Rogers facing two challengers in Gary’s 2nd District

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Fourth District Councilwoman Carolyn Rogers (right) speaks as Gary Mayor Rudy Clay listens at the site of a former stocking factory building earlier this week. | Scott M. Bort~Sun-Times Media

Updated: January 23, 2012 2:18AM

GARY— Gary’s 4th District is known for having more city parks than any other part of the city, but actually using them is another story, candidates for the district’s City Council seat said.

Dorie Miller, Marshalltown, Small Farms, Means Manor and Hill Top are some of the neighborhoods in the district, which starts on the east side and stretches across town, nearly bisecting Gary.

Like most candidates, incumbent Carolyn Rogers, in her third term, described clearing abandoned buildings and lowering crime as important. But making parks — especially those with swimming pools — usable is a key issue for the district, she said.

“Many children are unable to go to water parks or Marquette Park, so those neighborhood parks are extremely important,” Rogers said. 

Cooperation with the administration is also important, and that’s why voters should keep her and her experience in the council seat, Rogers added. 

“Basically, nothing gets done without the administration, so we have to have a good relationship with City Hall,” she said.

On a rainy morning recently, Rogers stood with Mayor Rudy Clay on a mostly cleared-out stocking factory site on East 21st Avenue to mark its demolition.

Rogers said she’s been accessible and accountable while working with other council members to grapple with the toughest issues plaguing the city in decades.

Challenger Lionel Hampton, a Gary police officer, says Rogers has not been effective.

“To me, (Rogers) is not functional, because she’s not making a difference one way or another,” he said.

“We have to look at the perceptions of Gary, and you have to do something about the negative perceptions of Gary right now, and she’s not doing that.”

Tearing the stocking factory down is one thing, but the move pushed the rodents in the building out into the surrounding neighborhood and created a problem for the constituents Rogers says she’s helping, Hampton said.

Hampton, a 24-year Police Department veteran, agreed parks are a huge issue, but “everybody’s pretty much asking City Hall for the basics, like picking up the garbage on time and keeping the streets clean.”

Andrew Ledbetter, who sat on the Gary Public Library board from 2005 to 2009, said the city should look inside and out for more money to clear out abandoned buildings and improve parks, changing the perceptions children have about their hometown.

“When the kids leave their houses to go to school, they’re looking at blighted houses,” Ledbetter said.

“It could be a very beautiful area if federal money is placed here.”