannic is to the neighborhood organizations.

Is there like a biking group in the Indianapolis that's over all these different groups?

I don't know the answer to that.

Okay, and maybe McCandla needs to get involved in the bicycling end of it so that we become the you know the people that pull them together and make them aware of each other and they there is a Central Indiana bicycling um uh group.

Uh they show up where there are parks where they want to uh use the trails for biking.

Yeah, okay.

Uh so that's uh they've already taken care of the well I was gonna say what we need to do is establish lines of communication, not try and uh uh make them feel like we want to take them over or tell them what to do, but open those lines of people.

Yeah, we want to open that's right.

And and that could be done simply by uh sending out the notices early, because then when I'm out or someone else is out, I can actually pass on that information.

Uh so uh getting it the information to the president of the neighborhood organizations or the HOA.

HOAs.

So, you know, getting that information out to them.

Um, because uh I think the Viking community already know because they're part of Indianapolis, uh like Indianapolis Black Girls do bikes, uh and in Naples Riverside Riders.

And so uh, and there's other organizations, uh, other writers that are out, and just getting information to them.

Um, you know, because uh most of the Viking community live on the west side of town.

So there's two organizations you just need to work with.

Right.

So, you know, um, they do a lot of biking around the city.

They even rode with the mayor, okay, you know.

So it's uh, you know, so they they are you know well known and uh very active, you know.

Uh so they have a speaker available that we can invite the speaker to one of our meetings to give us the inf some information and also share it with our viewers on channel 16.

I I don't know, I never heard of them until this morning, so I don't know if they've got a speaker available.

But those kinds of groups like I said, I didn't know if they existed.

I know biking is a very popular thing right now.

You know, one of the things I'd like to hear from some of the groups that do bike is the establishment of bike lanes on the downtown streets is problematic, I think in some ways.

So, yeah, you know, what kind of what could happen to make biking more friendly for the bikers and for the motorists?

Because the last thing I want to do is hit somebody in a bicycle.

Yeah, but you know, when they've got traffic crossing each other, that's hard.

Um one of the I'm gonna kind of switch gears here.

Okay.

Okay, Pat.

Yeah, digging back now.

Carlos said, um, you know, if if I feel like the uh new directors, the heads of the directors should be contacting the neighborhoods to introduce themselves, um then maybe we should be contacting the neighborhood leaders and introducing ourselves.

Okay, yeah.

So going from here, I know two clear tasks that I need to undertake myself.

One is to send out the emails directly to these email addresses, not do them in a group.

Right.

Um, and then I forgot what the second rule was.

Okay.

Maybe we maybe McKenna also needs to be a regular attendant at the city council meetings.

Again, that is a good thing, and we used to do that all the time, but we've got to build up our basic membership so that one or two or three people are not trying to accomplish all of that, right?

Understood.

Okay.

I wanted to just go back to the note about assistance for the future leaders.

I don't know if y'all already um you have a contact with the mayor's neighborhood advocate.

Okay, because I'm like, she I feel like she's been very helpful.

Like when there are issues, you know, we're able to call her, she comes to our meetings, our general meetings, and is a help when we're able to communicate issues and concerns.

So I just I didn't know it.

I just wanted to throw it out there at KT.

You know, the the New York neighborhood because that's gone through a lot of iterations since they were first established.

That position has changed names a lot, um, but it was started during the Goldsmith administration, and when they first started those positions, they each had um a contact or a person that was assigned to them from the various city departments, and they would hold monthly meetings, and they even had a small budget that they could decide how money got spent.

Um, and then things changed over time.

Sometimes it seems like they've just been PR people for the city instead of problem resolving.

I know that I know that some townships have had very active engaged MAs, some of them have not been so active and engaged.

I've seen a little shift, at least in my own township, where they're the one that we have currently is really trying hard to engage with the residents.

I think it might help if we could really get a definition from this current administration about what exactly is the role of the MA supposed to be now.

Because like I said, it's changed and it's shifted, and I think the MAs themselves have not always been super clear on am I a PR person, am I a community engagement person?

Um but I think that would be helpful.

So I'm gonna shift gears here because we're we're already into the well into the second hour.

I want to touch on the city budget um a little bit and find out from a neighborhood perspective what you think the priorities should be, and then I want to end go back and end the meeting with some specific neighborhood issues that need to have priority.

So let's shift to the city budget.

Um coincidentally enough, I did subscribe to the Indianapolis Business Journal not long ago, and in this week's paper, there was the story about the budget.

That was a very high level.

Here's what the biggest percentage of our budget goes to.

Here's how the money, here are the financial challenges that the city is facing now with the reduction in funds from the state and from the federal government.

