Michigan City COmmon Council June 21, 2022
A SPECIAL RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE 53rd ANNIVERSARY OF THE STONEWALL RIOTS AND THE JUNE CELEBRATION OF PRIDE MONTH
WHEREAS, Pride Month celebrates and honors the LGBTQ+ community who call Indiana home and have made significant contributions to our City and State in every aspect, including in the fields of education, law, health, business, science, research, economic development, architecture, fashion, sports, government, music, film, politics, technology, literature, and civil rights; and
WHEREAS, the LGBTQ+ community has come a great distance towards equality through the efforts of grassroots organizers and nonprofit organizations who have created a groundswell of support and a culture of acceptance; and
WHEREAS, Pride is a celebration of visibility, despite the continued discrimination and dehumanization that many LGBTQ+ people face; and
WHEREAS, Indiana communities have come under attack as our Statehouse has decided to vilify trans children who just want to play sports; and
WHEREAS, we know that attacks on the trans community cost much more than just not getting to play on a high school team. According to a study from the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than half of transgender male teens surveyed, reported attempting suicide in their lifetime, while almost 30% of transgender female teens said they’d attempted suicide. Among non-binary youth, 41.8% of respondents stated that they had attempted suicide at some point in their lives; and
WHEREAS, many LGBTQ+ youth, especially transgender and gender nonconforming individuals experience family rejection, bullying, and harassment, or feel unsafe for simply being who they are—all of which can be added risk factors for suicide; and
WHEREAS, our City prides itself on our diversity and the strength that it brings, we stand today in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ community and all those who believe in equality to say that Michigan City truly does welcome all; and
WHEREAS, we will continue to urge State Legislators to craft legislation that supports our children, like fully funding public schools, funding adequate mental health support for our children and young adults and leveling the playing field by fully funding girls’ sports.
NOW, THEREFORE, WE RESOLVE to urge all government entities, community leaders, businesses, schools, and individuals to respect and honor our diverse community, and to build a culture of inclusivity and equity all year long.
This Resolution shall be in full force and effect after passage by the Michigan City Common Council and approval by the Mayor.
INTRODUCED BY:
Dalia Zygas, Member
Michigan City Common Council
SB1 Wrong for Indiana
There are thousands of stories- all of them valid, personal, some heart wrenching and tragic. The decision on the type of care women require needs to be made on an individual basis, a determination made by the woman & her physician; not by sweeping uninformed draconian government mandates.
We still have separation of church & state…for now. It has been said many times before; your religious beliefs should not impinge on my right to bodily autonomy.
The intent of the bill was meant as a control on women and especially poor women. In the Indiana House there is a Health Committee and a Family, Children and Human Affairs committee. Did the abortion ban bill go to either of these committees for consideration- NO. It went to the House Courts & Criminal Code Committee.
What about the Indiana Senate? They have a Health Committee- but instead, the bill went to the Rules Committee. So health was not addressed at all.
One of the reasons I became involved in government is that I saw the potential of this rust belt city adjacent to beautiful dunes, lakeshore, creeks, and oak savannahs. So many possibilities to revitalize and improve the quality of life. We are improving our rail transit and developing new housing. We are preserving land, cleaning up rivers and lakes for recreation and installing bike paths and walking trails to improve our Region in the hopes of attracting businesses and talent.
All this placemaking, economic development projects, favorable business climate, etc.
- all the effort put in to attract talent is now wiped away. More companies will join Eli Lilly & Cummins, which are disinvesting in Indiana. Gen Con, the nation’s largest tabletop gaming convention, which brings a larger economic impact than the Indy 500 ($74.6 million) is considering moving out of IN due to the ban.
“We at Gen Con believe in the right to autonomy over our bodies and the right to choose,” the company said in a statement on Aug. 3 — two days before the abortion ban was passed. “Reproductive rights are human rights. Like many of you, we are hurt, angry and frustrated by recent events, including the recent advancement of SB1 by the Indiana General Assembly. These actions have a direct impact on our team and our community, and we are committed to fighting for safety, tolerance, and justice in all places we operate.”
