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REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 14, 2013
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<br />know that’s not how it works. That Karen works darn hard and she has the backing of the
<br />neighborhood. Now if she can put up with me, which we all know I can be a loose cannon,
<br />Henry Davis Jr., and I act like we are two cats that had our tails tied together and thrown over a
<br />clothes line. I think that we can agree that portion of Portage is right at the line of marginal. By
<br />that I mean we have the Cottage Grove redevelopment, but once you get across to the west of
<br />Portage, you are dealing with a group of people who we all know are marginalized. Now, not as
<br />a uber-liberal who is going to through around the word diversity, when I am living with
<br />everybody whose of every color and of the same educational background and social and
<br />economic background which makes diversity the kind of word that doesn’t mean the same. You
<br />need to start looking at the other side of Portage Avenue, when you talk about diversity. When
<br />you are going to have people who are economically challenged whether they are Latino, Black,
<br />White, this housing, we talk about a brain drain, we can bring in young people who are Black,
<br />White, Latino, who are just starting to make it and then they can say you know what five years
<br />down the line I am now making $50,000.00 a year, I have the support of a neighborhood that is
<br />one of the most supported neighborhoods in the City of South Bend and works very well
<br />together. And I’m circumspect of why would we even have to go through this MI sugared a
<br />mess when everyone there on the Council pretty much knows that’s the thing. Now, in the back
<br />of my mind do I know why we want to receive this, I know why Scott Ford asked you guys to
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<br />push it forward to the 28, because the deadline is the 1 and I know we are competing with a
<br />project that the City has. Is that fair to put all of our eggs in one basket and quash this. I mean
<br />ask yourselves that, is that really how we work in the City of South Bend. If you wonder where I
<br />got my information, I am friend of Mr. Lynch’s at the White House, who called me from
<br />Mishawaka, and so this is going to turn into whole (inaudible) So, I think you need to really
<br />think about our activities and the up and up and we can both ask for state money and maybe one
<br />or both of us will get it. Thank You.
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<br />Dustin New, 924 Wheatley, South Bend, Indiana, simply wanted to say that I am in support of
<br />the tax abatement request for this project.
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<br />Mike Griffin, 704 California, South Bend, Indiana, I guess one of the things that I can speak to is
<br />that I live in one of the houses, actually two of the houses, our house, where me and my family
<br />live and the rehab house next door that are the closest to this project. And we are definitely very
<br />supportive and hope that it passes through tonight. We really know the need for revitalization
<br />and we are in the neighborhood for the long run and I guess the one thing, I actually want to
<br />thank Councilmember Davis and Councilmember Schey for bringing up some of the issues. Our
<br />neighborhood in this City we have a problem and a challenge that economic growth is not
<br />shared. There are a lot of people in the community who don’t share in that. And I was here this
<br />afternoon and you can feel the frustration, I do think that it is a little bit unfair to load all of that
<br />onto this. But I also think that what you just heard about the 4% commitment, just so you know
<br />there are many of us in the neighborhood who also from our end are going to be working to
<br />make sure that this is a shared growth project where everyone in our neighborhood benefits. So,
<br />I really hope that the larger problem that we have as a city doesn’t scuttle something that is just
<br />desperately needing to be done in our neighborhood. Thanks.
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<br />Ann Clarke, 831 Forest, South Bend, Indiana, I’ve lived there 35 years. I taught at St. Mary’s for
<br />30 years, and I taught philosophy there. And in that teaching of philosophy we talked a lot about
<br />diversity and conflict between human beings and the reason that I live in this neighborhood is
<br />because it is a neighborhood where that’s part of our conversation and concern and interest. I
<br />think that anything that the NNN does in the way of this building will have that interest in the
<br />back of its mind because that’s what the NNN Community has always been. And so, I think you
<br />can’t talk about this in the abstract, you have to think about where it is and about the history of
<br />this community. Thank You.
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<br />Kathy Schuth, 911 Leland Avenue, South Bend, Indiana, I spoke to you in committee this
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<br />afternoon too and I just want to thank you 1 of all for your attention to this and I hope that every
<br />tax abatement project gets this kind of fine tooth comb, frankly, I need to speak publicly in
<br />support of this project for a number of reasons that as a neighbor I live a block and half away
<br />from this building from this building and have continued to watch it deteriorate from the outside
<br />and twice in the last year I had the opportunity to tour the building. On the interior, my
<br />profession is as an architect that I can tell you with a keen eye looking at this building I believe
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