Break Open a McANA Whoop Ass!
“The natives are restless!” I did some research on that famous Hollywood cliche line. It’s used when the main character in a film suddenly notices all those people he’s been taking for granted for all those years are unhappy – VERY unhappy – and there’s trouble brewing. But he doesn’t know when or where and by the time he figures it out, it’s too late.
Monroe Gray, Bill Mays, Carl Drummer, the natives are restless.
For anyone who has not been following the story, it’s pretty simple. In the Julia Carson Center on Fall Creek in Indianapolis, some folks decided to tear out a park/playground and put in parking space for a bar. Yes, a bar in a government building.
Now what’s gotten so many people in a tizzy is a perception that this was an inside deal done under cover of darkness, wrapped in a cloak of mystery.
Indianapolis Star Columnist Matt Tully has written about it this week and so has Gary Welsh, the author of Advance Indiana, a local blog. They both provide pretty good insight and summarize what has taken place; which essentially is a few politically connected folks used the system to their advantage to put a bar in a government building. I will not go so far as to say someone broke the law, but I can say the Marion County Prosecutor is researching the matter to see if a special prosecutor needs to be appointed.
And with all that as a backdrop, the Marion County Association of Neighborhood Alliances (McANA) is now up in arms. I spoke with group president Cathy Burton who told me they are upset because they feel the process was not done in the open. She said the group expects the public process to be open at all times and they plan to attend a hearing next month and make their concerns known.
Burton is concerned that once the proponents of the bar go to the economic development commission, they will try to argue that because they have spent so much money on the facility that it would be unfair for them to have to close up shop. This would set a very dangerous precedent. It would give a green light to any developer who wanted to build something over the objections of neighborhood residents could simply build and cry poverty if the project goes south.
Burton also issued a veiled warning that should this bar go through and the public is ignored, there will be repercussions at the ballot box next year during the city elections. The Mayor will be up and well as the city-county council. And although some folks may come from safe districts, there are at least four who could be vulnerable.
If I were an elected official, I would take McCANA seriously. If not, at least hide the can opener.
