1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,360 Speaker 1: Hello, everybody. My name is Nigel Jason Haim. Are right 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,279 Speaker 1: over there with a very special studio guests. 3 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:10,960 Speaker 2: City County Council meets tonight and from time to time, 4 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 2: at least once each month we touch base with Michael 5 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 2: Paul Hart from the City County Council pH representing District twenty. 6 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 3: How are you, sir. 7 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 4: Fantastic pleasure to be back. Happy to talk to you guys, 8 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 4: So correct me if I'm wrong. 9 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:27,160 Speaker 3: But from the last time you joined us in studio 10 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 3: to now, you decided to officially pull the trigger on 11 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 3: saying I think Joe hawk Set should resign. Other counselors 12 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,200 Speaker 3: have said this a while back. You were a little 13 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 3: late to the party. Why yeah, I was a little late. 14 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 3: I was the fifth to come out and say it. 15 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:49,160 Speaker 3: And you know, there was a whole other series of reports. 16 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,199 Speaker 5: That came out from the Indie Star and Mirror, and 17 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 5: those guys do it. They really do a great job 18 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 5: on investigative journalism. And I'll give them credit where credits due. 19 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 5: But one of the things I spent a lot of 20 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 5: time on are these Economic Development project Indianapolis. I sat 21 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 5: on that committee for the last six years and now 22 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 5: I was reflecting on a lot of those projects. And 23 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 5: you can see now that you know how much the 24 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 5: taxpayers are out just on these projects. I mean you're 25 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 5: talking five million in demolition on the old jail, eighteen 26 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 5: million on the Gold building, and it's impacting other things 27 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 5: that you know, are taking opportunities away from outside of 28 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:23,039 Speaker 5: the Indianapolis area. 29 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 4: So that I mean struck a chord with me. 30 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 5: And of course then all the you know, the corroboration 31 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:31,919 Speaker 5: between Thomas Cook here we are again having that conversation. 32 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 5: And then it's it's the leadership staff who's trusted to 33 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:38,960 Speaker 5: put you know, the right foot forward and make these decisions, 34 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 5: are doing what's in the best interest for them. And 35 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,840 Speaker 5: that was something that you know, if you combine the 36 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 5: first report, HR gave the recommendation to hog set fire 37 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 5: Thomas Cook, don't promote Scarlett Andrews, and those are the 38 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 5: two people that were doing all that dirty, dirty business. 39 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 4: And what did he do. He didn't fire. 40 00:01:58,120 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 5: Cook or well, he gave him, you know, an extra 41 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 5: extended time, and he promoted Andrews all the way up 42 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 5: to deputy mayor. 43 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 3: Eventually was this before he brought back Thomas Carl Cook 44 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 3: to work on his campaign. 45 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 4: This was this would have been around the same time. 46 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, and yeah, we've talked a lot about the 47 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 3: sexual harassment and it's staggering how much stuff was taking 48 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 3: place and how the media in the city outside of 49 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 3: this show in this radio station are just now kind 50 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:28,800 Speaker 3: of jumping on the story. But go back to the jail. 51 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:31,639 Speaker 3: Like you mentioned something a second ago, how much did 52 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 3: it cost to demolish the old jail and then the 53 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 3: new jail you build has less beds than the one 54 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:39,920 Speaker 3: you just tore down. 55 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 5: Yeah, So here was the problem is that you know, 56 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 5: many developed like we put out these requests for information 57 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 5: right or the city will to say, hey, we've got 58 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 5: this land, tell us what you think you can do 59 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 5: with it, and they'll have a bunch of developers and 60 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 5: they'll come, you know, give them their project scope. And 61 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 5: what happened in this case is there was you know, 62 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 5: we can do these ten things for this amount of money, 63 00:02:57,760 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 5: and that's what they accepted. And then you might have 64 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 5: other developers say, yeah, we could probably only do like 65 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,639 Speaker 5: maybe five or six things, you know, and still keep 66 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:06,799 Speaker 5: it within budget. Well, the city went with the bigger 67 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 5: project and the bigger budget, and then ultimately those developers 68 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 5: couldn't show up. Well, those were the Thomas Cook projects. 