Today on The Breakfast Club, Mayor Of Gary, Indiana Eddie Melton Talks '2300 Jackson Street Block Party,' Trump, Joe Budden. Listen For More!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Don't know every day waiting clicks up the breakfast club
finish for y'all done.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Yep, it's the world most dangerous. Wanting to show to
breakfast club charlamagea god jess hilarious and we had to
step out. But we got a special guest in the building.
He is the mayor of Gary, Indiana. Mister Mayor Eddie Melton.
How you doing, brothers.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
I'm blessed. I'm blessed. Thanks for having me, Thanks for
having me today.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Man, I gotta get right to it. Is the Trump
administration targeting cities with black mans, man?
Speaker 4 (00:25):
I mean, I think it's clear based off the reports
that we're seeing. You see what's happened in Chicago, Baltimore,
and the threasts in DC. As a black mayor in
a Republican state, you know, it's definitely a concern to
see something like that happen. When I look at the facts,
you know that the military has no arresting powers and
it's a waste of resources to put military on the
(00:49):
ground and it's dangerous. So I agree with what's taking
place from the pushback, but I think the conversation has
to shift what type of resources we need to invest housing,
mental health, you know, just to help reduce overall crimes,
like in job training programs, the entire gambit. Cities like
(01:09):
Baltimore and Chicago, Birmingham, reduction of crime is happening. We
had a fifty five percent reduction of homicide this year,
something that we're extremely proud of. So shout out to
the Gary Police Department Chief Derrek Cannon for his leadership.
So yeah, I'm against it, but we have to have
the conversation about what do we do as a United
(01:29):
States to invest in our people, not just in policing.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Can ask you question what matters more right? Data are feelings?
And what I mean by that is, you know, we
hear these numbers about the crime statistics going down, but
there's people who live in those cities will be like,
we don't feel it, you know what I mean? And
I always say, just because somebody was five hundred pounds
and they lost two hundred, they're still three hundred, So
they're still kind of fact, you know, they're still fact.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
That's the real thing. Feelings is a real thing what
you see and what you engage in feeling. But the
data speaks to is there a trend in what are
we doing that's helping.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Is it getting better?
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Is it getting better?
Speaker 4 (02:02):
If if we know that we've invested more into summer programs,
after school programs, workforce development programs, then we should be
looking for additional funding to fund that more. So I
think it's a balance, right, But you have to be
aware of what the people are saying, what the people
are feeling. You know, being a mayor is a very
difficult and challenging but most rewarding job, especially when you
(02:25):
grew up in the city that helped raise you. So
I have family that have struggled and experienced some a
lot of these heartaches. So I'm just proud of the
progress that we're making. But we just get to start.
We got a long ways to go.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Why is it so fulfilling to be a man.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Man growing up in Gary in the nineties and the
negative stigma that you all probably already heard of. We're
transforming at We're changing that narrative, We're changing the way
people are thinking and feeling about the city by investing
in the people, but also raising the awareness what people
don't know about the city. Of course, you know, we've
about thirty five minutes from downtowns that's great, But folks
(03:01):
don't know we have an international airport that we share
in collection with Chicago. Myself and Brandon Johnson, Mayor of Chicago,
we talk often about how we can grow that international airport.
A lot of folks don't know Gary sits right on
Lake Michigan. We have five miles of beachfront property. The
individuals come. We had a quarter of a million people
just two weeks ago in Geary, Indiana at the Gary
(03:22):
Chicago Airshow at the Geary Airshow, So that was something
that we brought in.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
More revenue.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
More people are coming to see the positive things that's
taking place. I can go on and on. It's a
lot of these we'll probably get weave into the conversation.
But to grow up in the city that made you
to the person that you are. I was able and
blessed to have great mentors, able to go to college
when to Kentucky State University, shout out to the Thoroughbreds.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
And to come home.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
You know of a state senator for two terms for
eight years in Indiana representing Gary in Northwest Indiana. So
it's a blessing and it's truly blessed. I give God
the glory for that.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
I never heard anything bad about Gary Indianda it's good,
you know, other than my guy Jackson coming from there.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I never heard anything other than that.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
And I heard you say that, you know, we probably
know about some of the things that's been said.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
That's the only thing.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
I've heard that's a blessing. I'm glad that's never heard.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Right Well, Jackson's and Freddy Gibbs, Michael Jackson, Jackson, Freddy Ye.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
I was with Freddy last night. Yeah, okay, he said,
what's up, Denise Williams. It's so many big dog. Glenn Robinson,
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
Right.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
So the list goes on in terms of the history
and the culture that Gary has. Gary was founded by
US Steel nineteen o six. So we are a steel city,
Steell Town. We've seen the ups and we've seen the downs,
just like a lot of russ Bell cities across America,
like Detroit, Flint, Yeah, Sagging, all these cities that live
(04:47):
and work around industry, and when the industry had a downturn,
it was an impact that rippled throughout the country. Right,
So I'm glad to hear that. It's not the negative
stuff that you hear, but you know, we got so
much to celebrate. Yes, Michael Jackson, the Jackson Five, Janet Jackson,
all of them are born and raised, and Gary Denise Williams.
(05:08):
But this weekend we're going to be celebrating all those folks,
celebrating all them.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
What is going on this weekend.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
August twenty ninth is Michael's birthday. So we've reached out
to the family, just worked with them very closely, built
a very good relationship over the years with the brothers,
Marlon and Jackie be in town. Building a great relationship
with that next generation of the Jackson So shout out
to Siggie Jackson, which is Jackie's oldest son, Prince Michael's son,
(05:34):
who had been in supportive to figure out, how do
we change that narrative about Gary, let people know the
positive things that's happened. So for several years, a little
bit over a decade, there was no formal celebration or
acknowledgment that the world's most famous entertainment family was from
Gary and Michael Jackson from Geary. So I worked with
the governor at that time. We got the highway signage
(05:55):
set in place to let people know from a tourism perspective.
But now we're going to have a formal event to
let the world know you can come in.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
We got Chris Tucker coming in. He's going to DJ.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Kid Capri is going to be there as well to
have a good time with us. Denise William's going to
host one day. So we got a lot of folks
local DJ's, DJ all Out, djk C's or DJ chies Beat.
So we're bringing the community together. But people from around
the world are reaching out from Australia London to say
they want to recognize and celebrate Michael at twenty three
(06:28):
hundred Jackson Street. You remember that song. You remember that song?