I hear a lot of conversation about let's make Indianapolis a great place to visit.

I grew up I was born in Indianapolis.

Well, technically I was born in Beach Crow, but I was born in Indianapolis.

I've lived here all my life.

I love Indianapolis.

But I want it to be a good place to live.

Yeah, that's where Mayor Luger used to have.

And the the idea of what makes a great place for neighbor for people to live, the people who really know that are the people who are not in the offices, they're the people who talk to their neighbors and deal with their neighborhood issues.

So I want to hear just an open discussion about, and I hear a lot about why are we spending so much money investing in tourist attractions to get people to come to Indianapolis, and at the same time we look at issues like violence in the city and homelessness and home affordability and the problems with code enforcement, you know, once a problem is reported, getting it resolved, um, getting permits issued in a timely way.

So I want to hear from you guys.

Not thinking about dollars, but what are your top three priorities for how the city should be spending their monies?

One of the things I hear in my own township is our roads are the worst roads in the county, and I hear that not just from Franklin Township, I hear that from every single neighborhood I talk to.

Every neighborhood thinks their roads are the worst ones.

So to me, it seems like road repair is a big issue.

Yeah, but I'm gonna go around the room again, I'm gonna put you on the spot.

I'm gonna ask you for what do you think the top three spending priorities should be in Indianapolis?

I want to kind of try to do it high level, not get into the weeds too much.

And what I'm gonna do with this information then is I'm gonna send the letter, the email, whatever it takes, to the city county counselors and to the mayor's office and say the neighborhoods talked about what the priorities are.

Have you given this consideration?

So I'm gonna do the reverse and start with the young man in the back.

If you had to pick the top three things that the city buddy should come budget should concentrate on, what would it be?

I heard you address some things too.

You say like uh violence and homelessness.

Um the the term or the phrase that I've been on lately is uh edutainment.

That's uh did you say edutainment?

Yeah, so it's entertainment education, right?

Okay.

So using entertainment to educate people.

I think there's a I think that there's a um I think that there's a huge um problem with, and I was kind of touching upon it before.

Um lack of understanding, lack of knowing.

I think that there's a lot in our educational system that teaches us about a quote unquote the system, but you know, when it when it comes to navigating um the realities of what it means to just yeah, to survive in these neighborhoods where you do see there's a lot of violence going on, you know.

So just uh so when I say education, that's a broad word, so it's definitely still more around like the mental health component, you know.

Uh you know, I think that uh you know, obviously adults as well, but you know, kids experience a lot of trauma, and there's no um, and again, I do understand that there's quote unquote resources out there, but there's no awareness of these resources out there to allow for conversations to be had to hopefully potentially you know, um move I'm gonna say hurt people in a direction to not continue the cycle of hurting others, um you know uh so yeah, I'll say that you know, mental health, uh mental health education, um there aren't, I believe, now it's growing, you know.

Um and again I do understand that there's quote unquote resources out there, but there's no awareness of these resources out there to allow for conversations to be had to hopefully potentially you know um move I'm gonna say hurt people in a direction to not continue the cycle of hurting others, you know uh so yeah I'll say that you know mental health uh mental health education um there aren't I believe now it's growing you know I am I am pretty connected with a lot of the uh quote unquote community leaders in the creative space here in the city um but again if there's no if there's no substance behind some of the activities that's going on it just kind of it becomes like one of those things to where you're just kind of like feeding the the beast who without trying to not necessarily train it but to heal it you know uh um so would you say it was accurate to that we need to utilize the cultural space available to help build social support net one thousand percent okay that's not good narrowed it down that's exactly what I'm saying absolutely um well there is a movement afoot to put so much priority on street repairs that they're taking money from other things and the road repair issue constantly actually the solution actually lies with the state so I want to put that out there um because we can't continue to cut the budget of things other things when the solution isn't with the city um so the things that I think we should be adding to the budget is parks and um Jim had this more before the meeting started mentioned that they've cut their maintenance crews and park rangers are the park rangers got subsumed into IMPD and their law is like the commingling of budgets uh happened and we don't even know how many park rangers are left there was only 14 to begin with I thought they'd go down to 11 you know that kind of ties into the parks are a obvious gathering place for cultural and social events they can't do that if they're not maintained or if they don't have adequate safety measures in place exactly and um so I think parks needs to be much higher priority um than it's given now and national standards we are woefully inadequate with parks um and they provide a lot of a lot of things to someone's life um so that that should be a priority um I did read that article as well and there was a um section in there where they talked about um code enforcement uh BNS sorry business and neighborhood services which is code enforcement and uh permits and other things um where they might they'd be raising their their fees um but it sounded it it was left hanging as though what's gonna happen with that money now if they're raising fees last I heard the fees by state law had to reflect the delivery costs of services so those additional fees should go into beefing up permits personnel and training and uh co-enforcement personnel and training because those are the services that they're uh they're vital um to neighborhoods that that co-enforcement response needs to be swift accurate and I'd like to see them add a daily or weekly or even monthly um penalty fee to the violator so they don't have to go to the court system to make that happen.