We will not be attracting young talent to move into the state. Instead, we will be lucky to retain those that have recently made a commitment to Indiana.
There was talk of the “brain drain” in Indiana- college students moving out of state after graduation. Business leaders are constantly brainstorming on how to keep and attract young professionals.
The brain drain will be going off a cliff soon- instead of students leaving the state after graduation- they will now choose to go school in a less archaic and authoritarian state.
My hope is that the passage of this repressive and inappropriate bill will energize young people, women, everyone who thought that their vote doesn’t count- to register to vote and boot those delusional and disconnected legislators out of office. There are consequences.
Long beach sewers- back to the drawing board
Creative Collaboration Required
I truly wish the Town of Long Beach success in reconfiguring and revising the project to bring sewers to your town. It will need to be done sooner or later. I would LOVE to see a spirit of collaboration and unity; use that expertise and passion ( and legal assistance) to get a great project done.
A clean lake benefits all.
Eco thoughts
The Importance of Soil
Your Perfect Green Lawn Is a Buzz Kill
Your Perfect Green Lawn Is a Buzz Kill
Your Perfect Green Lawn Is a Buzz Kill
Your Perfect Green Lawn Is a Buzz Kill
Your Perfect Green Lawn Is a Buzz Kill
"Residential landscaping contributes to an alarming ecological crisis: a steep decline in the health of pollinating animals, whose services provide one-third of the food we eat..."
Mini Yard Meadows Give Bees a Boost
Have you herd? The sheep are back to shear Montreal's city grass
Have you herd? The sheep are back to shear Montreal's city grass
Have you herd? The sheep are back to shear Montreal's city grass
Have you herd? The sheep are back to shear Montreal's city grass
Have you herd? The sheep are back to shear Montreal's city grass
Some thoughts on city salaries
The City Council needs a fair and objective way to assign 2022 salaries. In 2019 an extensive, data driven salary study was commissioned by the City of Michigan City using information from 15 municipalities and 5 regional counties. ( Link below) We would be negligent and wasteful not to use the insights and research revealed by the study which was done by a reputable firm, Waggoner Irwin & Scheele.
One of the glaring findings of this project was the fact that many salaries were based on very old information. In the past, when salaries were increased across the board by a certain percentage, the discrepancies between market value and MC salaries were worsened.
Small inequities get magnified out of proportion if only straight percentage raises are given.
We need to pay employees what they are worth- they should not be expected to do the work for substantially less than market rate. The result will be the loss of valuable, experienced employees.
We have been having trouble hiring for open positions. If we wish to attract competent professionals, we need to pay them what they are worth. We have only to look at the lifeguard situation this past summer to see how appropriate compensation attracts qualified candidates.
An across-the-board percentage raise will not help to level the inequities in uneven compensation. Salaries must be based on market information; they cannot be legitimately determined by feelings or “it sounds like too much”. A lot of analysis was done to get the results of this study- if the council wishes to give less than the market determination, we should discuss salary increases for a percentage of the market based increase- not straight percentage across the board.
No serious argument can be made regarding " Employee XXX is not worth $YYY". Employee performance matters are managed by department heads, not compensation ordinances decided by the city council.
Our employees are the core of what makes this city work; they need to be compensated and respected for their efforts.
Dalia Zygas
Short-term Rental permit Ordinance
Overview
The Amended Short- Term Rental Permit Ordinance passed on June 1st.
What is next? Online registration form is available here:
More about the ordinance:
The permit is a way for the police to promptly notify the owners that there is a problem with their property and for the city to keep track of nuisance short-term rental properties which have repeated tickets for ordinance violations.
Several neighboring communities have severely curtailed or eliminated short term rentals.
This ordinance is in favor of short-term rentals; visitors are welcome in Michigan City. Our small businesses, restaurants and bars appreciate and encourage visitors.
We need to proactively make sure the short-term rental properties are good neighbors to our city residents.
Permits are able to be renewed yearly for free. The only requirement is to keep the information on the permit updated. There is no inspection associated with this permit. All local ordinances (such as noise) are enforced the same way as in the rest of the city.