69 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 5: And then so when they couldn't deliver, then the city 70 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 5: had to come in. And we talked about that jail project, 71 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:20,360 Speaker 5: you know, spend five million to knock it down, and 72 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:22,639 Speaker 5: that's that was the story of you know, there was 73 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 5: a couple developments like that where they picked bigger, over 74 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 5: zealous projects that ultimately couldn't get done, and then the 75 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:31,519 Speaker 5: city had to come in and then use taxpayer dollars 76 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:32,640 Speaker 5: to get those projects done. 77 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 3: How much poll did Thomas Carl Cook have in this city. 78 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 4: It's a ridiculous lot. It was a lot. 79 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 5: I mean it looked like he was really, you know, 80 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 5: making a lot of decisions on you know, hiring and firing. 81 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 5: The chief of staff generally does, right, but I mean 82 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 5: he had a. 83 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 3: Lot, which is staggering considering this guy's background, and if 84 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 3: the reports are true from not only the Indie Star 85 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 3: but Mirror Indie and people have reached out to us, 86 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 3: I mean, hawks had had to have known about the 87 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 3: allegations that were happening. 88 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 5: Certainly, and so where the question was why why do 89 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 5: you a why why late? To the party right and 90 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 5: to me it's that the ultimate judgment. 91 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 4: And decision making. 92 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 5: And when we look at, you know, all the issues 93 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:16,919 Speaker 5: that are going on in Indianapolis. We look at the 94 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 5: crime that we're talking about this morning, and you know, 95 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 5: you blame bar owners. You look at the homelessness all 96 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:25,560 Speaker 5: over the city right whether it's downtown or in Fountain Square, 97 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 5: and you're asking, are you putting the best people in 98 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 5: charge to make these decisions? 99 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 4: I have to question a lot of that. 100 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:33,480 Speaker 5: Are you Are you putting the right people in charge? 101 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 4: Now? 102 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 5: The chief of police, Absolutely, I trust Chris Bailey, and 103 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 5: I think he's a great, great chief of police, But 104 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 5: you know, some of these other things. 105 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 4: I have to start to question. 106 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 5: And I look back now and really think, wow, you know, 107 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:47,160 Speaker 5: and that's what you know, between the sexual you know, 108 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:50,159 Speaker 5: harassment allegations, between the current decision making process, who's been 109 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 5: in charge and all this stuff coming out, you know, 110 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 5: to me, said now that that's it, that's that's the strong. 111 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:57,920 Speaker 1: And then what about the HR firm that came in 112 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,840 Speaker 1: and started making all these congestions on how to proceed 113 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: with the city's HR. What's the status there? 114 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 6: I mean that was like four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, 115 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 6: I think to have them come in and make suggestions 116 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:17,599 Speaker 6: and advised as to how to proceed with the HR 117 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 6: policies within the administration. 118 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 4: Certainly. 119 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:24,160 Speaker 5: So I was approached by Counselor Dan Boots. So Dan Boots, 120 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:26,599 Speaker 5: and again I always get credit. I think Council Boots 121 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 5: is a great counselor. He's on the other side of 122 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 5: the house, but he works, He really works hard. 123 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:31,840 Speaker 4: Him and I are working on about five different things 124 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 4: right now. 125 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 5: And he came to me and he said, look, I'm 126 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 5: trying to pick up the pieces that was left behind 127 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 5: on this Sexual Harassment Investigative Committee, because that was an 128 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 5: ultimate failure by Christa Carlino. And so he approached me 129 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 5: and says, hey, Mike, I know you work, you know, 130 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 5: would you be interested in joining, you know, a working group. 