3 experienced councilmen want hotbed seat

<p>Greenwood’s District 2 encompasses two of the most talked-about areas in the city right now — the former middle school property, and the Interstate 65 and Worthsville Road interchange. Three experienced council members want to represent those powerful voices.</p><p>In fact, District 2 includes everything southeast of Worthsville Road to the city line. It also includes Greenwood Park Mall to the north.</p><p>Its expansiveness puts Republican incumbent Ezra Hill at the center of many important conversations and decisions<em>.</em></p><p>Voters will decide who should get the Republican nomination for all city council seats this spring. Whoever wins the District 2 seat will face Democratic candidate Jason Boudi, who ran for county sheriff last year, as well as any independent candidates who may file in the fall general election. The winner will join the other five district council members and three at-large members for the next four years.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]<p>Ron Deer, a former Greenwood city council member who served for 28 years, wants the seat back. His reasoning is not because he disagrees with Hill’s handle on the district, but because he has more time to commit now and fresh ideas, he said.</p><p>&quot;He’s a fine young man. I’m wanting to bring back my council experience to look at some current issues of concern,&quot; Deer said.</p><p>He has a new list of priorities, foremost being how this rapidly growing city can maintain its most basic needs and services up against its tax caps.</p><p>&quot;Those all occurred during my time on the council. I saw that someday we would be impacted, and we certainly are now,&quot; Deer said.</p><p>&quot;I’m open to doing the research and finding other possibilities for those most basic services.&quot;</p><p>Another former council member filed for the District 2 seat as well. Tim McLaughlin was unable to be reached for comment after several attempts.</p><p>McLaughlin gave up his spot on the city council in 2015 due to his position with the Greenwood Police Department, a conflict of interest that state law decided in 2011 would not be allowed anymore. He had served on the council for eight years.</p><p>In 2011, state legislators changed the law so that city and town employees can’t also serve as council members or mayors. The goal was to prevent council members from making decisions that would directly impact their pay or other aspects of their job.</p><p>That change in law meant McLaughlin, who was completing his eighth year on the council, could not run again because though he was nearing retirement, chose to stay on the police force.</p><p>At the time, McLaughlin said he fully understood why the state lawmakers made the change and he agreed with the decision. Since Greenwood has nine council members, he could abstain from voting if needed and said he never felt like he was put in a compromising position having to make a decision about the police department.</p><p>McLaughlin will retire in early 2020, said Matt Fillenwarth, assistant chief of the Greenwood Police Department. If he were to win the election, he would take office on Jan. 1.</p><p>Hill shares Mayor Mark Myers’s vision for downtown, and wants to see many of the projects Myers has outlined, such as redevelopment of the former middle school property, through to the finish line, he said.</p><p>A resident of downtown Greenwood, he campaigned with Myers in 2011 on a promise to revitalize that area, something Hill feels they have accomplished, he said.</p><p>“We have had many conversations about what our downtown is and what it needs to be. A lot of those projects, I have been involved with and pushed those projects to bring them to fruition. I mainly want to promote economic growth, but also preserve the downtown feel and historic aspect of our city,” said Hill, a water utility specialist and vice president at Whalen Construction Co.</p><p>His main focus is on further redevelopment downtown, but his constituents’ focus has turned to southeast Greenwood, which has the most available land. </p><p>Southeast Greenwood, near the I-65 and Worthsville Road interchange, looks completely different today than it did when he took office seven years ago. One of his biggest tasks as a council member has been deciding what kind of developments should fill out that area, and for the most part, that’s been single-family homes.</p><p>Now those conversations and debates have shifted east of the interstate. Developers have their sights set on that land for industrial uses, such as large warehouses and light manufacturing businesses, which area residents are adamantly opposed to.</p><p>Hill is too, to an extent.</p><p>“A lot of residents are pushing back on industrial, especially south of Worthsville Road, and I’m right there with them on that. But as far as north of Worthsville Road, those (proposals) need to be looked at closely. Some of those projects are good for the city as a whole because it brings in more tax dollars, and a city needs those types of projects that provide tax boosts,&quot; Hill said.</p><p>&quot;We just need to be careful and strategic about it.&quot;</p><p>It is clear the residents of southeast Greenwood want to see more single-family homes in that area, mixed with upscale shops and restaurants.</p><p>&quot;The question that remains is how do we make that happen?&quot; Hill said.</p><p>Officials have argued that home builders and retail developers aren’t interested in that land.</p><p>Deer is not supportive of warehouses east of that interchange or directly north of Worthsville Road, he said. He would like to see high-end business offices, restaurants and retail in that area, he said. He is a huge proponent of sticking to the comprehensive plan, which calls for mixed-use development in that area.</p><p>&quot;I believe we have to follow it until it’s changed,&quot; Deer said. &quot;I’m supportive of doing another master plan. It needs to be updated.&quot;</p><p>Downtown, Deer said the plans he has seen for the former middle school property are solid and agrees it should also be used for mixed-use development, but said the city needs to be more frugal in its approach.</p><p>For example, the city has set aside up to $6 million to make significant improvements to Old City Park.</p><p>“Could we have done that project at a reduced level and then still have something that could improve the quality of life?” Deer said.</p><p>“I don’t think it’s a bad idea to redevelop, but I think we could have scaled it back. My key concern (right now) is about downtown redevelopment.”</p><p>Both Deer and Hill support tax breaks for new businesses. Hill also supports speculative buildings, at least for now.</p><p>&quot;Sure, a lot of times we don’t know what the wages will be, but with the economy the way it is right now, it’s a pretty safe bet,&quot; Hill said.</p><p>As a council member and businessman, he always encourages developers to provide as much detail as possible so the city’s planning commission and council can make decisions based on that, rather than pure emotion, he said.</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="About the job" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>Greenwood City Council District 2</p><p>Term: Four years</p><p>Pay: $12,612 per year</p><p>Duties: Set annual spending for the city, make policy changes, adopt new local rules and ordinances, approve new taxes, appoint members to various city boards.</p><p>District 2: Represents everything southeast of Worthsville and Averitt roads to the city line. It also includes Greenwood Park Mall to the north, and much of downtown, including the former middle school property.</p>[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="The Hill File" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>Name: Ezra Hill</p><p>Age: 41</p><p>Occupation: Water utility specialist and vice president at Whalen Construction Co., Inc.</p><p>Education: Roncalli High School; Purdue University</p><p>Political experience: Greenwood City Council since 2011</p>[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="The Deer File" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>Name: Ron Deer</p><p>Age: 69</p><p>Family: Widower; one adult daughter</p><p>Occupation: Retired manager</p><p>Education: George Washington High School; Bachelor’s degree in business administration from IUPUI</p><p>Political experience: Greenwood City Council, 1987 to 2011</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]