You got to google that.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
Song to explain the nipp partnership.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Yeah, so I mentioned about US Steels. US Steel is
one of the largest steel producers in the world at
the At one point they were the number one still
produce in the world. Over time, they slipped down a
low twenties. Nippon is from Japan, this Japanese company. When
I came into office in twenty twenty four, there was
(07:00):
a threat that US Steel would actually close plants. I
keep in mind when Gary's height, US still had a
thirty thousand employees right now, we got four thousand employees.
That's automation, that's technology that and that's the down turn
of the industry. But the steel production happens. So the cans,
the can goods that you have, the washing machines that
(07:21):
you use, all of that is from steel production, and
most of that have probably come from the US steel
from Gary Works. Shout out to Marko Watkins's here with me.
He's still working. That's right behind me. So the Pond
still knowing that US security.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Security outside.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
No, but the Pond still made an offer to purchase
US Steal, which was very controversial in the beginning. When
I came in, I was skeptical, just like many people,
to have a foreign entity seek to buy a US
company like US stell of that magnitude. So there was
a lot of concerns and issues. So I did the
due diligence. I met with US Steel, I met with
(08:04):
Nippon Steele to learn what type of investments.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
They want to make. When you work, when you live
in cities like.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
Gary that have pollution, you know, from a legacy perspective
in the still making process, the community is always going
to be concerned of the impact to the environment. So
that was a concern of mine, ensuring that jobs were
staying in place. Those three thousand workers, many of them,
well most of them, some of them live in the
(08:31):
city of Gary, and that's something that we're going to
address as well, make sure that the employment abilities is there.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
So this deal was closed. We worked with.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
Congressmen Benny Thompson, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and Congressman Jim Clodburn.
Was extremely helpful both in Biden and Trump administration for
us to have this conversation to say, this deal has
to go through fourteen billion dollar investment that Nippon has purchased,
well not a purchase, they partner with US Steel. Three
(09:03):
billion is going to go directly in the city of
Geary works.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Plan seventy thousand jobs.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
I think I saw well nationwide nationwide, but there's going
to be at a minimum of one thousand new jobs
in the city of gear That's dope, all right. So
we're working within upon right now as we speak. They
get ready to reline the blast furnace blast Furn's number fourteen,
which is the largest steel producing blast furnace in US
Steel's portfolio. So when you think about re lining the
(09:30):
blast furnace and increasing steel productions more jobs, is protecting
national security and everything like that. So it's a good
deal from an environmental standpoint. The Japanese are bringing their
technology to make the still making process a cleaner process
for the community, so that's something that's extremely important. So
those investments are going to soon trickle down into the
(09:54):
specific community, so we can invest in our infrastructure, paving streets,
street lights, stop you know, stop lights, all those type
of things that need to be fixed right now that
historically Geary has had issues doing because we didn't have
the revenue. But now we're working with our corporate partners
to make that happen.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I'm much credited to Trump get for that because I
saw when he announced back and made that you know
that US still was going to remain American owned, and
he talked about the partnership. So how much credited to
Get for that.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
I mean any president has to say so, so he
definitely has the credit in terms of approving the deal.
So I'm grateful for that. But now it's trying to
make sure the deal happens. All of that investment that
three billion has to be invested by twenty twenty eight,
So that's a very small window to spend and invest
(10:40):
three billion dollars. So those tax dollars of that investment
is going to be reinvested back into the city. And
we're working right now with US Steal in the Pond
to figure out what's the best method to deploy those
dollars into the streets.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
I'm going to ask that like where did that money go,
because you know, people hear these numbers and they're like
three billion dollars into our town, into our city, right.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
That three billion goes into the infrastructure, into the plant.
The way that is assessed though that infrastructure enhancement is assessed,
is going to relate to some tax dollars locally, and
that's where we're going to work directly with UPON and
US still to figure out what's the best formula that
we can divest directly into paving the streets, the street lights,
(11:18):
traffic lights, public safety, right making sure that we could
pay our police and fire EMS workers the adequate ways,
because right now our police and fire is getting siphoned
off from other communities. They're the best trained, but because
we can't pay them that wage, that's changing right now.
So a lot of folks are applying to become firefighters,
(11:39):
shot out three five nine Local three five nine Area
Firefighters and GFD the local police union. But it's a
lot of good stuff happening, man, in terms of just
what the potential and the direction that we're going into.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
What other plans do you have to revitalize the city,
you know, following the success of the deal with it.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
When we first came in, we had to stabilized finances.
That was extremely important. So right now, for the first time,
I'm like close to a decade, we have a surplus,
so making wise decisions. When I came in, I spent
you know, the eight years that was in in Indiana
Senate speaking to my staff to say, hey, we have
to reserve at least ten percent of your budget every
year before we make significant purchases or in investments. Investing
(12:21):
in people is going to be number one. So we've
tripled the amount of investments into our infrastructure, paving streets
just like you say, a lot of people say you
ain't paying my street right because it hasn't happened, But
we're paving major third afaares. When I came into office,
significant amount of street lights.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
We're out right.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
The city owned a little bit over two thousand street lights.
I let's say nine hundred were almost either malfunction or broken.
By the end of this year, every single street light
is going to be energy efficient led. So that investment
is happening right now. It's going to make it safer,
it's going to be making it more enjoyable. But we
have a new deal with the hard Rocket scene. You know,
(13:00):
harn Rock just was built in around twenty twenty one.
So when I would stay Cenator, I passed center built
four thirty four, which allows us to enter into a
public private partnership to build a new convention center. Eighty
ninety four is probably the nation's busiest highway and that's
what take you from Chicago to Detroit. Gary Smack Dad
(13:22):
right in the middle of that. Nearly three hundred thousand
cars a day. So Harrock. Before Harrock, we had another
casino that was on a lake front. I helped pass
the law to move gaining from waterfront to land base
in twenty nineteen. Now that they've broke ground and built
the harr Rock, we were the lowest revenue generator in
the state.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Now we're number one. Wow.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Right, So now that investment. We're going to build one
one hundred and forty million dollar convention center right there
on eighty ninety four in conjunction with har Rock. Harrock
is going to build a new hotel. We have a
private developer that's getting ready to build two new hotels
and new restaurants right at the gateway of Birth Street
in Gary, Indiana.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
I love that is That's dope. How do you plan
to ensure that Gary doesn't see another decline similar to
what happened after the first collapse of.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Yeah, I mean, we got to look at diversifying just
our whole economic base. Transportation logistics is something that I'm
very passionate about right now. And I'm not talking about
putting truck stops and things like that. We're talking about
international flights again. With the Geary Chicago Airport we have.