I know they're understaffed.

I know they have a backlog that in in our township is reached a year, it's a full year before code enforcement does its job and creates the file, sends it to City Legal, City Legal doesn't pick it up for a year.

Now, is that a backlog issue where an additional judge would be the solution?

Um, or is it a constant um constantly expanding backlog that now you also need more city legal staff?

But from a neighborhood perspective, we we you know you got the zoning, you get the planning, you've got um eventually the implementation, and then you got the code enforcement to back it all up when it's not working properly, and then it goes back through zoning.

So we have the whole cycle in our neighborhoods, whereas each department has a piece of the action, um, and they don't always communicate, but those are the three, I'd say parks for sure.

Um they really need to be beefed up.

This is ridiculous at this point.

Um, and BNS, uh, those additional fees uh to violators and to cover costs for additional personnel, um, and then also the city legal.

Well, you know, I do think that um I I absolutely believe in due process.

Don't get me wrong.

I don't want anybody's right to be abrogated to represent themselves.

Right.

I also believe that sometimes people violate unknowingly.

And oftentimes those are the ones that have a tendency to correct it themselves.

But then I think there are people who are just chronic violators who work the system and they know it's gonna take a while.

Um we need to do something to get it enacted, get things moving through the process more quickly, and to make sure that when somebody has had exposure to due process, if they're still found to be in the wrong, like repairing cars in the street, fix it.

You know, when you get stopped by the police for speeding, have any of you ever had an officer say you were doing 80 in a 40 mile zone, here's a ticket, but you keep driving that fast until I have a chance to stop you later.

It's you know, you you created a problem.

Right.

You need to fix it, and you need to do it now.

Now, some things can't be fixed that quickly, and I get that.

You know, and if you if you have a violation where you have recourse to revariance, there's a process for that, but you gotta move the needle some.

You know, you don't want to have people out there that have been violating for seven, eight, nine years, and they just keep doing whatever they're doing.

Well, they get one citation, you know, they go through the due process, and if they haven't made any effort to um fix the issue, uh then they get a citation, or maybe a couple, depending on how many violations were on that property.

They get citation, which is minimal.

Then eventually it goes city legal to the court, and in in our township, the ones I'm aware of, the court will slap them with a whole hundred dollars, and there's no penalty.

I mean, if it all these things, you know, the price of doing business, you know, is uh is ridiculously low.

And other cities, because I've looked at other ordinances specifically on billboard, but their fee structure uh for violations will sometimes go daily.

It'll be a hundred dollars a day.

Um so now you're starting to talk significantly, and we do want to make sure that you know, a the person is aware it was a violation, and if they're making an effort to uh fix it, that's you know, that's cool.

But um, but the intentional violator, um, we need to be far more aggressive with them overall, and that you know that can help the budget a little bit.

Well, yeah, you know, because there are a number of people who are intentionally violating code.

Be interesting to know how many outstanding dollar amount, how much in outstanding fines are there that have been levied but not collected?

Well, I go on Excel a lot, and um I go through the code enforcement, I go through code enforcement in my area a lot, and there'll be um citation, citation, citation, and it'll be pay now, pay now, pay now, or feed paid, feed paid.

You know, and most of the time it's pay now, pay now.

I don't know whether they go to a collection agency eventually or not.

I don't I have no idea.

Well, um I think that it's it is such a catch-22.

The homelessness and affordable housing would probably be near the top.

But so many of the homeless don't want homes because they don't want to follow the rules.

So it's it's easier to stay out and continue doing what I want to do.

Um but then affordable housing, because yes, there are some that but then there are others whose market rate is pushing them out of their homes.

And so now where do they go?

Um my passion now is seniors.

And seniors are a large group, and that that isn't really a budget issue.

That's a people issue.

People don't care about the seniors.

So they have no option, no desire to work with them to help them to do anything to assist them.

And that is unfortunately seniors are a large population of the city.

And they're end is growing.

Now I I have to put in a plug.

I live in a little town.

The little part of Franklin Township I live in was established in the 1850s, so it's an old part town.

It used to be called Acton.

Um I don't know all my neighbors well, but we've had a couple of instances recently in our neighborhood, a fire being one.

