I’ve posted previously about Roseland which, for me, is Indiana’s archetype for a dysfunctional community. Southport seems to be moving into that territory.
Police are resigning in droves; the mayor is spending thousands on civil litigation; and council members are resisting the mayor in part over a rift about whether to open city meetings with a prayer.
The council apparently isn’t approving payment of claims for legal fees because they don’t like that the mayor is pursuing legal action against a man who intentionally disrupted council business.
Council Harrison went on to explain her disagreement with payment of this claim for legal services rendered and her specific disagreement that city resources were used to pursue action against Southport citizen, Charles Lynch for unreasonable disruption of council meetings, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. She further expressed an intention to continue delaying payment for these services ignoring that such delay could lead to increased expenses required to defend against non-payment of services claims.
Lynch, you might recall, is the man who took it upon himself to loudly disrupt the Council’s moment of silence because he apparently figured he should be able to pray out loud any time, anywhere, and particularly at a secular government function.
Lynch was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct Monday after praying aloud during an official “moment of silence’’ during the City Council meeting, bringing to a boiling point an issue that has divided Southport since January. At the onset of the meeting, Mayor Rob Thoman read a statement warning against disorderly conduct and stated that anyone who talked out of turn would be in violation, according to an incident report from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.During a moment of silence, Larry Tunget, wife of former Mayor Nannette Tunget, began reading a prayer out loud.Lynch also began reciting the prayer. When Thoman asked Lynch to be quiet, he began to pray louder, according to the report. Lynch then was asked to leave the meeting. He refused and grabbed a chair, prompting Southport Assistant Chief Mark Myers to forcibly pry Lynch’s hands from the chair, according to the report.Lynch continued to resist Myers, according to the report, and refused to place his hands behind his back. He eventually was removed from the building and handcuffed.
The mayor reportedly isn’t worried about the police resignations because he has more applications on his desk right now. Others don’t seem worried because Marion County is providing police services. I wonder if folks will take a close look at Southport wonder if that particular unit of government is providing them with any indispensable services at all.
I’ve often thought that Southport, Beech Grove, Speedway and Lawrence were useless pieces of government clinging to what authority they had left post-UniGov.
I lived in Southport for 20 years & graduated from Southport High. I was never sure what Southport government really did that couldn’t or wasn’t already being done by Unigov or Perry Township government, except for maybe keeping alive an old boys network of some kind.
Southport, the City, is certainly a good example of the current state of smaller, local government in Marion County, if not for the State as a whole. Even though three of the local schools have Southport as part of their name, the City has no input or control over them as they are part of the township school system. Fire protection, once a township service, is in the process of transitioning to IFD control.
The City does pay for a whole host of (I imagine) part-time employees/consultants in departments which have equivalent counterparts at the County level (Parks, Public Works, Planning, Police, Clerk, Mayor and more). A quick check of the City’s website shows that most employees/managers can only be contacted at cel phones, phones well outside of the exchange locality, e-mails at private companies or personal accounts.
So, what then has kept Southport as an individual governmental entity within UniGov besides general inertia? Hard telling what motivated Southport to join the Excluded Cities club when UniGov was created. But, I have to imagine that at least in part it was because of resistance to having the Big City swallow up “their town”, afraid of becoming an just another anonymous area to the downtown administration. Besides, what a great part-time gig for those who get Southport city jobs. Better than working weekends at the Dairy Queen, I dare say.
So what has gone wrong? No matter what one sees on the news, life goes on in Southport. Maybe fewer people pay attention to the 25 mph posted speed limit on (the east-west arterial) Southport Road. But other than that, little has changed. And perhaps that, is part of the problem.
The current (first term) Mayor rode in on a wave of discontent over his predecessor who had been Mayor for something like 20 years. The only things that changed were the businesses closing or moving further from the Indianapolis core. Enough people seemed to want somebody to come in and promote renewal in Southport, so the Mayor’s office did indeed change hands. But, the Southport City Council didn’t change. The Mayor had plans which involved changes in “business as usual”. The Council’s stance seems to be “why change?”. So, there are now two factions pulling in different directions. And, there are EGOs involved, including the Chief of Police. The Mayor proceeds without the Council. The Council finally takes notice. Playground behavior abounds (on both sides). Media notices. Here we are.
Frankly, this is a poster child case for getting rid of this level of bureaucracy. Narcissistic, tin-horns who could never get elected to County-wide government bickering like 10 year olds on the playground. But, no one involved has likely ever entertained the thought that they should give over to the City-County and end their Excluded status. What would change? Well, utility poles wouldn’t be decorated seasonally anymore on the major thoroughfares in town. That’s about it. Oh, and about 30 people won’t be making that extra $3-8K annually without applying at the DQ. Earth-shattering.
I don’t really feel sorry (or sympathetic) to either side here. The Mayor seems to be using public service mainly to increase the value of properties he plans on relying on for retirement. Yeah, it benefits the community, but would he have done the same otherwise? And, not that I am one to talk, but jeez, calling people “sad” on one’s website because they disagree with one’s vision isn’t going to gain one any points in tact. The guy seems to be a pathologically narcissistic politician as well (cross swords with him and let the cutting begin). But then, maybe I’m being redundant?
The Police Chief and the City Council members all seem more interested in their own agendas (which don’t necessarily dovetail) over that of the community as a whole. So, they haven’t made any points with me either. Plus, quite a bit of the “if you won’t play my way, I’m taking my toys home” behavior seems to be originating on their side of the table. Not cool.
The thing is, both sides have some valid points. But, each side has their back up now, and rational discussions and compromise seem to be foreign concepts or as reachable as the Moon.
The only part that I find amusing? It’s a Republican vs. Republican tussle (Southport isn’t a town where being a Democrat gets one elected to anything). Ah, the fraternity of political affiliation.
I have to wonder about these folks who feel that they MUST, as a christian, be allowed to show their whole ass while praying at a government function, just to prove they’re more christian than the rest of us.
I’m a Catholic. I went to Catholic schools growing up. We had religion everyday. I don’t recall EVER being told that it was my duty as a christian/Catholic to stand up and show my ass at public meetings.
Maybe these folks didn’t receive enough attention as a child.
To me it generally looks like a way that a certain small, but vocal, subset of Christians have of trying to mark their territory.
I’m with Varan. I can’t imagine why the city of 1700 would need to employ that many professional people. And there certainly is no reason to employ an overpriced law firm to do work that could be done more cheaply, and just as well if not better, by a smaller law firm.
I agree that this is a good example of another small governmental unit that needs to go — just the fact that everyone is so comfortable with Marion County providing police coverage speaks volumes. However, there must be something in the water down there in Perry Township. This same community had a crazy school board for awhile too. Of course the school district is fairly large (covers almost all of Perry Township), and it wasn’t like there was another school district that could take care of business while things got weird.