If you pull up a map of Gary, Indiana or
state of Indiana, they say Indiana is the crossroads to America.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
I'm not sure you've ever heard that slogan. Most transit
or highways and rail traffic go through Indiana.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
And when you look at a map, much of that
intersect between Chicago and Gary. So three class one rail lines.
Most commerce is moving east and west is going to
go through the city, So how do we maximize and
build off of that from warehousing distribution fed X. Working
with fed X and a private developer, they're getting ready
to break around now on the three hundred thousand.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Square foot facility.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
That facility is going to hire six hundred new employees.
So within a year and a half have been in office,
we have close to two thousand jobs that has been
confirmed over the next four to five years or two
to five years as we just got started.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Question is it because of the nip on No? Okay, okay, no,
I mean, I'm just wonder if other people want to
be there now, because.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
It's a buzz, it's a vibe and energy right now
because of the investments that we're doing from a very
grassroot level, from individuals as investing in their own homes
to people investing in properties and flipping properties. Now for
the first time in fifty years, and this is based
off of study that Indiana University Northwest has done. Gary's
population has grown for the first time in fifty years.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Right, So although it's just a few hundred people, that's
still the significant trend that we're tracking. So now that
we know, okay, somewhere on to something here, making it cleanup,
making it safer, making it more energy efficient, making it
more resilient, because I believe in the next ten years
more folks are going to be moving to the Midwest.
You know, you look at climate change that's happening. You
look at all of the you know, tornadoes and hurricanes
(16:15):
and wildfires. Gary sitting on Lake Michigan, which is a
part of the Great Lakes. That's the world's largest fresh
body of water. So you're gonna need water to survive
and have life.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
You're accomplished so much with it only being a year
and a half you being in office. How long did
you have this vision of changing Gary before you became
the mayor.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Being mayor was never the goal, the gold objective. I
just wanted to serve it. I just thank God for
having a heart and desire. But it's a lot of
folks that play a part in kind of mentoring me
and helping me. Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher one of the nations,
the nation's first black mayor that was elected. I'm not
sure if you guys know him. That's something from a
history book. Lesson and we encourage folks to know that Gary,
(16:55):
Indiana at the first black mayor in the.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
United States that was elected. Wow.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Now we go back and forth with Mayor Bibbs in
Cleveland in terms of Carl Stokes was also elected at
that's around that same timeframe who was sworn in first.
But Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher was very instrumental. Nineteen seventy two,
Gary hosted the Black Political National Black Political Convention. I
knew that a lot of folks don't realize that.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
And I knew that because Angeler I always talked about it.
Oh yeah, because you wants to do stuff like that,
something like that.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
We have to do something like that again to make
sure what is our agenda? What is our policy? Collectively?
What do we want to go to Congress? We can
go to the White House as a collective body to
say here are our priorities. But going back to your
point in terms of being mayor, was never the golden objective.
I was on a state Board of education.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
First.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Then that's someone on the state board educational. Look, if
you want to know what's going on, follow the money.
When I started following the money, I started realizing, wait,
a minute. We're not getting our fair share of resources
on the educational system because it was going into private
interests groups. If you want to make change, at that time,
my mind says, you got to change policy, you got
(18:06):
to change laws. So that's when I got more engaged
on a political aspect and ran for Indiana State Senate.
We won, So thank all of the Senate District three folks.
And here we are today.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
What would you say to the Garer residents who got
concerns and they're pushing back against the Environment Protection Agency?
Speaker 3 (18:25):
I mean, that's rightfully.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
So we have a phenomenal advocacy group by the name
of GUARD that has helped me. They sit on an
advisory panel that I have. When we talk about the environment.
When you take away certain standards and you will allow
corporations to emit certain toxins into the air, somebody's gonna
have to pay that bill from a health perspective. So
(18:49):
I stand with them in their regards. So how do
we make and that's what I'm advocating for in this
process with the pond, Will you make the investments to
make this a cleaner process. We know we need that
industry to stay there. But now that over the last
hundred years things have changed, there's a cleaner way to
make Still, do you.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
Fear at all what's happening in DC? Do you feel
at all what's happening in DC will happen in Gary
with everything that Trump is doing.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
No, I'm always watching what's happening around the country. Right now,
I'm so locked in and focused on where we are
in the progress that we're making. I have a great
working relationship with our governor, being in the center, that
helped me kind of understand how to navigate downstate and
work with the Republican Party across party lines. So right now,
(19:40):
I think Gary is in a very good position. However,
I still know things can change any given moment. Right
I'm not naives to think that it can't. So I'm
trying to make sure that we invest in the right things,
we use our resources. In our mission statement, I saying
we need to be one of the most resilient cities.
To your point, how do we not repeat things that
(20:02):
we know that has happened in the past, And That's
where I'm trying to protect us from going down the
same cycle.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
This is my last question. You're not the first person
I've heard say that there's an attack on black mans.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Mayor Adams came up here maybe a year ago and
said that, or I said it was coming.
Speaker 6 (20:17):
The real focus should be on our national government. That's saying,
why you're doing this to New York while you check
out what they're doing. They're doing it to New York,
They're doing it to Chicago, they're doing it to Los Angeles,
they're doing it to Houston. What is the same in
all those cities? All black mens, all black mens, and
(20:37):
so with we're saying same thing that I'm going through here.
My brother Johnson is going through, my sis Sebastian is
going through, my brother Turner is going through. So our
folks are what they wanted to happen. Governor Appen wanted
to happen. We're gonna turn these of cities against their mayors.
We're gonna create this environment where they're all.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Going to go. It's their myth. Why. Well, I don't
know if I say there was an actual attack on
black marriage.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
I think it's obvious what's going on.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Yeah, I mean it's clear what's taking place.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
I don't know the why, right, And I don't try
to get into the national politics that deep to understand
the why, because I just want to stay ready, right,
shout up.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
Dame Dash told me to tell you what's up to.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
So one of the good sayings that Dan would always
take tell me, if you know the fight is coming,
brace your face, right. But you also got to be
ready for war as well at the same time, And
I'm saying that in a peaceful term. I'm not saying
prepare for war specifically, but being prepared knowing that what
type of fight was going to come in hand. Right now,
we are in a very good stable position to make
(21:46):
the enhancements and investments in the city, and we're going
to continue to do that with the investments that we're
talking about with the Pond, still with the Convention Center,
with so many other things that we're working on.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
Absolutely, my last question, what should be the messaging of
the Democratic Party moving forward to combat trap to combat
Trump and Maga. I just called that man a tramp.