Um you know, I'm getting older.

I'm not as mobile as I used to be.

We're neighbors who that you know they'll see me carrying groceries in and they offer to come over and help, or when we had the fire the other day, there was a neighbor that was going around knocking on doors telling people they needed to get out of their houses because the houses there are so close together.

But I think that's true, and I think that's part of the disconnect we have as a society.

I'm not talking about go over and have breakfast with your neighbors every day.

Yeah, but you know, if you've got a neighbor who's that you know is an older neighbor whose grass is too high, or you haven't seen them for a while, or it's winter time and you know that there's a bad storm on them, at least checking on them and offering to help when you can, and that is that is absolutely missing.

You know, maybe their grass is too high because maybe it is an older person, maybe they broke their leg and they can't mow anymore.

Can't afford to they're they can't afford to mow.

They can't, so you know, sometimes, and that's what the health department is really good about is going and checking, you know, if this property is in a state of disrepair, what's the reason behind it?

Maybe it is an absent landlord or a careless landlord or somebody that just doesn't care whether the the mice in their backyard travel over into the yard with the person next door to them.

And maybe it's somebody who just doesn't care, but maybe it's somebody who needs help and doesn't know who to ask or how to ask.

So I think you're right on target with that.

And maybe I'm pee speaking from a prejudice standpoint because I'm now one of those seniors.

But but I think you're right on target.

I will tell you, I did contact the it's the coalition, it's Chip.

Um to see what's homeless and the rental and prevent.

That's it.

I can't ever remember the acronyms.

Maybe we should have one home account meeting on acronyms, who all these people are.

Right.

And I do have an invitation out to them to come and talk about what efforts they're doing.

Carla, you can either address this from a personal standpoint or from the county health standpoint.

You take your pick.

I'll do personal.

Okay.

And um sidewalks.

I think sidewalks, some of the sidewalks.

People park on their sidewalks, um, but in some cases it's not much different from the street.

So I do think sidewalks, but in those sidewalks, this is just a little irritant of mine, is that generally KIB will plant trees between the sidewalk and the street and policemen.

Those trees destroy the sidewalk, so they just so years pass, and I I know this from experience because we got sidewalks, I don't know, 15 years ago or so in our neighborhood, but they also planted trees.

Now the trees are growing up and the route are destroying the sidewalk.

So there's certain kind of trees you can plant.

There need to be more mindful of the types of trees you plant so you're not destroying the sidewalk that are so hard to get in the first place.

Um affordable housing, I think is really a big issue.

Um and I guess I didn't really think about parks, but I think if you want to impact crime, a crime magnet is a poorly maintained park.

And so really that's you know, while there are many pieces to a puzzle, you know, you can address them a little at a time, and if you want to health place, a good place to live and a nice place to visit, you should have nice parks.

So that of course accomplishes both areas, and then this is just a little aside because I was told by my MA that this isn't really a city problem, but it is city problem.

I think that the mayor or somebody should really address this.

We've got so many street lights that are out.

There's a large corridor like 38th Street coming over the bridge or whatever it is.

I drove down Meridian yesterday or whatever it was in his dark.

The street lights are out.

It's just a really ridiculous, but I was told that was an AES problem.

Maybe not it.

It's a community problem, but that's an AES responsibility.

But I don't know.

And I could go out and get the poll numbers if I wanted to step out of my car in the dark and on 38th Street and do that.

But I think that the city should make it a priority to make priority to make sure that the street lights work.

Again, crime, safety, nice place to live, and a nice place to visit.

Okay.

Jim.

Oh boy.

Okay.

Okay, I know you asked for three, but I've got like seven.

I agree with the affordable housing, especially in as it regards to gentrification.

We need to make it easier for those senior citizens who have lived there for 10, 20, 30, 50 years to age in place, including property repair and property taxes.

We're going to have for probably the next year once they get started on it.

We just got through the conversions of New York and Michigan Street.

Thank you very much.

Now we need to get the drivers and the bicyclists and the pedestrians all on the same page.

An education program, maybe here on Channel 16, where we talk about how all three of us can interact in looking forward to this vision zero.

Willard Park was not accessible to a lot of our residents this year because of the citizens' gas water repairs along Main Street or along Washington Street, and the blue line is going in over the next three years.

And we still have other areas of the Near East Side.

That we were promised redevelopment on many years ago.

And I attended many meetings in regard to these places, and nothing has happened.

Jim, can I interrupt you just a second?

Sure.

The women's prison redevelopment, is that is that city and county or is that state?

Do you know?

That is now city-owned property.

Okay.

According to the information I've got.

Okay.

