By Bowdeya Tweh, Times of Northwest Indiana
bowdeya.tweh@nwi.com
GARY | Mayor Rudy Clay said Monday any detractors who oppose opening Michael Jackson-themed venues in the city should not knock the projects, they should "Just Beat It."
Aside from borrowing lyrics from the deceased Gary-born entertainment icon, Clay said there are brighter days for the city in 2010 with upcoming projects in a speech at the Gary Chamber of Commerce's first meeting of the year.
Clay said there's no better time than the present to be Gary's mayor, despite challenges including shrinking gaming and property tax revenues. He said Gary "will be one of the best cities in the country."
That's not to say the future will be easy to cope with especially if there's a cap in the state constitution on property tax collection levels. Clay is confident the move will happen, and he hopes the state's Distressed Unit Appeals Board will continue to understand its plea of how the city will be affected by such a move.
"The elevator will meet the floor in a lot of different cities," Clay said.
The economy and the threat of competition from Illinois and Ohio are helping the city make its case to push for a land-based casino. Clay said the city is losing millions of dollars from declining Majestic Star revenues and that a casino located off the Borman Expressway would have better access to the hundreds of thousands of people traveling past it every day.
"Riverboat casinos, my friends, are Rip Van Winkle," Clay said.
After it receives money from the federal government this year, the city expects to continue razing abandoned structures. On June 30, U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., said he asked Congress for $24.7 million in federal stimulus funds to demolish 1,124 abandoned structures throughout Gary. Clay said there's no timeline for the demolition to be completed, because the money has to come from Washington.
Clay said the city is also in an appeal with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to use more than 10 percent of the $9 million it received in 2008 to tear down vacant buildings. Stipulations required only 10 percent of the money be used for demolition.
Razing the buildings will help reduce places that are breeding grounds for crime and drugs, Clay said. It will also help continue the trend of the city becoming safer. He said since Police Chief Gary Carter was installed in late November, overall crime is down 17 percent.
Clay also described progress on the development of a Jackson-themed venue in the city and said that film director Spike Lee has interest in the project. He said two important people in the family want to see efforts materialize in the Steel City -- Joe and Katherine Jackson.
The mayor said the city has received development commitments on the former Sheraton hotel site in the 700 block of Broadway and the old Bear Brand Hosiery factory in the 200 block of East 21st Avenue will be "shovel-ready" once demolition is completed.
About 100 people attended Monday's meeting.