Empty storefronts, fiscal methods targeted
Only a portion of Merrillville voters will be going to the polls in the Nov. 5 general election with town council races in just two wards. In Ward 5, incumbent Chrissy Barron is seeking to fend off a challenge from former councilman Rick Bella. In Ward 7, voters will choose between two newcomers — Keesha Hardaway and Leonard White.
Ward 5
Chrissy Barron
Party affiliation: Independent Age: 54
Occupation: Works in bookkeeping for the Crown Point Fire Department
Years in Merrillville: 22
Barron said she decided to seek re-election to the post she’s held for eight years after 92 residents in her ward signed a petition asking her to run. Barron had run for the clerk-treasurer position in the Democratic primary, but lost.
If re-elected to the council, she said she would want to see all of the MS4 projects in her ward followed through.
“My ward was the worst as far as flooding. The projects that have been completed are working, but we still have some small pockets in Ward 5 that need to be done. I want to make sure the work continues,” Barron said.
Barron said she also wants to ensure that the moratorium on new apartments in her ward continues. She was instrumental in getting the moratorium, saying she didn’t want too much of the same type of development going into one area.
She said she also worked to stop construction of storage units in the Sedona neighborhood, stop industrial development next to the Heritage North neighborhood and to remove inconvenient road islands and infected trees in the Chapel Hill Farms neighborhood.
She also made improvements to the Erie Lackawanna bike trail and worked to remove homes in the Bridgewood neighborhood from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency flood zone, which saved the homeowners money on their insurance costs.
Barron said her strengths include being accessible to residents. She said she’s addressed every phone call or email from constituents and is goal-driven.
“Everyone has challenges. If you don’t have any goals, you won’t go anywhere,” she said. Rick Bella
Party affiliation: Democrat Age: 62
Occupation: owner, Bella Photography and Design
Years in Merrillville: 50
Bella said his main concern is the number of empty buildings that are popping up all over town as it gets older, from the former Town & Country Market at 61st and Broadway to the former Ultra store at 73rd and Taft.
“The spaces are sitting there empty and the owners of the plazas are having a difficult time finding tenants. I want to see what the town can do to encourage people to come to Merrillville,” Bella said of one of his specific goals.
He said he would see about hiring a grant writer for the planning and building office to find grants to help spur development. He said the grant writer would receive a percentage of the amount of the grant they bring in as part of their pay.
He also would form a citizenled town beautification committee to help pick up trash in neighborhoods and along busy streets.
Bella said he would commit to fiscal responsibility and would advocate for providing police officers the necessary equipment and training.
He said he’s not opposed to the proposed community center, but he’s concerned with the amount of money the town would have to borrow to pay for it. He said there might be a building in town that could be refurbished and reused, as the town did when it transformed a former department center into the current town hall and police department while he was on the council.
He said his strengths include his 35-year background in business management with both small stores and large companies, his previous 12 years serving on the council, from 1991 to 2003, and the fact that he now has more time to be involved in town matters.
“I can hit the ground running,” he said.
Ward 7
Keesha Hardaway
Political affiliation: pendent
Age: 43
Occupation: Coder for Franciscan Health
Years in Merrillville: 30
Hardaway said if elected, she wants to make quality improvements upon what has already been down in town.
“My personal goals are what my neighbors’ concerns
Indeare,” she said.
She said this includes quality of life issues such as parks, more senior citizen activities and creating safe spaces for the town’s youth.
Hardaway also would want to improve the streets and have more police presence in the neighborhoods.
“I support the police and fire departments. I believe they’re paramount to the safety of the community,” she said.
Hardaway said she believes the town is going in the right direction, and that with businesses and the town council working together, she believes they can propel it in a positive direction.
Hardaway said her strengths that would make her a good council member include her communication, team building and problem-solving skills.
She vowed to be available to residents, saying her phone number will be listed and all calls will be answered within 24 hours.
While this is her first time running for a town council seat, she said she has done volunteer work with Lake County Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, with the Salvation Army and the annual Backpack Back to School event.
Leonard White
Political affiliation: Democrat Age: 62
Occupation: President and owner of Environmental Management Consultants
Years in Merrillville: 23
White said his specific goals if elected to the t own council include a 61st Avenue beautification project that would bring special decorative lighting and planters to the busy street and finding a new owner for the former nursing home adjacent to Fieler Elementary School that’s been abandoned and deteriorating.
White said he’d like to see one of the town’s tax increment financing districts stretch to the ward’s north side and would work with other council members to see what needs to be done in their wards as well.
“Part of this would be to attract new businesses to the area,” White said.
White said he would look for ways to find money to install curbs, sidewalks and drainage improvements where needed in his area, including along 57th Avenue.
White said he also wants to tighten restrictions on the sale of drug paraphernalia in some gas stations and vowed to always allow peoples’ voices to be heard at council meetings.
He cited his political experience as one of his strengths. He is a precinct committeeman and said he dealt with all communities in Lake County when he was a grant administrator with Lake County Solid Waste Management. Another strength is his fiscal conservatism, he said.
“I won’t overspend the taxpayer’s money,” he said.
He pointed out that, as president of the Merrillville Stormwater Utility, he helped shave the cost of the utility’s new building down to $800,000.
Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.