It might, but I don't want to be tweeting about
me like he tweets about. It's a combat Trump and Mega.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
You know, we need to have a sit down conversation
within the party because I think cities like Gary need
to be heard communities that voices have not been heard
even within our own party. That we got to make
sure our issues are at the table, and that just
rises up to the forefront to make sure it's going
to be addressed. We can't assume that people are going
(22:38):
to vote for us because we are one political affiliation.
Uh So, I'm not prepared to answer that question right
now because I think there's still a lot of work
to do to strengthen the party in an organization. But
I'm extremely focused as mayor on what do I do
for the seventy thousand plus people in the city of
Gear and how do we improve the quality of life
of them every single day? And that's extremely important.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Respect miss man Eddie Milton, thank you for coming.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Brother. I appreciate what opportunity man, God bless.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
And I can't wait to hear about how it goes
down this weekend.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
You should stop through there? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Can we stop through?
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Why tell you what?
Speaker 4 (23:13):
Man?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
We can? Yeah, I didn't even know it was thirty
minutes with Chicago. Yeah, I didn't know that.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Yeah, I didn't know that.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
We had a Look, we had a train that will
get you from Gary to downtown Chicago.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
In thirty minutes. Wow, flat period.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Yeah, so you next time you're in the area, stopped through, Well,
well let's give you a tour, and let me tell
you say this real quick about it. In my mind, absolutely,
I want to talk about one of our friends, brother
Joe Buttons, the situation Joe Butden, I'm sorry. I want
to make sure because the brother invited me on the show.
(23:45):
It was a situation that occurred. He tried to call
out Gary. I wasn't even gonna go here, let's go there.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
You looked that up to continue.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
And I'm saying that in the in the in the
sense of, let's have that kind of conversation. You invited
me on the show. Let's have a conversation about the
city of Gary, just like you just He was like, look,
I don't know anything about it here, never heard anything.
He may have had an experience once. With the platform
that you guys have, you can't just recklessly say something
(24:18):
about a city that you don't know anything about, especially
a predominantly black city, right right. So I called him
Jarru gave me his number, drop me and job chopped
it up.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
By the way, this is the most random conversation I
did not know that man. I didn't know. I didn't
know anything about him.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
I couldn't miss the opportunity to address it, though, But
I say it and all love. But you know, let's talk.
I'm willing to come on.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
The show, he said. Joe said, there's like three traffic
lights in Gary. Gary is six blocks of wind and tumbleweeds.
If I had to go to Gary, I'm not going
to Gary. Gary was so interesting. I got up and
looked out the window on the tall bus, like, are
we lost?
Speaker 4 (24:57):
That probably was like fifteen to twenty years ago, But
don't say in twenty twenty five, right, So put some
respect on the city.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
If not, And you said, someone just send me a
video from this guy named Joe Budden talking about my
hometown like a dog. You don't know what you're talking about.
You have no idea what is going on in garytt
this moment. Don't you ever run your mouth about my city?
And you called in.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
That's what I don't like about it, Okay, So John
put us on the text together say I need to talk.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Called him.
Speaker 4 (25:30):
Then they asked, I'm the type of cat I'm calling
you two or three times. It is what it is
at that point. So the last time I called him,
he picked up the phone and puts me on the show.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
He didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Okay, got you.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Well, he quickly said, you want the Joe Button podcast.
Don't say anything incriminating. I just called to have a conversation.
But it's all of man, just invite me on the show.
Let's clear it up, the opportunity just kind of share
the positive things that's taken place. Man's some beautiful people
in the city of Gary. I just want to tell
that story in terms of our history, our culture, what
(26:07):
we've contributed to this country, to this world. Because we're
growing as a community. So I'm grateful. I thank God.
I thank you guys for giving us this platform to
talk about the positive things that's happening.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Because it's a greater Gary that's moving.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
How does that hurts my last week? How does that
hurt when somebody says something like that about the city.
How does that hurt Gary?
Speaker 4 (26:27):
Think about the conversation we were having about troops going
into a community. Right, So, as a mayor, I got
to deal with.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
A crisis.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
Then I got to deal with my own people with platforms,
be it if it's big or small. Running a city
that's on the rise in the mud right when we're
already trying to dig ourselves out of a hole where
people think they know somebody that's been helpful. Mike app
has been extremely helpful for putting Gary back on the map.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
Mike has beencoming.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
Mike has been investing in the city, buying properties and
things of that nature. So we invite folks to chains.
All the folks men have been looking to come in.
But I said, before we open the floodgates, it's a
Gary first thing. So we're creating a program right now,
thirty thousand dollars down payment assistance for police, for fire.
We're going to open that up to teachers to let
(27:21):
them know. We're going to give you the lot, the land,
We're going to connect you with our banking partner.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
We're going to give.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
You directly the builders and the design and templates has
already made so you don't have to invest in designing
the home. And with that down payment assistance, now you
can be a home own.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Yeah. So that's those are the things that I want
to talk about.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
We're you know, people are gonna swear now that you
said that told that story, They're gonna swear we had
you on because you and your buddy we don't even
have no issue.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
An issue with Joe.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
I'm just saying, but I want to say the reason
I wanted you on because I want more black mans on.
We had Mad Brandon, this guy on before. Because to me,
all of the blueprints for what this whole country should
be doing. You know the fact that y'all are getting
these resources and making these investments into the community, seeing
the crime rates reduced, You're seeing people have opportunities to
(28:10):
have jobs, You're making the right investments, like y'all are
a blueprint that everybody should be following.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
So that's brand and Scott Man.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
I watch mayors around the country African American Mayor's Association.
I'm watching as a new mayor, what folks are doing,
you know, in Baltimore and in DC, in other cities
and even in Chicago. Brandon Johnson has a very tough job.
I'm right next door to him, So whatever happens in
(28:37):
Chicago is going to eventually trickle over into Gary. So
I want him to be successful no matter who.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
The mayor is.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
But he's the mayor right now, so I got to
support him. But I'm like a sponge. Right, I don't
know everything. As a leader, you can't assume you know everything, right.
