Partisan Politics Kills Anderson's Hope for the Future

[Palehorse]

So the city of Anderson and its city council have decided that the plans to annex the frontage property along I69, to the Pendleton Exit, are not worthy of pursuing. Shame on them.

Their reasoning? According to the HB "It might bring additional republicans and democrats to the voting roles for the city, and possibly limit their tenure!" More shame on them.

In making this decision and taking the City of Anderson out of the running to annex this property, the city council and partisan politics have all but ensured that this city's future residents are going to have a hard road toward recovery.

This decision has effectively enabled another city or township to steal away the business entities that reside on North Scatterfield Road and in Mounds Mall. And while it is true that the Mall's current offerings leave a lot to be desired surrounding choices, when, not if, those competing entities decide to use that land to build a Mall of their own, guess who will be standing at the head of the line to take them up on it? And guess who will be the beneficiaries of the high end, big box stores that will (and have already stated their high level of interest) swoop in to anchor that new mall? And guess where the Mounds Mall will eventually be?

1. The current owner of the Mounds Mall will move it. (More traffic, increased likelihood of luring customers from the malls further south and to the north, and the advantageous, highly desirable, location that will attract high end stores).

2. The beneficiaries will be those competing entities trying to annex that property and their residents.

3.  The Mounds Mall will be at the bottom of the new reservoir.  (Make no mistake, no matter what hurdles are in place to be overcome, the need for this additional water source for central Indiana will ensure that they are overcome and that the reservoir will be built. The only question is how long will it take?)

This decision stinks and it robs the citizens of Anderson of their future. It ensures another decade or two of struggling to replace the revenue lost in the flight of manufacturing from this city, for both it's elected officials and its citizens. It ensures the pain of cuts in public services and the resulting loss of jobs to those who have served this community for years, are going to continue.

There are no winners in this decision, especially if the citizens of this city understand just what has been taken from them; and by whom, and why.

Seriously? No to this because it might bring in enough additional voters to swing future election results? That is lame.

I'm sorry, but in my world that "no" vote just accomplished exactly what those who voted against it were hoping to prevent; I will remember it come the next election and vote accordingly.

The citizens of this community want jobs that are within a reasonable commuting distance of their homes. A large percentage of the citizens of this community are working for minimum wage or just above that. Those that are making a living wage are forced to commute 20+ miles each way, every day, to do so. How long does the city council believe that scenario can be sustained? And how long before an even larger percentage of the homes in this city become foreclosed upon?

How many citizens will there be left to support those drastically needed improvements to this city's infrastructure, and how much more is it going to cost them? The cycle is endless and this vote just ensured that the painful times are not going to end anytime soon for the citizens of Anderson.

If the goal is to turn this city into a bedroom community, then congratulations. You just took another step toward that future. The only problem is, without the jobs to support home ownership, and the taxes to bolster the revenue streams of this city, that scenario too is a dim one. Especially with fuel prices increasing along with those commute distances. People will move closer to their work. It is a surety; and with few "living wage" employers within this county, it is just a matter of time before this community approaches critical mass. It's already happening in communities across the nation.

The elected officials of this city need to stop the partisan politics and do what the citizens of this community elected them to do; base decisions on what is right for the good of the community. Make decisions that will improve the quality of life of those who choose to reside here. Make decisions that will assure the future of this community. STOP the political jockeying for position and do the right thing!