131 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 5: I'm trying to put together what those recommendations are, you know, 132 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 5: looking reading on all that. And in fact, what we 133 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 5: did is we formed a working group of about six 134 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 5: counselors who actually work, and we sent out about an 135 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 5: the thirty four questions to Fisher Phillips, things that just 136 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 5: never got asked in the investigative committee. They gave us 137 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 5: back those answers, and then we went and found industry experts, 138 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 5: you know, Women Defense League, and then some human resource experts, 139 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:16,920 Speaker 5: and then we brought in the city to really we 140 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 5: brought them in actually last week to you know, show 141 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,159 Speaker 5: them the recommendations that were coming, ask them what they're doing, 142 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,719 Speaker 5: and trying to put together a broader solution for you know, 143 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 5: it's never we can't solve for everything, right, right, We're 144 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 5: going to try and at least, you know, look at 145 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 5: where the failures occurred and then craft policy moving forward 146 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 5: to make it to where it's less likely for it 147 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 5: to occur again in the future. 148 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 3: Michael Paul Hart joining us here from the City County 149 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 3: Council District twenty got the big meeting coming up tonight. 150 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:48,840 Speaker 3: You're part of the Committee on Safety in Downtown Indy, 151 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:51,560 Speaker 3: which we've talked about in the past. It's a committee 152 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 3: that doesn't meet very often for some reason. It's a 153 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 3: committee whose chair wants to close debate about safety in 154 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 3: downtown Indy. It was another violent weekend. We had the 155 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 3: Chief of Police on earlier. You got a debate between 156 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:09,279 Speaker 3: bar owners downtown and is it the patrons going in? 157 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 3: Have we heard from the leadership of the Safety Committee 158 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 3: on the Council. 159 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 4: No, no, we have not. 160 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 5: You know, we're scheduled to meet meet I believe as 161 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 5: early as next week. 162 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 2: Uh. 163 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 5: And it's it's standard business. There's you know, no no 164 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 5: new business has been added to that. And those agendas 165 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 5: are coming out today or at least the introductions are 166 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 5: coming out today. But it looks it's standard up appointing 167 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 5: people to committees and things of that nature. There's no 168 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 5: creative thought coming out of our committee leader for public Safety. 169 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 4: It's really how is he the leader? 170 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 3: Like how does this happen? 171 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 5: So the way I mean it's there's a this has 172 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,080 Speaker 5: been joked about in the past, but it's a committee 173 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:45,680 Speaker 5: called Committee on Committees. Right, there has to be a 174 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 5: group of people that select the chairman, and that's there's 175 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 5: three of them, the minority leader, the Majority leader, and 176 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 5: the President of the Council. And you know, internally the 177 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 5: only the majority party. 178 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:56,240 Speaker 4: Gets to select committee leaders. 179 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 5: Sure, so we're you know, Republicans aren't picking anything, right, 180 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:00,720 Speaker 5: we don't sit on it, We don't lead in the committees. 181 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 5: So it's between Maggie Lewis and vopp and they're figuring out, 182 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 5: you know, who's paying dues, who's doing what, who's got 183 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 5: an expertise in X, Y and Z, And then they're 184 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 5: ultimately making that decision on who that committee chair is. 185 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:16,560 Speaker 4: And for public safety they chose Lero Robinson. 186 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 3: Can you file some sort of grievance with either one 187 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,720 Speaker 3: of those, whether it's Maggie or VOP and say, listen, 188 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 3: I get I'm the minority over here. We have an 189 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 3: extreme minority on this council. But the leader that you 190 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 3: picked never wants to meet, never wants to do anything. 191 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 3: And oh, by the way, there's some allegations against him too, 192 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 3: like what would happen if you were to do that? 193 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 5: Yeah, it's I think the paper is more expensive than 194 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 5: the time it actually submitted. 195 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 3: To be ignored in the orders. 196 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:45,560 Speaker 4: Yeah, pretty much. You know. 197 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 5: The best thing we can do, I mean is do 198 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 5: what we're doing now, right, talk about it, show these things, you. 199 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:52,960 Speaker 3: Know, and name names. I think that's important. 