Is that that was supposed, it may not be, it may be still state property, but it is being moved into the city properties.

There's some big uh land exchange going on or that went on.

And also my own private pet peeve, because I had the luxury of being in Canada for a while.

Snow removal on the blue line sidewalks.

The city needs to get a little snow plow that'll go down all the sidewalks and plow the snow back into the street or back off of the property because what you've got now are the big plows pushing it on the sidewalk, and the owners of the properties along the blue line cannot afford to you know dig themselves out of that big mess.

So city, please figure it out.

We don't have all that much snow here in Indianapolis, but when we get it, we get it.

Well, that was pretty quick for us.

You know, I watched in the winter time.

I watched that.

I was traveling, I was driving on down Meridian Street from 38 to 16th, and I watched somebody that was trying to get across the street to the best thing in the middle, and I watched a snow plow push the snow up onto the sidewalk so that those people had to get out and then walk in the drive lane up 38th Street.

And when I and when I happened to come back down two days later, the snow was still piled on the sidewalks.

Well, yeah, and it was just like, yeah, I saw that really happened right there in front of me.

Well, blue line needs it definitely, and I'm sure that the red line and the purple line would be greatly appreciative of those interactions, also.

Okay.

Well, I I think uh uh the budget should be concentrated on uh affordable housing, which is which is a big issue everywhere.

Yes, and also uh code enforcement, you know.

Uh we have an issue there, and I don't know how long it takes them to uh you know get around to looking at everything and also uh enforcing it.

Um the other the third thing is our streets are a mess.

38th Street is widely used everywhere, it goes from one side of town to the other side of town, and I tell you, just getting down here, I had to duck and dive hold in a road, you know.

I mean, uh enough that it could pop your tire, you know, if you hit it.

Um they just need to focus on our roads, and you know, and that's not that's not even thinking about uh residential roads, it's just the main one, you know.

Um don't spend so much money downtown because most of the time residents can't afford to go downtown and park anyway, you know.

Uh I would love to spend more time downtown, uh, you know, and thank goodness for uh purple line because uh you know I go to uh Indian game all the time, and I take the purple line, you know, because it's cheaper than trying to find a parking space.

You're paying 20, 30 dollars to park and you're spending more money at the event.

Uh so you know, instead of planning for I it's great that they're planning for people who are coming in, but you're isolating the people who live here, you know, that also want to attend some of these events.

Uh is you know, I I don't know the answer to it, but since they're making up the budget, you know, they should look at all of it, you know.

Uh people who are coming in and people who live here on a daily basis, and that's my thing.

That's your rent.

Okay.

Well, I have a couple of things I want to bring up.

A lot.

I wasn't really going to give you the last word.

I ran a small business of my own here in Mary County in Franklin Township for more than 40 years.

We all the time got requests for donations to community projects.

We couldn't contribute large amounts of money, but we did when we could.

I know a lot of other small local businesses get requests like that all the time.

From an outsider's perspective, it appears that if you got a lot of money, it's easier to ask for the government to give you more breaks and give you more money.

I was raised to believe that in this world you share what you can.

You share what you got.

It is confusing to me why we seem to spend a lot of money offering incentives and investments to private corporations who seem to have deep pockets instead of saying you are part of this community, there is a more moral, social, and ethical imperative that you help take care of your fellow man.

I'm not talking about taking money away from them.

I don't believe in that idea that you know, if you're rich, you should have all your money taken away from you.

But but from an ethical standpoint, you have an obligation to help each other out, and when we have so many immediate neighborhood needs, why does it seem like we're spending so much money giving incentives to private corporations?

And some of the big corporations do make substantial financial contributions to the community, and the neighborhoods are very appreciative of that.

But I would just like some answers about how much tax money is going to trying to get more visitors in, more high-rise hotels.

Show us what the true return on investment for our neighborhoods is, so that we are investing in it being a good place to live, not just a good place to visit.

All of the events that are going on downtown are exciting, you know, that people are coming to our city for conferences and sporting events and cultural events.

That that is marvelous.

But we cannot rely on the government to solve all of our problems.

Because then it just isn't gonna happen.

Maybe those investments, we are getting a good net return on them.

Maybe we're not.

I don't know.

You know, what is happening?

What is actually happening to the money from the tip districts that are created?

Are they really going to improve the infrastructure that will benefit not just that specific use or that specific event, but long term we don't know.

We can't get those answers.

Or can some of those funds be used for things like available housing instead of buying hotels?

Yeah.

Oh, we have.

We've invited them, you know.

We're not getting the answer.

So as the city is looking at the budget, tell us the truth.

You know, what are you really investing?