So I'm looking to folks.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
That have great ideas. Is an innovation around violence prevention
and things that I need a right.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
It's Mayor Eddie Melton, don't be a stranger man.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Mayor Gary, Indiana. It's the Breakfast Club.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Hold up every day I wake click your ass up
the Breakfast Club.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
You know I'm finished for y'all dumb
Don't know every day waiting clicks up the breakfast club
finish for y'all done.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Yep, it's the world most dangerous. Wanting to show to
breakfast club charlamagea god jess hilarious and we had to
step out. But we got a special guest in the building.
He is the mayor of Gary, Indiana. Mister Mayor Eddie Melton.
How you doing, brothers.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
I'm blessed. I'm blessed. Thanks for having me, Thanks for
having me today.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Man, I gotta get right to it. Is the Trump
administration targeting cities with black mans, man?
Speaker 4 (00:25):
I mean, I think it's clear based off the reports
that we're seeing. You see what's happened in Chicago, Baltimore,
and the threasts in DC. As a black mayor in
a Republican state, you know, it's definitely a concern to
see something like that happen. When I look at the facts,
you know that the military has no arresting powers and
it's a waste of resources to put military on the
(00:49):
ground and it's dangerous. So I agree with what's taking
place from the pushback, but I think the conversation has
to shift what type of resources we need to invest housing,
mental health, you know, just to help reduce overall crimes,
like in job training programs, the entire gambit. Cities like
(01:09):
Baltimore and Chicago, Birmingham, reduction of crime is happening. We
had a fifty five percent reduction of homicide this year,
something that we're extremely proud of. So shout out to
the Gary Police Department Chief Derrek Cannon for his leadership.
So yeah, I'm against it, but we have to have
the conversation about what do we do as a United
(01:29):
States to invest in our people, not just in policing.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Can ask you question what matters more right? Data are feelings?
And what I mean by that is, you know, we
hear these numbers about the crime statistics going down, but
there's people who live in those cities will be like,
we don't feel it, you know what I mean? And
I always say, just because somebody was five hundred pounds
and they lost two hundred, they're still three hundred, So
they're still kind of fact, you know, they're still fact.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
That's the real thing. Feelings is a real thing what
you see and what you engage in feeling. But the
data speaks to is there a trend in what are
we doing that's helping.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Is it getting better?
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Is it getting better?
Speaker 4 (02:02):
If if we know that we've invested more into summer programs,
after school programs, workforce development programs, then we should be
looking for additional funding to fund that more. So I
think it's a balance, right, But you have to be
aware of what the people are saying, what the people
are feeling. You know, being a mayor is a very
difficult and challenging but most rewarding job, especially when you
(02:25):
grew up in the city that helped raise you. So
I have family that have struggled and experienced some a
lot of these heartaches. So I'm just proud of the
progress that we're making. But we just get to start.
We got a long ways to go.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Why is it so fulfilling to be a man.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Man growing up in Gary in the nineties and the
negative stigma that you all probably already heard of. We're
transforming at We're changing that narrative, We're changing the way
people are thinking and feeling about the city by investing
in the people, but also raising the awareness what people
don't know about the city. Of course, you know, we've
about thirty five minutes from downtowns that's great, But folks
(03:01):
don't know we have an international airport that we share
in collection with Chicago. Myself and Brandon Johnson, Mayor of Chicago,
we talk often about how we can grow that international airport.
A lot of folks don't know Gary sits right on
Lake Michigan. We have five miles of beachfront property. The
individuals come. We had a quarter of a million people
just two weeks ago in Geary, Indiana at the Gary
(03:22):
Chicago Airshow at the Geary Airshow, So that was something
that we brought in.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
More revenue.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
More people are coming to see the positive things that's
taking place. I can go on and on. It's a
lot of these we'll probably get weave into the conversation.
But to grow up in the city that made you
to the person that you are. I was able and
blessed to have great mentors, able to go to college
when to Kentucky State University, shout out to the Thoroughbreds.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
And to come home.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
You know of a state senator for two terms for
eight years in Indiana representing Gary in Northwest Indiana. So
it's a blessing and it's truly blessed. I give God
the glory for that.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
I never heard anything bad about Gary Indianda it's good,
you know, other than my guy Jackson coming from there.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I never heard anything other than that.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
And I heard you say that, you know, we probably
know about some of the things that's been said.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
That's the only thing.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
I've heard that's a blessing. I'm glad that's never heard.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Right Well, Jackson's and Freddy Gibbs, Michael Jackson, Jackson, Freddy Ye.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
I was with Freddy last night. Yeah, okay, he said,
what's up, Denise Williams. It's so many big dog. Glenn Robinson,
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
Right.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
So the list goes on in terms of the history
and the culture that Gary has. Gary was founded by
US Steel nineteen o six. So we are a steel city,
Steell Town. We've seen the ups and we've seen the downs,
just like a lot of russ Bell cities across America,
like Detroit, Flint, Yeah, Sagging, all these cities that live
(04:47):
and work around industry, and when the industry had a downturn,
it was an impact that rippled throughout the country. Right,
So I'm glad to hear that. It's not the negative
stuff that you hear, but you know, we got so
much to celebrate. Yes, Michael Jackson, the Jackson Five, Janet Jackson,
all of them are born and raised, and Gary Denise Williams.
(05:08):
But this weekend we're going to be celebrating all those folks,
celebrating all them.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
What is going on this weekend.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
August twenty ninth is Michael's birthday. So we've reached out
to the family, just worked with them very closely, built
a very good relationship over the years with the brothers,
Marlon and Jackie be in town. Building a great relationship
with that next generation of the Jackson So shout out
to Siggie Jackson, which is Jackie's oldest son, Prince Michael's son,
(05:34):
who had been in supportive to figure out, how do
we change that narrative about Gary, let people know the
positive things that's happened. So for several years, a little
bit over a decade, there was no formal celebration or
acknowledgment that the world's most famous entertainment family was from
Gary and Michael Jackson from Geary. So I worked with
the governor at that time. We got the highway signage
(05:55):
set in place to let people know from a tourism perspective.
But now we're going to have a formal event to
let the world know you can come in.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
We got Chris Tucker coming in. He's going to DJ.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Kid Capri is going to be there as well to
have a good time with us. Denise William's going to
host one day. So we got a lot of folks
local DJ's, DJ all Out, djk C's or DJ chies Beat.
So we're bringing the community together. But people from around
the world are reaching out from Australia London to say
they want to recognize and celebrate Michael at twenty three
(06:28):
hundred Jackson Street. You remember that song. You remember that song?
