Rudy:
Ramblings & Rumblings
— Reports on matters pertaining to Gary, Indiana Mayor Rudy Clay's running of the "Steel City"
Rudy:
Ramblings & Rumblings
— Reports on matters pertaining to Gary, Indiana Mayor Rudy Clay's running of the "Steel City"
I have read, but have not been able to verify, that "da' Mayor" did not fininsh high school? Rather, he is purported to be the proud holder of a GED. His official web site claims he is a graduate of Gary Roosevelt H.S. Anyone who knows the truth of the matter, please do share it with us.
Mayor Clay on Economics
Clay argues he's saving taxpayer monies by choosing the Hummer as his official means of chauffeured transport.
"It's a very economical car," Clay said.
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[Comment GDY -] MORE ECONOMICAL THAN WHAT?
Car Controversy Endless Post-Tribune, Opinion [23 Jun 2008] Clay brags the Hummer is "economical" and considers he's doing taxpayers a favor by driving a model that gets 14 mpg in the city and 18 mpg on the highway. It's another sign that the mayor is out of touch. We wonder when the mayor last put his own money in a gas tank. Real leadership begins in the mayor's office. The city needs
it now more than ever. Gary Cleaner (literally) under Clay?
How can we persuade Scott King to run for mayor of Gary again? As a Gary resident, I have had enough of Rudy Clay as mayor.
Clay promised to clean up Gary when he was running for mayor. Since Clay took over, the city looks worse than ever. Trash and debris are everywhere. We have not had a pickup of large items since Clay has been mayor.
Many areas of the city must wait a long time just to have their trash picked up. The city looks like a pig sty, from the polluted shores of Miller to Brunswick, from downtown to Glen Park. Now summer is coming, and as we drive through Gary and look at all of the decay, we soon will smell it too. Thanks, Mayor Clay, I and many other Gary citizens will not be voting for you in the next election.
Clay has urged citizens to clean up their own properties. I and many thousands of other residents do keep our properties clean and neat, but when the city refuses to clean the streets and
haul away large items and clean up garbage on the roadsides and the beach, that is the fault of Mayor Clay.
We need Scott King again.
Ramon Romantico, Gary
Business Resurgence in the "Steel City"
A convention center is what's needed for Merrillville. A business incubator is what's good for Crown Point.
What's good for Gary? "Oh, let's give them a medical waste facility or a garbage-to-ethanol plant," said the Rev. Asher Harris, pastor of Great Band Missionary Baptist Church in Gary
and former president of the Interfaith Federation, a local social justice organization.
[Gary Post-Tribune June 16, 2008]
On School Security
School Board Member Andrea Ledbetter said, "New strategies must be done in Gary schools to provide the safe, orderly environment favored in charter schools." She proposes using an outside security arm, such as the Nation of Islam, which she said would command respect and order from students.
[14 Apr 2008]
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[Comment GDY -] Let's see if I have this right? The mayor travels about the garbage littered streets in a Hummer, and the Nation of Islam provides security in the schools. Sounds like the description of a war zone to me?
"Strategies must be done?" While a strategy may be planned, used or implemented, I do not think in terms of proper english, it can ever be done. But then, why would one expect a school board member to have a proper command of the english language?
On School Financing
GARY -- Pressed to shave $7 million from the school district budget by July 1, Gary Community School Corp. Superintendent Mary Steele-Agee outlined a plan this week to save cash via cuts to security, maintenance, teachers and administrators.
"The bottom line is there is a $7 million deficit in the school district as we speak that has to be resolved. We have to balance the budget," Steele-Agee said.
The elementary schools will lose 21 teaching posts, the middle and high schools will lose 8.5. Seventeen teaching posts in the areas of special education, speech, black history, home economics and cooperative education will be slashed.
Seven paraprofessionals will be cut, as will nine administrative positions -- the district buyer, property control manager, professional development supervisor, assistant director of the Gary Area Career Center, and five elementary and assistant principals.
