I think historians will say that 2012 was a transitional year in Indianapolis; for the community overall and our African-American community in particular.
Hosting the Super Bowl earned Indianapolis well deserved plaudits and accolades. But after the Giants and Patriots fans, the corporate high rollers and the media hordes left town, Indianapolis transformed itself into a city with no leadership, no vision.
The year 2012 revealed that the lack of leadership in Indianapolis starts at the top – Mayor Greg Ballard. It didn’t help that he never seemed to be in town, absent on the Dr. King Holiday and for the Circle City Classic. He always seemed to be overseas in search of jobs we’re waiting to see.
When he was in town, Mayor Ballard ignored the obvious. His “honestly balanced” budget contained $30 million to $70 million in deficits. Crime was up, not down as the mayor proclaimed.
Ballard spent 2012 still refusing to directly work with Democratic elected officials to find solutions to the city/county’s problems. And he continued his jihad against the city’s Black media outlets.
Instead of pressing Mayor Ballard over his administration’s inadequacies, City-County Council Democrats got bogged down in infighting over TIF districts and cutting bad deals with the Ballard administration for minimal short term gains instead of longer term solutions.
This year reinforced that Indianapolis is truly a Democratic city as Democrats won every countywide office. Rep. André Carson, in a newly drawn district, won easily. Democrats picked up two legislative seats they weren’t expected to win and reinforced control of six of the nine township governments.
The strength of Black and other city/county voters helped Joe Donnelly become our next U.S. senator and helped power Glenda Ritz’s upset win over Dr. Tony Bennett for Superintendent of Public Instruction.
This year wasn’t a good year for Public Safety and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD). Chief Paul Ciesielski was forced to resign over the continuing Bisard scandal and was replaced by Deputy Public Safety Director Rick Hite, who became the second African-American to hold that position.
The controversial reign of Public Safety Director Frank Straub ended and he was replaced by Troy Riggs, a veteran Louisville cop who’d been chief in Corpus Christi, Texas.
IMPD morale continued near rock bottom, including among Black police officers who sued IMPD, again charging continued bias in the promotion system.
There was lots of turmoil in education during the year – especially in IPS. Dr. Mary Busch, perhaps the longest serving board member in IPS history, retired along with Marianna Zaphirou. That set up a spirited School Board election that saw the defeat of incumbent Elizabeth Gore and the election of three “reformers” – Gayle Cosby, Caitlin Hannon and Sam Odle.
Odle, the former head of Methodist Hospital, became the first businessman on the board in years; and the first African-American businessman IPS board member, perhaps in history.
The election of those three, plus the three incumbent board members who differed with IPS Superintendent Eugene White on several key policy issues, gives White’s opponents a clear majority. And it doesn’t help that White pursued, unsuccessfully, two public job searches in 2012.
The year saw the appointment of the city’s first Deputy Mayor for Education Jason Kloth; who received the highest salary ever paid an Indianapolis deputy mayor. Kloth oversees the city’s charter schools. But Black charter school enrollment is declining, including at those run by the mayor’s office.
In the townships, where the majority of African-American students in Indianapolis are educated, Warren Township became the third township district to name an African-American superintendent with Dr. Dena Cushenberry.
Last week, Warren got a major lift as the Department of Education awarded the district a nearly $29 million Race to the Top grant to improve educational excellence in the Eastside district.
But the biggest news was in the State Department of Education, as Tony Bennett took over five Indiana schools, one in Gary and four in Indianapolis for academic neglect. The transition of Howe, Arlington and Manual high schools and Emma Donnan Middle School was rough and chaotic. It’ll take a couple of years to see if the operators of these schools can turn around the academics.
The year 2012 ends with Indiana Black Expo releasing a massive report outlining the severe challenges facing Black youth in Indianapolis and across the state.
As worthwhile as the report is, many want to see a similar detailed report on how Black Expo will solve its own troubles. This year marked the poorest attended IBE Summer Celebration since the early years and the poorest attended Circle City Classic ever!
Many are openly questioning IBE survivability feeling that the organization’s condition is as dire as the condition of Indiana’s Black youth.
This was a transitional year for minorities in media. The city’s only Asian-American anchor Joy Dumandan left WISH-TV/Channel 8. A number of veteran, talented African-American journalists departed our TV screens. Veteran anchor/reporters Grace Trahan and Stacia Matthews at WRTV/Channel 6 retired from the TV grind while courageous anchor Deanna Dewberry at WISH-TV/Channel 8 left to anchor in Dallas.
Finally, we lost several lions of our African-American community in 2012. Among them were Martin University founder and civil rights activist Father Boniface Hardin; surgeon and servant/leader Dr. Ray Henderson; Indianapolis Recorder cub reporter and later Washington Post Pulitzer Prize journalist William Raspberry; the longest serving head of Indiana’s Civil Rights Commission Sandra Leek; jazz devotee and broadcaster Chuck Workman and the legendary activist, councilman and state senator Glenn Howard.
And as the year ends, add a “blue-eyed brother” to the list.
Gene Slaymaker was news director of WTLC-FM from the mid-1970s to early 1990s. Under his leadership WTLC fielded a full time quality news team unmatched then and now by any Black radio station – and earning hundreds of awards for journalistic excellence.
Slaymaker was one of the broadcast journalist icons of Indiana. He’s in Indiana’s Broadcasting Hall of Fame, it’s a shame he’s not in Indiana’s Journalism Hall of Fame.
The many journalists and managers like me who worked with him learned much from this journalism giant and fighter for all people. My deepest sympathies to his devoted wife Julie and his family. He’ll be greatly missed.
Happy Kwanzaa and happy New Year. See ‘ya next week.
You can email comments to Amos Brown at acbrown@aol.com.