You got to google that.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
Song to explain the nipp partnership.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Yeah, so I mentioned about US Steels. US Steel is
one of the largest steel producers in the world at
the At one point they were the number one still
produce in the world. Over time, they slipped down a
low twenties. Nippon is from Japan, this Japanese company. When
I came into office in twenty twenty four, there was
(07:00):
a threat that US Steel would actually close plants. I
keep in mind when Gary's height, US still had a
thirty thousand employees right now, we got four thousand employees.
That's automation, that's technology that and that's the down turn
of the industry. But the steel production happens. So the cans,
the can goods that you have, the washing machines that
(07:21):
you use, all of that is from steel production, and
most of that have probably come from the US steel
from Gary Works. Shout out to Marko Watkins's here with me.
He's still working. That's right behind me. So the Pond
still knowing that US security.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Security outside.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
No, but the Pond still made an offer to purchase
US Steal, which was very controversial in the beginning. When
I came in, I was skeptical, just like many people,
to have a foreign entity seek to buy a US
company like US stell of that magnitude. So there was
a lot of concerns and issues. So I did the
due diligence. I met with US Steel, I met with
(08:04):
Nippon Steele to learn what type of investments.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
They want to make. When you work, when you live
in cities like.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
Gary that have pollution, you know, from a legacy perspective
in the still making process, the community is always going
to be concerned of the impact to the environment. So
that was a concern of mine, ensuring that jobs were
staying in place. Those three thousand workers, many of them,
well most of them, some of them live in the
(08:31):
city of Gary, and that's something that we're going to
address as well, make sure that the employment abilities is there.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
So this deal was closed. We worked with.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
Congressmen Benny Thompson, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and Congressman Jim Clodburn.
Was extremely helpful both in Biden and Trump administration for
us to have this conversation to say, this deal has
to go through fourteen billion dollar investment that Nippon has purchased,
well not a purchase, they partner with US Steel. Three
(09:03):
billion is going to go directly in the city of
Geary works.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Plan seventy thousand jobs.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
I think I saw well nationwide nationwide, but there's going
to be at a minimum of one thousand new jobs
in the city of gear That's dope, all right. So
we're working within upon right now as we speak. They
get ready to reline the blast furnace blast Furn's number fourteen,
which is the largest steel producing blast furnace in US
Steel's portfolio. So when you think about re lining the
(09:30):
blast furnace and increasing steel productions more jobs, is protecting
national security and everything like that. So it's a good
deal from an environmental standpoint. The Japanese are bringing their
technology to make the still making process a cleaner process
for the community, so that's something that's extremely important. So
those investments are going to soon trickle down into the
(09:54):
specific community, so we can invest in our infrastructure, paving streets,
street lights, stop you know, stop lights, all those type
of things that need to be fixed right now that
historically Geary has had issues doing because we didn't have
the revenue. But now we're working with our corporate partners
to make that happen.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I'm much credited to Trump get for that because I
saw when he announced back and made that you know
that US still was going to remain American owned, and
he talked about the partnership. So how much credited to
Get for that.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
I mean any president has to say so, so he
definitely has the credit in terms of approving the deal.
So I'm grateful for that. But now it's trying to
make sure the deal happens. All of that investment that
three billion has to be invested by twenty twenty eight,
So that's a very small window to spend and invest
(10:40):
three billion dollars. So those tax dollars of that investment
is going to be reinvested back into the city. And
we're working right now with US Steal in the Pond
to figure out what's the best method to deploy those
dollars into the streets.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
I'm going to ask that like where did that money go,
because you know, people hear these numbers and they're like
three billion dollars into our town, into our city, right.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
That three billion goes into the infrastructure, into the plant.
The way that is assessed though that infrastructure enhancement is assessed,
is going to relate to some tax dollars locally, and
that's where we're going to work directly with UPON and
US still to figure out what's the best formula that
we can divest directly into paving the streets, the street lights,
(11:18):
traffic lights, public safety, right making sure that we could
pay our police and fire EMS workers the adequate ways,
because right now our police and fire is getting siphoned
off from other communities. They're the best trained, but because
we can't pay them that wage, that's changing right now.
So a lot of folks are applying to become firefighters,
(11:39):
shot out three five nine Local three five nine Area
Firefighters and GFD the local police union. But it's a
lot of good stuff happening, man, in terms of just
what the potential and the direction that we're going into.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
What other plans do you have to revitalize the city,
you know, following the success of the deal with it.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
When we first came in, we had to stabilized finances.
That was extremely important. So right now, for the first time,
I'm like close to a decade, we have a surplus,
so making wise decisions. When I came in, I spent
you know, the eight years that was in in Indiana
Senate speaking to my staff to say, hey, we have
to reserve at least ten percent of your budget every
year before we make significant purchases or in investments. Investing
(12:21):
in people is going to be number one. So we've
tripled the amount of investments into our infrastructure, paving streets
just like you say, a lot of people say you
ain't paying my street right because it hasn't happened, But
we're paving major third afaares. When I came into office,
significant amount of street lights.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
We're out right.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
The city owned a little bit over two thousand street lights.
I let's say nine hundred were almost either malfunction or broken.
By the end of this year, every single street light
is going to be energy efficient led. So that investment
is happening right now. It's going to make it safer,
it's going to be making it more enjoyable. But we
have a new deal with the hard Rocket scene. You know,
(13:00):
harn Rock just was built in around twenty twenty one.
So when I would stay Cenator, I passed center built
four thirty four, which allows us to enter into a
public private partnership to build a new convention center. Eighty
ninety four is probably the nation's busiest highway and that's
what take you from Chicago to Detroit. Gary Smack Dad
(13:22):
right in the middle of that. Nearly three hundred thousand
cars a day. So Harrock. Before Harrock, we had another
casino that was on a lake front. I helped pass
the law to move gaining from waterfront to land base
in twenty nineteen. Now that they've broke ground and built
the harr Rock, we were the lowest revenue generator in
the state.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Now we're number one. Wow.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Right, So now that investment. We're going to build one
one hundred and forty million dollar convention center right there
on eighty ninety four in conjunction with har Rock. Harrock
is going to build a new hotel. We have a
private developer that's getting ready to build two new hotels
and new restaurants right at the gateway of Birth Street
in Gary, Indiana.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
I love that is That's dope. How do you plan
to ensure that Gary doesn't see another decline similar to
what happened after the first collapse of.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Yeah, I mean, we got to look at diversifying just
our whole economic base. Transportation logistics is something that I'm
very passionate about right now. And I'm not talking about
putting truck stops and things like that. We're talking about
international flights again. With the Geary Chicago Airport we have.