200 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:54,679 Speaker 5: Absolutely, And I mean we're when I'm clipping things, right, 201 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:56,319 Speaker 5: I mean, I use smart India as my outlet for 202 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 5: a lot of this stuff, but you know, we're clipping 203 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 5: these things. We're trying, like I'm trying to bring speakers 204 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 5: and people with new ideas to the council and they're 205 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 5: shutting it down. So we're putting that online, right, we're 206 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 5: sharing that on social media, and it's trying to get people, 207 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 5: you know, we're trying to get people involved to say, 208 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 5: like this is who you're letting get elected, Like, think 209 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:16,439 Speaker 5: about that now and then what decisions you're going to 210 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 5: make in twenty twenty seven. 211 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:22,560 Speaker 3: Talk to me about the Washington Square Mall. For years, 212 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:25,680 Speaker 3: we kept hearing about, you know, investors, they want to 213 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:29,720 Speaker 3: revitalize this, they want to make it, you know, something positive, 214 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 3: different types of things, whether it's housing, whether it's different 215 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 3: places where people can shop. Doesn't seem like any of 216 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:37,080 Speaker 3: that's worked. 217 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 4: No, no, no, no, it hasn't. Over the years. It's 218 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 4: been so since twenty nineteen, it's been the same. It 219 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:43,800 Speaker 4: hasn't changed a bit. 220 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,080 Speaker 5: Like a group has owned it, but they haven't invested 221 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,959 Speaker 5: any money. And when I ran my campaign, that was 222 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 5: the top issue is we got to fix the mall. 223 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:53,559 Speaker 5: So for me, the whole thing's got to be scraped. 224 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 5: I mean it's got to be you know, just demolished 225 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 5: that You've got a couple of good buildings over there 226 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 5: that are worth keeping, Like Target owns Target. Target would 227 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:02,360 Speaker 5: I absolutely want to stay, and I've got a great 228 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 5: relationship with them at the corporate level, and we've we've 229 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:07,560 Speaker 5: talked about these things. You've got amc over there. It's 230 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:10,440 Speaker 5: a great movie theater. I'm giving my secret away, but 231 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 5: it really is a good it really is a good 232 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 5: movie theater. 233 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 4: So there's a couple of assets still. 234 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:18,319 Speaker 5: But my plan is now that I've found out officially, 235 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 5: I've actually gotten in contact with the guys who owned 236 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 5: the mall. It is a company called Dirget Properties, and 237 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 5: I had a meeting with them a couple of weeks 238 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 5: ago and I asked them, just, you know. 239 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:28,240 Speaker 4: Straight up, is the mall? I said, what are you 240 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:28,840 Speaker 4: doing really? 241 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 5: And they said, well, we don't have any plans on 242 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 5: knocking it down or really rebuilding it. And I said, well, 243 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,360 Speaker 5: then is it for sale? And he looked at me 244 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 5: and he said everything's for sale. And I said, well, no, 245 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 5: I'm asking you very pointedly because if you tell me 246 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 5: it's for sale, I'm going to go try and sell 247 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:45,559 Speaker 5: your mall. I'm going to go find people. I want 248 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:47,920 Speaker 5: to see if there's ways for us to get involved. 249 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 5: We talked about all these projects downtown right all those 250 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 5: things investments made. That's how I am phrasing this product. 251 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 5: We have an opportunity. 252 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 3: It's a big piece of property. 253 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 4: And you're and they're like it or not. 254 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 5: The blue lines going in over there, right, but it's 255 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 5: going to come with all new road and all new infrastructure. 256 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,200 Speaker 5: It's gonna be a nicer road, less lanes, but a 257 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:08,520 Speaker 5: nicer road. And it's a phenomenal piece of property. It's 258 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 5: like forty seven acres to where we've got to get 259 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 5: it in the hands of and or There's a lot 260 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:15,680 Speaker 5: of different ways that we could go about this, but 261 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 5: into either a group of people that's you know, a 262 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,040 Speaker 5: CDC which is a community development corporation that want to 263 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,920 Speaker 5: be kind of that glue that brings it all together, 264 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 5: a private development organization. But there are there are tools, 265 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 5: and there are people that are certainly going to be interested. 266 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 5: The biggest hurdle was really getting in contact with these people, 267 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:35,240 Speaker 5: and I was able to get that done a couple 268 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 5: of weeks ago. So now we're we're having real conversations 269 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 5: and I'm out, you know, talking to everybody I know 270 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:42,880 Speaker 5: about trying to buy them all. So if anybody's listening, 271 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 5: want to buy by the mall, Like I. 272 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:48,000 Speaker 3: Want to say, like, what would be the future of that? 273 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:52,280 Speaker 3: Is it another shopping facility? Is it demolished and turned 274 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 3: into something else? So you opened all ideas. 