Latest news with #GaryCommonCouncil
Chicago Tribune
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Gary council passes citywide firearm ordinance
At its Tuesday meeting, the Gary Common Council unanimously passed an ordinance placing restrictions on weapon use and discharge in the city. Councilman Dwight Williams, D-6th, was absent from Tuesday's meeting, which was held at the Gary Sanitary District's administrative building. The council's Public Safety committee first heard the ordinance, which makes it unlawful for anyone to shoot or discharge guns within city limits. Indiana Code prohibits political subdivisions from placing multiple restraints on firearms, including the ownership, possession, carrying, transportation, registration, transfer and storage of the weapons, according to state code. Political subdivisions include governing bodies in cities, towns and counties. No provision specifically prohibits local governing bodies from regulating the firing or discharge of firearms and weapons, according to the Gary ordinance. 'Many cities have on the books already that you're prohibited from shooting firearms in the city,' said Carla Morgan, corporation counsel for the city of Gary. 'Because what legitimate reason, if you're not a police officer, do you have for doing such a thing?' City leadership previously believed there was an ordinance that established firearm rules in Gary, but it couldn't be found, Morgan said. Gary Police Chief Derrick Cannon supports the ordinance. 'This ordinance, in its totality, is in alignment with other municipalities in this area,' Cannon said. 'Even Lake County has adopted an ordinance for unincorporated areas that is similar.' Councilman Kenneth Whisenton, D-at large, at the public safety committee meeting, asked if pellet guns were included in the ordinance. 'Nowadays, you have pellet guns that use air that can drop a human in a heartbeat,' Whisenton said at the public safety committee meeting. Whisenton and Councilman Dwayne Halliburton, D-2nd, both asked for language defining weapons to be included in the final version. On Tuesday, Morgan told council members that air guns and rifles, crossbows and firearms were defined in the ordinance's final version. The ordinance's final version also removed a section allowing hunting in the city's natural areas, of which Cannon previously disapproved. It's 'inherently dangerous' for people to hunt near the city's populated areas, Morgan said. All changes to the ordinance were included in an amendment, which was unanimously approved Tuesday night. A first offense will result in a $250 fine, a second will lead to a $500 fine, a third a $750 fine, and a fourth will mean a $1,000 fine. The fifth and any subsequent offenses will result in a $2,500 fine. All existing Gary code that conflicts with the changes will be null and void, according to the ordinance. In 2024, the city saw non-fatal shootings decrease about 10%, going from 147 incidents to 132, according to a previous announcement from the Gary Police Department. The city also had 40 total homicides, falling 23% from 2023 and the lowest number recorded since 2018. 'Through more proactive policing, we've taken a strong stance on crime prevention,' Cannon previously said in a statement. 'The improvements we've made are a direct result of our commitment to staying ahead of criminal activity and building relationships with community partners who can help solve more cases.'
Chicago Tribune
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Gary council to look at creating city-wide weapon use regulations
The Gary Common Council will later hear an ordinance that will establish weapon use and discharge regulations in the city. The council's Public Safety committee will first hear the ordinance before the whole body votes. '… it is appropriate and necessary for residents to be safe and secure in their persons and properties,' the ordinance reads, 'and that the unsafe or irresponsible discharge of firearms within the City of Gary poses a significant risk of serious bodily injury, death, or damage to person and property…' Indiana Code prohibits political subdivisions from placing multiple restraints on firearms, including the ownership, possession, carrying, transportation, registration, transfer and storage of the weapons, according to state code. Political subdivisions include governing bodies in cities, towns and counties. No provision specifically prohibits local governing bodies from regulating the firing or discharge of firearms and weapons, according to the Gary ordinance. If passed, the ordinance will make it unlawful for anyone to shoot or discharge guns within the city. Some will have exemptions, including local law enforcement, those with a valid license and acting in self-defense, those with a valid hunting license, and anyone discharging a weapon at a local shooting range or gun club. The ordinance cannot constrict legal possession, purchase or use of firearms in accordance with Indiana law, the state constitution or the U.S. constitution. A first offense will result in a $250 fine, a second will lead to a $500 fine, a third a $750 fine, and a fourth will mean a $1,000 fine. The fifth and any subsequent offenses will result in a $2,500 fine. If passed, all existing Gary code that conflicts with the ordinance will be null and void, according to the ordinance. In 2024, the city saw non-fatal shootings decrease about 10%, going from 147 incidents to 132, according to a previous announcement from the Gary Police Department. The city also had 40 total homicides, falling 23% from 2023 and the lowest number recorded since 2018. 'Through more proactive policing, we've taken a strong stance on crime prevention,' Gary Police Chief Derrick Cannon previously said in a statement. 'The improvements we've made are a direct result of our commitment to staying ahead of criminal activity and building relationships with community partners who can help solve more cases.' The Gary Common Council will vote on the weapon use ordinance at a later date. The next meeting will be at 6 p.m. June 17.