If you pull up a map of Gary, Indiana or
state of Indiana, they say Indiana is the crossroads to America.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
I'm not sure you've ever heard that slogan. Most transit
or highways and rail traffic go through Indiana.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
And when you look at a map, much of that
intersect between Chicago and Gary. So three class one rail lines.
Most commerce is moving east and west is going to
go through the city, So how do we maximize and
build off of that from warehousing distribution fed X. Working
with fed X and a private developer, they're getting ready
to break around now on the three hundred thousand.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Square foot facility.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
That facility is going to hire six hundred new employees.
So within a year and a half have been in office,
we have close to two thousand jobs that has been
confirmed over the next four to five years or two
to five years as we just got started.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Question is it because of the nip on No? Okay, okay, no,
I mean, I'm just wonder if other people want to
be there now, because.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
It's a buzz, it's a vibe and energy right now
because of the investments that we're doing from a very
grassroot level, from individuals as investing in their own homes
to people investing in properties and flipping properties. Now for
the first time in fifty years, and this is based
off of study that Indiana University Northwest has done. Gary's
population has grown for the first time in fifty years.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Right, So although it's just a few hundred people, that's
still the significant trend that we're tracking. So now that
we know, okay, somewhere on to something here, making it cleanup,
making it safer, making it more energy efficient, making it
more resilient, because I believe in the next ten years
more folks are going to be moving to the Midwest.
You know, you look at climate change that's happening. You
look at all of the you know, tornadoes and hurricanes
(16:15):
and wildfires. Gary sitting on Lake Michigan, which is a
part of the Great Lakes. That's the world's largest fresh
body of water. So you're gonna need water to survive
and have life.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
You're accomplished so much with it only being a year
and a half you being in office. How long did
you have this vision of changing Gary before you became
the mayor.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Being mayor was never the goal, the gold objective. I
just wanted to serve it. I just thank God for
having a heart and desire. But it's a lot of
folks that play a part in kind of mentoring me
and helping me. Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher one of the nations,
the nation's first black mayor that was elected. I'm not
sure if you guys know him. That's something from a
history book. Lesson and we encourage folks to know that Gary,
(16:55):
Indiana at the first black mayor in the.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
United States that was elected. Wow.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Now we go back and forth with Mayor Bibbs in
Cleveland in terms of Carl Stokes was also elected at
that's around that same timeframe who was sworn in first.
But Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher was very instrumental. Nineteen seventy two,
Gary hosted the Black Political National Black Political Convention. I
knew that a lot of folks don't realize that.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
And I knew that because Angeler I always talked about it.
Oh yeah, because you wants to do stuff like that,
something like that.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
We have to do something like that again to make
sure what is our agenda? What is our policy? Collectively?
What do we want to go to Congress? We can
go to the White House as a collective body to
say here are our priorities. But going back to your
point in terms of being mayor, was never the golden objective.
I was on a state Board of education.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
First.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Then that's someone on the state board educational. Look, if
you want to know what's going on, follow the money.
When I started following the money, I started realizing, wait,
a minute. We're not getting our fair share of resources
on the educational system because it was going into private
interests groups. If you want to make change, at that time,
my mind says, you got to change policy, you got
(18:06):
to change laws. So that's when I got more engaged
on a political aspect and ran for Indiana State Senate.
We won, So thank all of the Senate District three folks.
And here we are today.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
What would you say to the Garer residents who got
concerns and they're pushing back against the Environment Protection Agency?
Speaker 3 (18:25):
I mean, that's rightfully.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
So we have a phenomenal advocacy group by the name
of GUARD that has helped me. They sit on an
advisory panel that I have. When we talk about the environment.
When you take away certain standards and you will allow
corporations to emit certain toxins into the air, somebody's gonna
have to pay that bill from a health perspective. So
(18:49):
I stand with them in their regards. So how do
we make and that's what I'm advocating for in this
process with the pond, Will you make the investments to
make this a cleaner process. We know we need that
industry to stay there. But now that over the last
hundred years things have changed, there's a cleaner way to
make Still, do you.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
Fear at all what's happening in DC? Do you feel
at all what's happening in DC will happen in Gary
with everything that Trump is doing.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
No, I'm always watching what's happening around the country. Right now,
I'm so locked in and focused on where we are
in the progress that we're making. I have a great
working relationship with our governor, being in the center, that
helped me kind of understand how to navigate downstate and
work with the Republican Party across party lines. So right now,
(19:40):
I think Gary is in a very good position. However,
I still know things can change any given moment. Right
I'm not naives to think that it can't. So I'm
trying to make sure that we invest in the right things,
we use our resources. In our mission statement, I saying
we need to be one of the most resilient cities.
To your point, how do we not repeat things that
(20:02):
we know that has happened in the past, And That's
where I'm trying to protect us from going down the
same cycle.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
This is my last question. You're not the first person
I've heard say that there's an attack on black mans.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Mayor Adams came up here maybe a year ago and
said that, or I said it was coming.
Speaker 6 (20:17):
The real focus should be on our national government. That's saying,
why you're doing this to New York while you check
out what they're doing. They're doing it to New York,
They're doing it to Chicago, they're doing it to Los Angeles,
they're doing it to Houston. What is the same in
all those cities? All black mens, all black mens, and
(20:37):
so with we're saying same thing that I'm going through here.
My brother Johnson is going through, my sis Sebastian is
going through, my brother Turner is going through. So our
folks are what they wanted to happen. Governor Appen wanted
to happen. We're gonna turn these of cities against their mayors.
We're gonna create this environment where they're all.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Going to go. It's their myth. Why. Well, I don't
know if I say there was an actual attack on
black marriage.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
I think it's obvious what's going on.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Yeah, I mean it's clear what's taking place.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
I don't know the why, right, And I don't try
to get into the national politics that deep to understand
the why, because I just want to stay ready, right,
shout up.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
Dame Dash told me to tell you what's up to.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
So one of the good sayings that Dan would always
take tell me, if you know the fight is coming,
brace your face, right. But you also got to be
ready for war as well at the same time, And
I'm saying that in a peaceful term. I'm not saying
prepare for war specifically, but being prepared knowing that what
type of fight was going to come in hand. Right now,
we are in a very good stable position to make
(21:46):
the enhancements and investments in the city, and we're going
to continue to do that with the investments that we're
talking about with the Pond, still with the Convention Center,
with so many other things that we're working on.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
Absolutely, my last question, what should be the messaging of
the Democratic Party moving forward to combat trap to combat
Trump and Maga. I just called that man a tramp.