Two secretaries, five Teamsters, three general maintenance workers, five high school security posts, 12 elementary school security posts and 12 elementary supervisory aides are also on the chopping block.
| The Mayor of Gary Indiana to Pay for his Own Gas |
|
City Workers Must Also do the Same [WGN-AM 6/28/2008] - Mayor Rudy Clay is now using his own personal credit card to fill up his city leased Hummer H3. Clay says the city is now spending 30 thousand dollars a week on gas and he's trying to lead by example when it comes to the city's financial woes. Beginning Tuesday all city employees that have take home cars will have to pay for their gas themselves. Clay intends to keep his SUV which gets between 13 and 19 miles per gallon. He says it's not an issue now that he is paying for his own fuel. The city's budget troubles have been worstened by an expected 36 million dollar revenue shortfall due to property tax changes approved by the Indiana Legislature. |
Rudy Clay's B-Western Movie
[11 May 2006]
The Chicago Sun-Times' Michael Sneed is having more fun with Gary Mayor Rudy Clay and his travelling security
detail, suggesting it's right out of a B-movie script. Sneed let's us in on a new website that's offering apparel with the acronym "G.E.A.R." (Garyites Embarrassed About Rudy) emblazoned on it. Sneed's item today:
Is it a B-movie script?
Sneed hears Gary's new Mayor Rudy Clay, who has been tweaked for hiring an around-the-clock, two-man security detail and using a Hummer as a security car on the taxpayers' dime, is getting thwacked again.
*To wit: A group called GEAR, which stands for "Garyites Embarrassed About Rudy," is selling everything from teddy bears to underwear emblazoned with the group's name.
*Nitwit? All their products are printed left of center, "because we think Rudy is a little off-center, and we think he should be flushed!" according to the group's Web site, www.cafe press.com/savegary.
*Detail on the detail: Clay's so-called "world-class" security team is made up of James Matlock, reportedly known as "The General," and Jesse L. McCoy, who sports a cowboy hat and vest pinned with a badge.
*Stay tuned for the next episode right outta Dodge City.
Wyndham: No Gary deal
"We do not have a signed agreement to develop a hotel project in Gary," spokesman Rich Roberts said. "We are not in talks with anyone to develop a hotel there, nor does our staff know of any proposals by any developer for a hotel of any brand in your city."
Mayor Rudy Clay promised at a town hall meeting in March that executives from a "major hotel" would visit Gary within weeks to announce a new hotel. No announcement was ever made.
Wheelin' & Dealin'
GARY -- A not-for-profit group run by one of Gary's state representatives is in danger of losing its dilapidated downtown properties on Broadway. However, state Rep. Vernon Smith blames the city for the poor condition of his buildings, and he questioned how a City Hall staffer came to purchase the property at tax sale. "I think there's a skunk in the nest," Smith said.
Smith was called into an unsafe building hearing at City Hall annex this week because Gary's administration is threatening to tear down his buildings in the 700 block of Broadway. Smith said he lost the ability to repair the buildings and pay the taxes when vandals broke into them years ago. The city took down security gates to repair the sidewalks on Broadway. When the work was done, Smith said, the security gates weren't replaced and the buildings were invaded.
Lake County records indicate Joel Rodriguez of East Chicago purchased the properties at a tax sale in March. Rodriguez is paid by the Gary, East Chicago, Hammond Empowerment Zone to work as a special assistant to Gary Mayor Rudy Clay.
When Smith's property became available at tax sale, Rodriguez said, city officials worried that land speculators would pick up the property. Rodriguez said he volunteered to put a bid on the property using his personal registration so it wouldn't be purchased by someone else.
Even though county records list Rodriguez, with his home address, as the buyer who paid nearly $10,000, he and Clay said it was the city of Gary that put up the money. "We should be applauding Joel Rodriguez," Clay said. "We should give him a blue ribbon for saving that downtown property so that the city could purchase it, which we did."
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[Comment GDY -] Is this good government at work, or "political shenanigans by Rudy" at its best?
"Land speculators," would that be antother term for developer? God forbid that any part of downtown Gary actually be (re)developed by anyone, let alone by anyone but Rudy or his cronies!
Vox Populi
[10 Jul 2008]
I am sick and tired of seeing Gary Mayor Rudy Clay's picture everywhere. I attended a comedy show at the Genesis Center on the Fourth of July, and his face was on the ticket with the entertainers. He didn't even perform. What's up with that?
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[Comment GDY -] Sounds like a disgruntled citizen to me?
A portrait of Rudy Clay has been added to the walls of Gary City Hall's main staircase, and an open space has been left on the wall for a portrait of former Mayor Scott King. Clay said he paid for his portrait out of his own pocket, but he said the city is willing to pay for a portrait of King.