Like I said, having those visitors, those that come for sporting events, those are very important events for the small restaurants.

They're important for the hotels and for the people who work in those service industries.

Having those events here are important to supporting our local long-term economy.

But let's look at what's real.

If you're gonna go out and buy a house and you can't afford it, can you go get a handout?

I'm sorry, that's um that's probably not the right term.

Can you go get an incentive to help you pay to build that house?

I think there are some programs where you can qualify in some circumstances, but we also have a lot of people where you're either very low income or the very high income, and then you've got the people who are in the gap.

They can't qualify for any of the programs, but they are still struggling to buy shoes for their kids and put food on their table and try and buy that home.

How can we fill in that gap?

So, what I will do is based on what I've heard today, I'm gonna try and draft a letter that kind of lists what some of the priorities are and say, you know, we understand we've got a crisis we have to address, but what can we do long term so that we don't continue to have this crisis?

With that, I'm gonna shift yes, Pat.

One last this is a side topic.

Um, you know that AES, the um electric company around here wants to raise rates again and going to um the uh the commission that or was it IURC.

The the IURC, um, Indiana Regulatory Commission.

Um there's a group called the Citizens Action Coalition, which would probably be interesting to invite as a speaker some point too.

Um they do key in on these electric requests, and they do have some action items you can do now.

So if you look up Citizens Action Coalition, um somebody I ran into just last week said that they had an electric bill of $800.

Yeah, and um that's pretty shocking.

But AES wants to raise rates, they're saying it's citizens action coalition is saying it's $30 a month, but I know that they have something waiting in the wings to come after this wave of requests.

So people need to stand up and start saying that you know, my electric bill has been going up and up and up and up for several years.

There's been a considerable increase in the percentage of your bill every month, and um at some point uh they need and the they're buying electricity from out of state, they're not even self-sufficient.

So anyway, uh Citizens Action Coalition is the place to go to find out what kind of letter you can write.

They've got an assisted assist um what do you call it?

Um they have a digital way to send a letter, uh, they can inform you as to where the meetings are to come and speak up in person, etc.

So citizens action coalition.

Um there's been a lot in the press recently about the um massive data centers.

We all rely on technology.

Um that's where we are.

We understand that we have to have the data centers to move that along, but there's been a lot of questions about who's paying for the power, um, and do we even have enough power to supply all of the proposed data centers and still allow other economic development.

So the Indiana, so the Citizens Action Coalition is another place to go that, but all you have to do is go on the internet and Google data centers and power supplies, and there's a lot of information.

And there are arguments on both sides.

But if we're looking at electric rates, that's something that and the ability to continue to provide stable power to the entire community, state, country, whatever you want, we need to be looking at that and have some serious conversation about that.

Another place that I would suggest that people visit because they do send out regular blasts about action items is the Indiana Forest Alliance.

If you are concerned about the present preservation of open space, wetlands, woodlands, the Indiana Forest Alliance is a good place to go.

Where if your time, your your tendencies are to try and participate more electronically, those are places where there are platforms where you can get information about what you can do to help using the social media presence.

And who's your environmental?

Who's your environmental council is another good place to go and visit?

They've got a lot of information out there.

And if you get class as a tree hugger or a uh wacko environmentalist, okay, you know, if things are getting done that benefit the neighborhood, does the label that gets stuck on you really matter?

We get so hung up on labels that sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees.

Okay.

Sorry, I don't know if I didn't was clear out your question about the this was a city budget, like the three things.

That was the question you wanted to.

I have to go out there.

CJ took your priority as it should have been, but yes, I just wanted to share from the neighborhood from the data that we were collected.

I feel like I could just highlight maybe three things.

Okay.

You know, giving rehabilitation to these things, like I don't know what mentioning.

Yeah, almost things could be happening, but there's a lot of they get housing and buildings.

Mental health, you know, just it it's some some form of support with that because it's for everybody, and it's it's essential, and just positive neighborhood relation, like they they want to continue that.

So whatever that may be, I don't know if it's continuing as these resource fares, the this this continuous that engagement, you know, um, connection creates concern.

So we we continue to connect, it will that concern will hopefully continue to grow or expand.

We were talking about like looking out there for your neighbors and things.

So they already they already picked that up, but they want it to they they want to continue that.

How do we continue that the positive uh relationships within the neighborhood?

So just whatever that maybe we just had a national night out in Crown Hill, and it was a really great turnout.

So just continue and just to help with supporting these type of events, these convening events together to get our our community organizations, neighborhoods, election officials, everybody to be in one you know, spaces to continue the you know, context of them.

I think that's what I wanted to share as far as like where the budget could go or something.