It might, but I don't want to be tweeting about
me like he tweets about. It's a combat Trump and Mega.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
You know, we need to have a sit down conversation
within the party because I think cities like Gary need
to be heard communities that voices have not been heard
even within our own party. That we got to make
sure our issues are at the table, and that just
rises up to the forefront to make sure it's going
to be addressed. We can't assume that people are going
(22:38):
to vote for us because we are one political affiliation.
Uh So, I'm not prepared to answer that question right
now because I think there's still a lot of work
to do to strengthen the party in an organization. But
I'm extremely focused as mayor on what do I do
for the seventy thousand plus people in the city of
Gear and how do we improve the quality of life
of them every single day? And that's extremely important.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Respect miss man Eddie Milton, thank you for coming.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Brother. I appreciate what opportunity man, God bless.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
And I can't wait to hear about how it goes
down this weekend.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
You should stop through there? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Can we stop through?
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Why tell you what?
Speaker 4 (23:13):
Man?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
We can? Yeah, I didn't even know it was thirty
minutes with Chicago. Yeah, I didn't know that.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Yeah, I didn't know that.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
We had a Look, we had a train that will
get you from Gary to downtown Chicago.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
In thirty minutes. Wow, flat period.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Yeah, so you next time you're in the area, stopped through, Well,
well let's give you a tour, and let me tell
you say this real quick about it. In my mind, absolutely,
I want to talk about one of our friends, brother
Joe Buttons, the situation Joe Butden, I'm sorry. I want
to make sure because the brother invited me on the show.
(23:45):
It was a situation that occurred. He tried to call
out Gary. I wasn't even gonna go here, let's go there.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
You looked that up to continue.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
And I'm saying that in the in the in the
sense of, let's have that kind of conversation. You invited
me on the show. Let's have a conversation about the
city of Gary, just like you just He was like, look,
I don't know anything about it here, never heard anything.
He may have had an experience once. With the platform
that you guys have, you can't just recklessly say something
(24:18):
about a city that you don't know anything about, especially
a predominantly black city, right right. So I called him
Jarru gave me his number, drop me and job chopped
it up.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
By the way, this is the most random conversation I
did not know that man. I didn't know. I didn't
know anything about him.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
I couldn't miss the opportunity to address it, though, But
I say it and all love. But you know, let's talk.
I'm willing to come on.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
The show, he said. Joe said, there's like three traffic
lights in Gary. Gary is six blocks of wind and tumbleweeds.
If I had to go to Gary, I'm not going
to Gary. Gary was so interesting. I got up and
looked out the window on the tall bus, like, are
we lost?
Speaker 4 (24:57):
That probably was like fifteen to twenty years ago, But
don't say in twenty twenty five, right, So put some
respect on the city.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
If not, And you said, someone just send me a
video from this guy named Joe Budden talking about my
hometown like a dog. You don't know what you're talking about.
You have no idea what is going on in garytt
this moment. Don't you ever run your mouth about my city?
And you called in.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
That's what I don't like about it, Okay, So John
put us on the text together say I need to talk.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Called him.
Speaker 4 (25:30):
Then they asked, I'm the type of cat I'm calling
you two or three times. It is what it is
at that point. So the last time I called him,
he picked up the phone and puts me on the show.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
He didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Okay, got you.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Well, he quickly said, you want the Joe Button podcast.
Don't say anything incriminating. I just called to have a conversation.
But it's all of man, just invite me on the show.
Let's clear it up, the opportunity just kind of share
the positive things that's taken place. Man's some beautiful people
in the city of Gary. I just want to tell
that story in terms of our history, our culture, what
(26:07):
we've contributed to this country, to this world. Because we're
growing as a community. So I'm grateful. I thank God.
I thank you guys for giving us this platform to
talk about the positive things that's happening.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Because it's a greater Gary that's moving.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
How does that hurts my last week? How does that
hurt when somebody says something like that about the city.
How does that hurt Gary?
Speaker 4 (26:27):
Think about the conversation we were having about troops going
into a community. Right, So, as a mayor, I got
to deal with.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
A crisis.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
Then I got to deal with my own people with platforms,
be it if it's big or small. Running a city
that's on the rise in the mud right when we're
already trying to dig ourselves out of a hole where
people think they know somebody that's been helpful. Mike app
has been extremely helpful for putting Gary back on the map.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
Mike has beencoming.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
Mike has been investing in the city, buying properties and
things of that nature. So we invite folks to chains.
All the folks men have been looking to come in.
But I said, before we open the floodgates, it's a
Gary first thing. So we're creating a program right now,
thirty thousand dollars down payment assistance for police, for fire.
We're going to open that up to teachers to let
(27:21):
them know. We're going to give you the lot, the land,
We're going to connect you with our banking partner.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
We're going to give.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
You directly the builders and the design and templates has
already made so you don't have to invest in designing
the home. And with that down payment assistance, now you
can be a home own.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Yeah. So that's those are the things that I want
to talk about.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
We're you know, people are gonna swear now that you
said that told that story, They're gonna swear we had
you on because you and your buddy we don't even
have no issue.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
An issue with Joe.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
I'm just saying, but I want to say the reason
I wanted you on because I want more black mans on.
We had Mad Brandon, this guy on before. Because to me,
all of the blueprints for what this whole country should
be doing. You know the fact that y'all are getting
these resources and making these investments into the community, seeing
the crime rates reduced, You're seeing people have opportunities to
(28:10):
have jobs, You're making the right investments, like y'all are
a blueprint that everybody should be following.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
So that's brand and Scott Man.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
I watch mayors around the country African American Mayor's Association.
I'm watching as a new mayor, what folks are doing,
you know, in Baltimore and in DC, in other cities
and even in Chicago. Brandon Johnson has a very tough job.
I'm right next door to him, So whatever happens in
(28:37):
Chicago is going to eventually trickle over into Gary. So
I want him to be successful no matter who.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
The mayor is.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
But he's the mayor right now, so I got to
support him. But I'm like a sponge. Right, I don't
know everything. As a leader, you can't assume you know everything, right.
So I'm looking to folks.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
That have great ideas. Is an innovation around violence prevention
and things that I need a right.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
It's Mayor Eddie Melton, don't be a stranger man.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Mayor Gary, Indiana. It's the Breakfast Club.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Hold up every day I wake click your ass up
the Breakfast Club.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
You know I'm finished for y'all dumb
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