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[Comment GDY - ]
Clay's mystery driver contributes to surreal hearing
By John Byrne
[22 Jul 2008]
The L'Sana Djahspora-Darren Washington school board election hearing has at times been bizarre —
When Gary Mayor Rudy Clay testified Monday, Grimes inquired repeatedly about an employee of the mayor the attorney believed to be named "Mike McLemore." Grimes and Djahspora put "Mike McLemore" on their witness list, because Djahspora said that was the name of Clay's driver. "McLemore" was passing out illegal Democratic Party slates with Washington's name on them at an event with Michelle Obama at West Side High School the night before the May 6 election, according to Djahspora.
But Clay said he had no driver named Mike McLemore. Grimes pressed the mayor: "Have you ever had a driver named Mike McLemore?" Clay said there had once been a city employee with that name, but that he was no longer on the payroll. "How about 'Mike,' do you have any employees named 'Mike?'" Grimes asked. "I know lots of Mikes," Clay answered with a shrug.
After concluding his testimony, Clay stood in the hallway outside the courtroom, expressing his anger with the lawsuit, which he said is a waste of time and taxpayer money. "I'm out of here," Clay finished, turning to his driver standing nearby. "Come on, Mike, let's roll."
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[Comment GDY -] Does the mayor have a sense of humor, or does he have no compulsion against lieing under oath?
Enquiring minds want to know!
JOE JACKSON ENDORSES FAMILY MUSEUM PROPOSAL
GARY -- Joe Jackson, father of Michael and Janet Jackson, came home for the first time in several years Tuesday and he gave his blessing to the latest plan to build a museum honoring him and his famous family.
It's an idea that Mayor Rudy Clay concedes is in its earliest stages and one that has yet to be approved by any other members of the Jackson family.
"My goal is to have them all approve it," Joel Rodriguez, a special assistant to the mayor, said. Rodriguez said their museum would be built on a five-acre parcel at 2600 Grant St., on land owned by the city near Interstate 80/94 and the former County Market grocery store.
[Comment GDY -]
The key word here is former. The County Market received buku city dollars and folded in less than 6 months!
Clay said he wouldn't give the land to the developers for free, but Rodriguez said it might be worthwhile for the city to consider a donation. "This is something that the city of Gary definitely needs," Rodriguez said.
Jackson is the patriarch of the legendary Jackson 5 band, which auditioned for Motown Records 40 years ago today. The family grew up in a small home at 2300 Jackson St. in Gary. Jackson's visit began at City Hall, where he participated in a roundtable discussion with Clay and announced his support for a Jackson Family museum. "It's a great pleasure for me to be here and see all of this going on," Jackson said.
David Loeb of Illinois-based Land Partners LLC and Chuck Hamburg of Chicago-based Creative Hospitality Associates are among the developers planning the museum. Hamburg is also a professor at Roosevelt University in Chicago.
The idea of a Jackson Family museum has been tossed around in Gary before. In the 1990s, a group led by then-Mayor Thomas Barnes said every member of the Jackson Family but Michael agreed in principle to co-sponsor an entertainment center and museum. That project, which would have been located at Interstates 65 and 94, died after former Mayor Scott King took office.
Standing outside Dusties Southern Style Buffet on Tuesday, Jackson said the city doesn't need the approval of any of his children to build the museum. "I'm Joe Jackson," he said. "I don't need them to approve anything."
Loeb said Joe Jackson's support will be crucial to the new museum plan, but he said several decisions need to be made in the next few months. No date, he said, has been set for groundbreaking or completion. "We've got a lot to do in a short period of time," Loeb said.
Rodriguez also said the city hasn't verified that Loeb and Hamburg have the necessary funding to build such a museum. "They're private investors," Loeb said of the people financing the project. "That's all I'm going to tell you."
Sketches of the proposed building include a theater and an outdoor LED screen facing I-80/94. There is also talk of moving the Jacksons' former home from 2300 Jackson St. to the site of the museum.
Joe Jackson, who is promoting his new reality show, stood outside that home Tuesday. He helped the mayor unveil an honorary street sign naming 23rd Avenue "2300 Jackson Street" and Jackson Street "Jackson Family Boulevard." Cameras were rolling during the event, and a producer for Jackson's show "Meet Joe Jackson" said video from his visit to Gary might be included in an episode.
Clay declared Tuesday "Joe Jackson Day," and he gave Jackson a key to the city. "This key will open the door to the Jackson Museum," Clay said.
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[Comment GDY -] That key, and $1.75 may get one a cup of coffee in Gary. This is another hare-brained scheme that will never, ever, come to pass. Rudy is big on talk, and it is obvious the man is not able to deliver on his promises!
