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Chicago Tribune
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Gary council overrides Melton veto on Beckman school development
The Gary Common Council continued to greenlight plans for a development at the shuttered Alfred Beckman Middle School — even after the mayor expressed opposition. Gary Mayor Eddie Melton vetoed an ordinance the council passed that allows for rezoning at the former school site. The ordinance allows the middle school to rezone from R2 residential to planned unit development, or PUD, and B3-1, which allows for shopping centers or large stores. Melton addressed the rezoning on WLTH April 30, where he recapped his second State of the City address. Melton also went live on Facebook while he was on WLTH. 'I'll keep this simple, I didn't sign that ordinance when it passed,' Melton said. 'So, essentially, it has been pocket vetoed. If they want that to pass, the council will have to override that pocket veto.' The council overrode Melton's veto in a 6-3 vote Tuesday night. Council members who voted against overriding the veto were President Lori Latham, D-1st; Dwayne Halliburton, D-2nd; and Myles Tolliver, D-at large. Tolliver previously said his biggest concern with the development is that it would be in a residential area. Latham is a member of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, a local activist group that has been outspoken in opposition to the project. 'GARD is concerned about sustainable economic development of the city as a whole and properties located in dense residential districts and is opposed to projects that would put those residents and neighborhoods' health, safety and viability at risk,' said a previous GARD statement. Council members who voted to override the veto included Mary Brown, D-3rd; Marian Ivey, D-4th; Linda Barnes Caldwell, D-5th; Dwight Williams, D-6th; Darren Washington, D-at large; and Kenneth Whisenton, D-at large. Brown and Whisenton have both previously expressed concerns about Gary's tax base and have said projects like this are the best way to help the city. Williams previously said he believes Gary needs more jobs to keep younger generations in the city. Washington previously told the Post-Tribune that the city needs to look at its taxes, especially as communities start to see the effects of Indiana's property tax bill, Senate Enrolled Act 1. On Tuesday night, Washington spoke about Melton's veto. 'I was a little set back and disappointed in Mayor Eddie Melton's comment on WLTH,' Washington said. 'I can speak for myself and for Linda Barnes Caldwell … we were not contacted about the mayor's disapproval of the Beckman project. (For) two and a half months, I contacted, left a message for the mayor, and never heard anything from the mayor about his disapproval.' If Melton had expressed concerns before, Washington said it might have been a different result. Washington has also asked for more communication between the council and Melton's administration, saying projects at abandoned schools won't happen without the council's approval on rezoning, and all council members need the same information. 'I want each councilperson to be able to know about each and every project that has been articulated by the administration, so we can make an accurate vote,' Washington said. 'I don't ask council members and tell council members how to vote. I ask council members to get all the information, and it is the responsibility of the administration to make sure that we have that information.' Melton's administration was unable to immediately send a comment Wednesday. The development previously received an unfavorable opinion from the Gary Rezoning department and plan commission. Corrie Sharp, primary contact for the Gary Rezoning department, met with developers to address project concerns, including building height and traffic in the area, according to Post-Tribune archives. The final, updated ordinance included a new timeline for the project, with demolition within eight months, development must commence in 18 months, and the primary structure must be completed within three years of ordinance passage. The final ordinance also addressed traffic concerns, saying trucks must enter and exit off 22nd Avenue and leave 23rd Avenue open for car access.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Braun's Executive Order Sparks Alarm in Polluted Communities Like Gary
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun's latest executive order eliminating environmental justice protections is sparking concern in communities like Gary, a city long plagued by industrial pollution. Environmental advocates warn that gutting oversight will leave vulnerable residents with fewer safeguards against toxic emissions and hazardous waste. Earlier this week, Braun signed an executive order eliminating 'environmental justice' as a consideration when issuing permits or grants, saying that the term has been 'increasingly politicized.' The move aligns with the Trump administration's broader rollbacks of U.S. environmental protections and follows the EPA's decision to dismantle its environmental justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion offices. 'The State of Indiana believes that the focus of environmental permitting and enforcement decisions should be on the protection of public health, natural resources, and economic growth without favoring or disadvantaging any group based on race, ethnicity, or other social criteria,' Braun's executive order Braun framed his legislation as a way to maintain neutrality in the decision-making process, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, an environmental watchdog organization in the city, warns that eliminating oversight sends a clear message to polluters: Some communities are expendable. 'Shutting the EPA's Offices of Environmental Justice is a direct attack on cities like Gary and essentially signals to industry that there are 'sacrifice' cities where they can do whatever they want,' said GARD Secretary Carolyn McCrady. The move comes as President Donald Trump has vowed to slash the Environmental Protection Agency's budget, fueling fears that already vulnerable cities like Gary, a nearly 80% Black community with a legacy of pollution, could face even fewer safeguards. 'The country is going to see more people with asthma, cancer, lung diseases, and heart problems. This will be especially true in the communities like Gary that already suffer from being overburdened with air, land, and water pollution,' said GARD President Dorreen Carey. A 2024 national toxic emissions report by Industrious Labs found that low-income communities of color living near steel mills like Gary Works face cancer rates 12% higher due to air toxic exposure. The report also found that Gary residents are in the top 10% in the nation to develop asthma due to the release of toxic pollutants like benzene and lead from manufacturing plants. In a 2022 letter to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the EPA called Gary an 'environmental justice city' citing the majority-Black area's burden and exposure to hazardous air pollutants. Local advocates have used agency resources, like EJScreen, to challenge hazardous projects, including Maya Energy's trash facility and Fulcrum Bioenergy's waste-to-jet-fuel Walts, director of the EPA's environmental justice division for Region 5, which includes Gary and Chicago, spoke with Capital B Gary last year on the significance of the office's work. For the past five decades, Walts said, the EPA has made strides in studying the effects of harmful pollutants, and through its environmental justice division, it has applied that research to support communities disproportionately affected by them.'What environmental justice highlights for EPA is we, as an agency, have to do business in a way that is more focused on communities,' he said.'We have to understand systemic impacts. We have to understand the multiplicity of stressors, and we have to get better at working together to solve systemic challenges,' Walts said, adding that it is essential to collaborate with community partners, like GARD, and other governmental units for it to work warns that without safeguards from the EPA, environmentally vulnerable cities like Gary will be at increased risk if the agency follows through on its plan to gut regulations that limit toxic emissions, address climate change, and protect the country's most vulnerable communities. 'Cities like Gary will have to become even more vigilant to protect their residents. Our health and the future of our community is at stake,' McCrady said. The post Braun's Executive Order Sparks Alarm in Polluted Communities Like Gary appeared first on Capital B Gary.