Chicago Tribune
22-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Gary council to vote on city fund creations
The Gary Common Council will look at creating funds for parking meters in the city and for green urbanism. The council's Ways and Means committee will look at the two ordinances at its 5 p.m. meeting on May 29. Both ordinances were introduced at the council's Tuesday meeting. Before both funds can be created, the Gary Common Council must first approve the respective ordinances. The parking meter fund is sponsored by Gary Mayor Eddie Melton and will make changes to the municipal code, according to the ordinance. Metered parking is 'in the best interest of health, safety and welfare of the citizens,' according to the ordinance. The Gary Board of Public Works will be in charge of the parking meter fund, if passed by the council. If the council passes the ordinance, funds will be collected to create metered parking throughout the city. Indiana Code allows municipalities to enact metered parking, and the city will create regulations and fees. Gary police will be in charge of issuing citations and imposing fines. If the ordinance is passed, metered parking areas will be designated by the Gary Board of Public Works, according to council documents. Parking meters can be on any land owned, leased and controlled by the city, its board of park commissioners, redevelopment commission and sanitary district. Parking meter fees will be established by a separate ordinance, which the city is required to periodically adjust. Charging stations for electric vehicles might also be located near parking meters if the ordinance is passed. The council will also look at accepting a grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to create a green urbanism fund. The $317,840 grant comes with a $79,460 cash match. '(The) grant project aims to establish a comprehensive residential waste management program in Gary, Indiana, with a focus on promoting sustainable household waste practices, reducing landfill waste, and fostering community engagement…' the ordinance said. If passed, the ordinance will create the Sustainable Homes: Food Waste Composting Training and Demonstration Project, which will have a team made up of representatives from the city's environmental affairs team, Farmers 202 Collaborative, Gary Food Council and Baby Greens Family Farm. The green urbanism project aims to actively participate in waste reduction efforts, increase recycling rates, reduce landfill waste, improve soil health through composting and create a heightened sense of environmental responsibility, according to the ordinance. The Ways and Means committee will first look at the ordinances before they are moved back to the council as a whole. The next Gary council meeting will take place at 5 p.m. June 3.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
From Schools to Taxes: How Recent Indiana Laws Impact Gary
What happens at the Statehouse certainly doesn't stay there, and for cities like Gary, the ripple effects are impossible to ignore. As Indiana lawmakers wrapped up this year's legislative session, several key bills, namely SB 1 and HB 1001, emerged that could reshape how Gary collects tax revenue and even communicate major decisions to residents. Local and state lawmakers warn these changes could threaten Gary's finances and strain the public school district. The long-standing compact between the cities of Gary and Chicago that established the Chicago-Gary Regional Airport Authority is set to be formally dissolved. Under the new legislation, the Gary Common Council is required to take specific steps to terminate the agreement, which was originally enacted in 1995, by Jan. 1, 2026. By July 1, 2025, a majority of Gary's appointed representatives to the airport authority must adopt a resolution endorsing the termination, and the Gary Common Council must pass an ordinance to make it official. The law also directs the dissolution of a separate airport authority board previously established by Gary. This marks a significant shift in regional transportation planning and governance, raising questions about the future of the Gary/Chicago International Airport and its role in cross-state economic development. The Common Council created a new committee to exclusively address state legislation that Council President Lori Latham recognized as a persistent roadblock for Gary's progress. 'It's not lost on us that every time we try to either build, establish or maintain an economic development driver in our community that the state has something to say or do about it,' Latham said, addressing the prescribed changes. Councilman Darren Washington, who will chair the committee, questioned the legality of the bill, stating the council would be conferring with its legal counsel as well as the administration's. ''To arbitrarily, at the last minute — it was literally the night before [the] session ended that language was stuck in House Bill 1001 to put the onus of the Gary Common Council to end the compact,' he said. 'I don't know if that is legal.' Local state legislators like state Rep. Vernon Smith expressed concern over the bill's impact on Gary schools. 'I fail to see how this budget invests in our communities and our families,' Smith said in a statement provided to Capital B Gary. 'Our schools will have just enough to stay afloat, but they won't have the funding they need to thrive. Like always with the state legislature, Gary will get little.' 'The funding for urban schools in this budget is insufficient,' Smith continued. 'It puts Gary Community School Corporation in a difficult position. The state takeover of our school board due to financial distress just ended in 2024. GCSC has to stay in the black, and the state isn't doing anything to help.' If the city of Gary or the Gary Community School Corporation wants to raise property taxes through a referendum, they now have stricter rules to follow. These ballot questions — where voters are asked to approve extra funding for things like school improvements or city projects — can appear only during general elections in November. Local officials also have a firm deadline: They must submit the request by noon on Aug. 1 to get it on the ballot. And for school districts in Lake County, including Gary, any referendum passed after May 10, 2023, could require some of that new tax money to be shared with nearby charter schools — even if the vote was intended to support traditional public schools. Gary's last referendum vote was during the 2020 general election, when voters approved a $71.2 million property tax measure to support the Gary Community School Corporation. By Jan. 1, 2026, the state will launch an online portal designed to make property taxes easier to understand. For Gary residents and taxpayers across the state, this tool will let residents see how their current property tax bill compares to what it would be if proposed tax rates change in the future. The website will also break down what deductions and credits they might be eligible for and give them a chance to share feedback directly with state and local officials. State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., who voted against both bills, said he didn't see any benefit for Lake County. 'Along with the impact of House Bill 1001, Lake County is set to lose hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to Senate Bill 2,' he said. 'This budget will do nothing to help Lake County residents, who will pay much more in local income taxes while getting minimal property tax relief. No one wins under this budget.' The post From Schools to Taxes: How Recent Indiana Laws Impact Gary appeared first on Capital B Gary.
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.