Lack of building permits may halt work at new Emerson school
[24 Jul 2008]
By SHARLONDA L. WATERHOUSE Post-Tribune staff writer
GARY -- Renovation work to turn the former Kennedy-King Elementary school site into the new Emerson School for Visual and Performing Arts may be stopped after all. Gary City Building Commissioner Benjamin Robinson said Wednesday that building permits are required for work inside the school, even if the main structure of the building is left in tact. "They are not exempt," Robinson said. "They are required to have an official permit and approval of a licensed contractor. They are going to have to shut it down -- I will pursue that."
On Tuesday, Gary School Board member Marion Williams questioned whether it was legal for the district to reconfigure the building without official documents or approved blueprints. Williams said on a recent visit to Kennedy-King that "one worker asked where is the blueprint for the work he was supposed to be doing? There wasn't one. Everything is being left to the responsibility of the worker."
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[Comment GDY -] Plans, permits, who wudda thunk? That is not the way "insider business" is done in Gary. Evidently, the contractor who landed this project did not have the right friends in high places? (In follow-up, the new Emerson did in fact opon on time.)
Airport gives customs site a bye
[26 Jul 2008]
By Jon Seidel Post-Tribune staff writer
GARY -- The city's airport board suspended fund-raising efforts for a new customs facility this week, effectively ending its chances of landing a passenger airline from Mexico (Via Aerobus).
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[Comment GDY -] Like sands through the hourglass, the comical farce of Mayor Rudy and the Gary International Airport goes on, and on, and on . . ..
Homicides down, but violent crime up
GARY -- Mayor Rudy Clay rarely misses an opportunity to boast about his city's dramatic decline in homicides this year. His cell phone voice mail message tells callers Gary's "crime rate is lower than it's been in 50 years;" recent news releases penned by the mayor make the same claim.
It's true that homicides are down almost 50 percent from last year. But other comparisons don't fare as well. In fact, overall violent crime is up 40 percent for the first six months of this year compared to 2007. Shootings alone jumped at least 14 percent through June 30, department statistics show.
Clay said he based his claim on information provided by the police chief, although a report prepared by the department's crime analysis unit that was submitted to the FBI earlier this month states 473 incidents involving violent crime occurred here from Jan. 1 through June 30. Last year for the same six-month period, the number was 337.
Seventy-three people were wounded by gunfire in the first half of the year, compared to 64 in 2007, the report states.
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[Comment GDY -] What is one to conclude here, given the rise in crime and decrease in population by about 4,000? If homicides are down, could it be that either the aim of the shooters is poor, or that the level of emergency medical services has improved immensely?
Rudy Names New Chief of Police
20 Aug 2008
This week "Hizzonor, Mayor Rudy Clay, named Lt. Reginald Harris to take over the reigns of the Gary P.D. Harris is the 7th person to serve in this capacity since Clay took office in April of 2006. Harris replaces the interim chief, who replaced the previous chief of police who resigned after being indicted by the feds for violating the civil rights of a citizen/suspect.
Harris' appointment comes at the same time that Rudy is trying to implement a city-wide 20% reduction in pay, but not hours worked, by all government personnel. This attempted reduction has been challenged by the Gary F.O.P. That challenge has, initially, proven successful. The F.O.P. has procured a temporary restraining order barring the reduction in pay, at least as it might apply to police personnel.
The appointment also follows on the tail of the removal from Rudy's control of the volunteer reserve police force. A recent ruling declared jurisdiction and control of the reserve forces resides in the police commission, not the mayor's office. The effect of this ruling was that the existing reserve officers were not legally employed. To remedy this situation, the commission is soliciting applications. Even so, the illegally employed reserve officers are still on the job, in uniform, driving G.P.D. cruisers and carrying firearms!
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[Comment GDY -] Let's see, 7 chiefs in 28 months, that computes out to an average shelf life of 4 months, doesn't it? Is this not a classic case of too many chiefs, and not enough indians? I mean who is in charge, and what is the direction the police department is supposed to be following? What does the revolving door in the chief's office do to morale and operational efficiency? Not a good situation, to say the least!