Makes sense and certainly aligns with everything that everybody was here here was saying, you know, one thing's one thing that I see a lot on social media, and I do a lot of reading, but I don't do a lot of posting on Facebook.

But you know, we talk about generations, you know.

The the older generation sits on the front porch and says, Well, things aren't like they used to be while I was kidding.

And the younger generation says, Well, look what y'all did to us.

But the three adjectives that just keep seem to resonate.

I keep hearing from younger generations, is you know that they're that they're they feel hopeless, they feel like they're overwhelmed.

I think everybody feels like they're overwhelmed, but they're disconnected.

That and I keep hearing this dystopian society.

That sounds like it's after some you know major event like Mad Max or something, I don't know.

But we need to get past that.

We need to figure out how we can work with each other and quit quit pointing our fingers at each other saying, Well, he did that or she did that, or that you did that, you know.

Stop pointing, stop blaming, start figuring out how to fix it.

You know, he did it too, was never an excuse that I accepted with the kids that I've worked with.

Just because you and we see our when we see our elected officials do that all the time.

Well, he did it too.

Okay, fine.

That doesn't fix the problem.

So we've got to figure out a way to make generations connect, and that is certainly a problem that's larger than the can it can tackle.

But that just seems to be this sense of hopelessness that everybody has these days, that nothing that they do is gonna make a difference.

That's what you know, being in a neighborhood group.

You come to learn that it, you know, it it is there is something you can do, and when there's several of you, your voice is louder.

And you know, they gave the Arlo Guthrie song, but needless to say, but that you know that the neighborhood groups do bring strength to um a neighborhood, and the more engagement that that group has with their own community, the louder their voice is and should be heard by their elected officials, absolutely.

Well, toward the idea of uh getting together with your uh neighbors, uh near east side is having or the East District IMPD is having coffee with a cop at the Shaven Starbucks on August the 27th from 9 to 10 a.m.

Also reminding you that the Feast of Lanterns in Spades Park is coming up near the end of the month, and the Arsenal 5K is coming up near the beginning of September.

We could sit here and talk all morning, but we are almost out of time.

So, real quick, um, I'm gonna ask if there if there is a very ish an issue very specific to your neighborhood that you want to get out on the air right now.

Before we move to that, I want to remind people we are going to start collecting information from neighborhoods about specific issues that we can start using in this monthly neighborhood support.

Um I don't want to come up with some catchy name for it, but this idea of neighbors helping support neighbors.

Um, so if you have an issue in your neighborhood, like the trash is building up on the alley behind this address, or we have car repairs at this address, or we have an alley that won't be repaid, or we have a vacant building where there's we think there's ill illegal activity.

I want you to contact us with specific information about what, where, how long it's been going on, um, and who the contact person can be for that neighborhood so that we can begin establishing dates and saying on this date we're gonna tackle this issue in this township.

Here's what you can do to help support this neighborhood.

To send us that information, you can email me at CB7801 at AOL.com, or you can contact us through our Facebook page, which is from the Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations, or you can call or text me at 317-847-9959.

Um we're gonna see if this works.

My personal information is already out there, so I thought long and hard about whether or not I should give that out of the air, but people already know.

If I start getting hate stuff, I will act on it.

I will not, I will not go vigilante on you, but I will contact authorities.

So I want these to be suggestions for positive things that we can do to solve these specific issues.

We're gonna try and go around real quickly.

Give me one issue in your area.

If you could pick out one thing that your neighborhood needs help with that you need support from all over the county, whether it's your next door neighbor or somebody that lives across the county, tell me what it is.

And if you say you don't know right now, that's fine.

Okay.

Uh well, there is one issue right now that we're trying to work on, and that is uh uh there's a stop sign at 39th and Tacoma.

And people run that stop sign all the time, and when they do, they end up in my neighbor's yard.

They had an accident uh just uh this week, and it was a truck hit a car, the car ran the stop sign.

It clearly says cross traffic, don't stop.

The problem I think right now is overgrown bushes where when you're trying to come across or trying to see if there's traffic, you've got to be in the road to see it.

Okay, and so that would be my concern is how do we get these bushes cut down, you know, because the man who lived there is a winner, and he says he can't do it.

We had the health department come out last year and cut them down, but then they grew back.

And so now it's really hard to see.

You gotta be in the road to actually see if there's a car coming from either way.

That's the traffic engineering site distance problem.

Is it that we addressed immediately?

Who has to stop?

Is it 30?

The car that's headed uh is it east and west.

Oh, uh 39.

Okay.

Uh well the 39th uh and Tacoma, the cars going east and west has to stop.

But at Temple and 39th, the cars uh north and south.

