Muncie Action Plan working to fulfill Together DM

MUNCIE, Ind. − The Together DM Plan, the comprehensive plan for Muncie and Delaware County developed by the Delaware-Muncie Plan Commission last year, is moving to the implementation phase.

Mitch Isaacs, president of the board of directors for the Muncie Action Plan, asked the Delaware County Council late last month to come up with nominations for a steering committee to help implement the Together DM plan.

Isaacs, who is executive director of the Shafer Leadership Academy, told council members that much of this year has been spent figuring out how to organize the effort after the death of Metropolitan Plan Commission Director Marta Moody in January.

The Muncie Action Plan, which works with the Muncie Strategic Investment Plan on issues within the city, is seeking county representation on the steering committee that will be implementing countywide objectives,. Those efforts would include improving quality of place, strengthening housing conditions and developing and expand ing opportunities for upward mobility for residents.

Delaware County Commissioners provided Muncie Action Plan with $10,000 recently to help bring people together and organize the steps toward implementation, Isaacs said. Commissioners are also being asked for nominees to be on the steering committee.

Isaacs told Council President Jessica Piper that the commissioner recommendations would be separate from those offered by the council, and he expected the commissioners to deliver about five people.

He told Piper he was less concerned with the number of members on the committee than he is with making sure there is good representation of people in the county. But he added he didn't want a committee so big it has difficulty getting anything done.

Heather Williams, vice president of the Muncie Action Plan board and program manager for Building Better Neighborhoods, also addressed council about the broad outcomes expected from implementing the Together DM Plan.

The outcomes include seeing the total assessed value of real estate in Delaware County keeping pace with inflation. Williams said the total assessed value of real estate in the county now is $6 billion.

Together DM calls for rising per-capita income with fewer households earning less than $25,000. Delaware County. Statistics show almost 30% of county households earn less than $25,000.

And the plan calls for the share of adults in the county with an associate degree or higher to grow closer to the national average. The national average is 40%. In Delaware County the figure is 33.5 %, she said.

Piper said that she was aware that Delaware County was sixth from the bottom among the 92 Indiana counties for median household income and the poverty rate of over 22 percent.

"If you don't live in it, you don't necessarily see it all the time," Piper said. "... You start looking at the numbers and it's eye opening."

Piper said the council would try to come up with a list of potential nominees by its next meeting on Tuesday, July 25.

Transgender resident: Council should address Webb's identity claim

In other matters that came before the council on June 27, Charlize Jamison, a transgender female, criticized council member Ryan Webb for his interaction with her on social media and the council as a whole for not publicly commenting on Webb.

Earlier this year, Webb made the claim that he now identifies as a woman of color and made appearances on Fox News and with other conservative outlets.

Webb was widely criticized by those, including Jamison, who said he was mocking transgender individuals with his claim.

At the council meeting, Jamison said that Webb had asked her "inappropriate and extremely personal questions" when she communicated with another person on Webb's campaign Facebook account about an unrelated subject.

According to Jamison, Webb asked if she had surgeries in connection with being a trans person, and he asked what gender she to which she was attracted. He also asked about her relationship with her wife.

"I can't think of anything more inappropriate than that," she told council. "It's disgusting. And he does this because he doesn't think you're going to say anything. So he escalates it. He is empowered by your inaction."

Jamison told the council that she has contacted legal counsel about matter.

She also objected to Webb displaying a drinking cup on the dais in front of him that bore the words "Leftist Tears." Jamison said the tumbler was an appeal to just one group of people in the county, while the council was supposed to represent all the people of the county.

Webb responded to Jamison at the end of the meeting.

"The individual who just spoke up there has spoke for a couple of months now (and) leaves out some key details," Webb said. "First of all I want to make it absolutely clear. I am a traditional conservative Christian. I don't buy in and support left-wing ideology. I don't buy into the Pride. I don't buy into the drag story hour. I don't buy into the, you know, drag queens for kids. I don't buy into all that.

"So, if you are someone who supports that and if you're coming on to my page looking for a conflict, more than likely you're going to find it. Because I don't support it. I'm very vocal about it. I speak my piece about how I feel about living in a traditional conservative community. You are coming looking to get your feelings hurt and if you stay long enough, you're going to get them hurt because I'm not going to sugarcoat what I say."

Webb went on to say that comments Jamison referred to were lifted out of context.

"You're coming onto my page looking for a conversation, asking your own inappropriate questions," he said. "And then when you get questions returned to you, you throw your hands up and throw a tantrum about it. That is not the way it works."

David Penticuff is a reporter with The Star Press. He can be reached at dpenticuff@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie Action Plan working to fulfill Together DM