An Open Letter to Mayor Rudy Clay: Mayor Clay: Permit me to preface my comments with the statement that I am a former resident, and a still avid fan and supporter, of Gary; in the past known variously as the “Steel City,” the “Magic City” and the “City of the Century” I had the fortunate experience of having been born, bred and educated there. The education I received in the Gary public schools (Lew Wallace H.S. Class of ’64), I am proud to say, was second-to-none! It permitted this former steelworker to go on to earn two college degrees and make his way in the world. What I want to communicate is that I feel your administration is more than an embarrassment to the good, hard working people of Gary. Gary has been in a downward spiral for decades, true. Unfortunately, and to your shame, your
administration is exacerbating the decline, not arresting or reversing it. During your short tenure in office, we have had a chief of police (I say “a,” because there have already been 7 chiefs of police in your first 28 months in office!) and his cohorts resign under the cloud of violating the civil rights of
the citizens they are sworn to protect. We have endured the Gary International Airport fiascoes. Then, there is the on again/off again Sheraton Hotel farce, the phantom Wyndham Hotel and the Jackson Family Museum. You decry the litter seen in the neighborhoods, and implore residents to take responsibility for their property. When they jump on board by doing just that, they get no assistance from the city in terms of trash pickup. Instead, they must endure mounds of stacked trash at the curb that never gets removed. What kind of message does that send? Are they to not only clean up their properties, but also to then have to remove the trash to the city dump? If the answer is yes, pray tell, for what are they paying their hard-earned money in taxes? One could answer their tax dollars go to pay the cost of fueling your Hummer, and paying your chauffeur and bodyguards. I recall the days when the mayor of Gary was both visible and accessible on the streets of the city. He did not isolate himself in a two and a half ton civilian version of a military transport! He had a presence in, and was a recognizable member of, the community; be it Glen Park, Aetna, Miller, Tolleston or wherever. Or, maybe citizens’ tax dollars go to pay your son to photographically document your administration? Now, there is a worthwhile expenditure that serves all the citizens of Gary! Your conduct in relation to the auxiliary police force borders on the absurd. One gets the distinct impression the auxiliary police is nothing more than a group of yet to mature adults playing at cops and robbers. With the name of Yaros, I and my family know more than a little about what a serious business law enforcement in Gary is. While you and your cronies are having fun “playing,” the lives and property of Gary citizens are put in jeopardy. Then, there are the troubles within the fire department. The last time I looked, Gary, Indiana is still defined under the Indiana Code as a city of the second class. What legally defined Indiana “second class city” does not
have a fire department that is on duty 24/7? Requiring firefighters to work in buildings that are on the verge of being condemned, to rotate between station houses (closing one to open another, depending on the day of the week) has to be demoralizing, risky and costly. Do we just pretend that property insurance underwriters ignore the presence of fire protection services when setting the rates of homeowner insurance premiums? This month, in what I am suspect will be a futile effort to stave off municipal bankruptcy, you are trying to impose 20% across-the-board cuts for all city departments. Success in this would mean the already abysmal level of police and fire services will be even further reduced. I will be the first to acknowledge that the problems besetting Gary are manifold. I appreciate that no one individual will have all the answers. I know that no magic wand is going to be waved and Gary will be reborn. At the same time, it would be nice to see a dent being made in one or two critical areas. What two critical areas would I like to see be tackled? The omnipresence of unemployment and the failure of the public schools need immediate, concerted effort. Unless, and until, these factors are addressed nothing will change, let alone improve. Gary’s location on the southern tip of Lake Michigan, in the midst of every conceivable hub of transportation (surface, rail, ship and air), combined with space galore available for development by business and industry, provides immense economic potential. Mayor Clay, it is your job as chief executive of the city to transform that potential into reality! I and the citizens of Gary want to know, what are you doing to accomplish this? Rather than suffer a downtown that harkens of Baghdad, why not say, “Come here, we will give you tax rebates and provide a top notch education to the children of your employees when you locate in Gary?” Then, follow up those words with
deeds by procuring approval for tax rebates, and by hiring the necessary quality educators. At least it would be a start. Such an alternative is better than vacant, burned out businesses and closed industrial sites. What revenues do they generate for the city? Mayor Clay, if you feel my suggestions are naďve, do feel free to point out why. Tell us what you have done, and are doing, to alleviate the plight of a once proud city. Tell us what you want us to do, and precisely what the city will do to assist us in our efforts. After all, are we not all in this together? Sincerely, G. David Yaros
22 Aug
2008
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[Comment GDY -] The above letter was sent to Mayor Clay. If/When he, or someone on his behalf, replies, the response will be made available here.
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Created 18 Jun 2008
- 16:38:57 Hrs.
© 2008, G. David Yaros. All rights reserved.