Yes, all right.

So you know, but yeah, there's always accident, and and that girl came, that car came uh that far just that distance from hitting her gas line, and we would have had an explosion, you know, because I mean the clear sight triangle is a code enforcement issue.

I know.

Well, but that's the problem that we have with code enforcement.

Okay, okay.

Yeah.

Well, um, I actually before you mentioned that I was actually gonna say this.

I don't have a specific address.

I have a a at home a group of addresses, but we have the narrow old roads that are never gonna get wide in my lifetime, and um so the brush uh grows into the road, and so you're sitting there trying to pace traffic and not scratch your car.

Um, but you know, you can't you're trying to get two cars to to uh go down these narrow roads in different directions without one of them scratching, um, gets harder and harder.

But they they should have some kind of regular schedule to come out when they know that this they're narrow roads and they need to, you know, they have those um mowers that are uh vertical mowers, and they're pretty cool, but you know, they've got the equipment, so uh come and use it.

Okay, neighborhood cleanup.

Well, except that that's trimming.

It's trimming, but then to trim the trees, you know, we get all of them in the same place.

We have one-lane roads to snowplots don't come through most after because the roads aren't wide enough for a snowplow to get down.

Oh, wow.

Same thing, if you're gonna plow the you're gonna trim the trees, you gotta stand out the road to do it.

Yeah, another use for a sidewalk snow plow.

Yeah, okay.

That's not a problem.

You got a specific issue in the neighborhood, Crown Hill neighborhood.

I don't know if y'all want to come back, but something is coming to me about maybe our unhoused community that are there, and they kind of will keep can't refined camp and these abandoned homes and vacant homes and things, and they're working with getting like this non-trespassing like order, but it's the our house community.

Uh, I feel like it's kind of what's kind of what comes to me, but I definitely would like to I can come back, but that's this is something that's coming to me.

Okay, well, um, I don't know the exact addresses, and it seems like there's like three different houses, and they're not sure that because of the number of people in and out, is it illegal activity?

Is it multi-family dwellings?

Is it just the unhoused and found someplace to camp out?

Um that is um in the oak hill area, the biggest problem we have now.

Carla.

I I can't think there's yeah, nothing.

There's so many.

Well, it's not even that there's so many.

I think that uh there's such differing opinions, and it's really not something that it's just internal, like you know, we have some neighbors that are really up in arms about the bike lanes that are on Washington Boulevard, some that love it, some that don't.

So this is nothing that's really important.

I mean, nothing that really uh mechanic can deal with.

It's sort of an internal, it is what it is sort of thing.

Gotta figure out how to get opposing viewpoints that work for everybody.

Yeah.

Good luck with that.

Yeah.

Um, perhaps you would like to be the next president for the United Nations.

I know.

Jim.

Illegal dumping.

Okay.

All over the place.

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

I think we are at the end of our time.

So we're going to work on this initiative to start getting this whole getting specific or support for some specific neighborhood issues.

So please, whether you're in this room in person or you're watching us on channel 16, get that information.

The first thing we have to do is speak up.

Yes.

We have to speak up.

We have to figure out how to support each other.

We have to figure out to that that old phrase, just get it done.

You know, we may need short-term solutions until we can get long-term pollution solutions in place.

Many people know I am not a fan of roundabouts, but I understand that that is a trend in traffic calming measures.

That takes money and it takes time.

And if in the meantime you need to stick up a couple of stock signs and to get that traffic stopped, I am sorry if people are in such a hurry that they feel like they should be able to speed through those stop signs and not regard traffic.

But something if it means putting up reflective things or more, just get it done.

Solve the short term so that we can really think about the long term.

If you can't get milk for your babies, you're not really thinking about how am I going to fund their college education.

You're thinking about how am I going to feed them today.

So with that, our next meeting is on September the 20th.

Oh, that was the other thing I was supposed to do that I couldn't remember, is to get that list out to everybody of all of our meeting dates.

That was what I forgot.

But our next meeting is on set for September the 20th.

The speaker is to be announced.

In the meantime, if you have a suggestion for a speaker, send them contact information.

And if you have a personal way to contact them, if you have a relationship to them, help get the speaker set up.

That would be such a that would be such a huge help.

With that, thank you to channel 16 for um airing our meeting today.

I hope all of you go out and have a good weekend.

I'm going to go stay inside.

I do not like the summer heat.

But I understand that the this is the last weekend for the state fair.

So I hope if you if you can, you can enjoy it.

Otherwise, enjoy your families, your whatever your entertainment is, or go mow your grass.

No, that's not happening.

Alright, thank you very much.

Thank you.