275 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 4: All ideas. 276 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 5: So I partnered with ball State a few months ago 277 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,440 Speaker 5: and I went, They've got an urban school design planning 278 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 5: school in Marion County and I knocked on. I sent 279 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:07,200 Speaker 5: a random email, honestly, and I got a professor on 280 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 5: the line and I said, hey, look, I've got this mall. 281 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 5: Can you help me show what's been done in other 282 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:15,079 Speaker 5: areas and just you know, the what's more expensive? 283 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:15,760 Speaker 4: And she did. 284 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 5: She went and she gave me about seven or eight 285 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,720 Speaker 5: different examples, put together this beautiful presentation that shows, you know, 286 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:22,680 Speaker 5: if you want and I'm not suggesting this, but a 287 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:25,480 Speaker 5: logistics center, right, you could knock it down low cost, 288 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:28,080 Speaker 5: but you know, top of the chart is you know, 289 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 5: mixed use. You're gonna have apartments, condos, townhouse, shopping centers, trails. 290 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:34,200 Speaker 5: And that's that to me is what I'm out there 291 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 5: pitching is like, this is an opportunity to you know, 292 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:38,920 Speaker 5: rechange the dynamic of that side of town. 293 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:41,080 Speaker 6: How much how much we're talking. 294 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:43,000 Speaker 4: So they wouldn't give me a price. They wouldn't be 295 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 4: the price. 296 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 5: So they they want a price they offered made to them, 297 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:47,200 Speaker 5: which you could assume. 298 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:49,440 Speaker 3: For best offer. Is that what we're talking about for 299 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 3: the Washington Square mall? Man, that's wild because I remember 300 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:55,680 Speaker 3: growing up man that was a hot spot. Nige. I 301 00:12:55,679 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 3: think I bought my senior pictures photo where I look 302 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 3: back to the front man of a couple me back 303 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:03,920 Speaker 3: cover band from the Washington Square Mall back in the day. 304 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 3: What's coming up at the big council meeting tonight, Counsel 305 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:08,440 Speaker 3: there's a lot. 306 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 5: Of end of year appropriations, so there's a couple of 307 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 5: things that caught my eye, one of which, you know, 308 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 5: I was really pushing on mirrors to tell me he 309 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:16,959 Speaker 5: needed more people, because I was okay with that, because 310 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:20,000 Speaker 5: we seem to not be prosecuting enough people. So during 311 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:21,839 Speaker 5: the budget season, I was trying to get him to 312 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 5: tell me, yes, we need more money, and I was 313 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 5: fine with that. I was going to try and get 314 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 5: some over there to hire more prosecutors. It looks like 315 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 5: he's asking for another quarter million dollars for personnel. I 316 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:31,839 Speaker 5: don't know if that's for more people. 317 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:33,440 Speaker 3: Wait a minute, didn't he say he wasn't going to 318 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 3: ask for more money. 319 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:37,560 Speaker 5: He did, he did, And yeah, there's a lot of 320 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:42,320 Speaker 5: that in this council introductions, a lot of collective bargaining agreements. 321 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:45,080 Speaker 5: Those are union agreements for the police fire those are 322 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 5: getting paid up at the end of the year. The 323 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:51,240 Speaker 5: Economic Enhancements District is getting their money in this introduction. 324 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 5: So they're five and a half million dollars going to 325 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:55,839 Speaker 5: the folks that you see downtown wearing the red shirts, 326 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 5: the safety ambassadors, the folks doing the cleaning, the housing, 327 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,280 Speaker 5: the shelter program, all that that comes together, some of 328 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:03,240 Speaker 5: the funding comes together. 329 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:06,200 Speaker 4: I've got my urban forest. 330 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 5: We're getting closer on that, so we've got some money 331 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 5: moving around. We've got a dedicated fund that we're creating. 332 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 5: Just moving a lot of money around at the end 333 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 5: of the year, trying to get the accounts right and 334 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 5: be prepared for twenty six. 335 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 3: All right, look forward to the meeting tonight's good luck. 336 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 3: Counselor Michael Paul Hart, thank you so much.