Dear Mayor Peterson,

Last fall Self magazine again published its annual report on "The Healthiest Places for Women to Live". The study looked at over thirty areas of wellness, including life expectancy, crime, cancer rates and exercise. Out of the 200 largest cities, the home of the Indianapolis Colts finished an appalling 197th. Why, in spite of millions of public dollars squandered on privately owned sports teams, does our city continue to be one of the least desirable cities in America? Perhaps it has to do with some of the following problems:

An open sewer called White River flows menacingly through our City while the privatized waste water treatment plants fall into further disrepair;

Air quality is the foulest it's been since 1988;

The City hasn't invested in new street lights for over two decades;

Filthy, overcrowded jails;

Underfunded bus system;

Chronically-underfunded public safety pensions supplemented in part with money raided from the sewer account;

Rampant sprawl with ineffective urban planning/implementation and no rapid transit system;

Woefully inadequate parkland and no serious effort to fund new acquisitions;

Crumbling, underfunded schools.

Please explain why subsidizing professional sports is more important than the long and sorry list of urgent public needs. The public should be made aware of all the long-term costs, including which public needs you intend to sacrifice to satisfy your promises to the Colts. Your behind-closed-door approach to dealing with the team owner is not democratic or in the public interest.

We propose that you facilitate broad, public input through a series of open, well-publicized meetings in spacious facilities (such as a High School auditorium), on each side of town. At a hearing a few years ago prior to another public subsidy to the Colts, Colts fans got prime seating and preferential speaking slots. This time let's have both equal seating and speaking time.

As we have suggested previously, clean air and water, good schools and parks, and a host of essential urban qualities should always trump the greed of a privately owned entertainment venue. We in the Alliance for Democracy strongly believe public money should be spent on the public and not to further enrich the super-wealthy. These open meetings will help determine whether most other citizens agree.

Sincerely,
Jack Miller, Coordinator

Indiana Alliance for Democracy
PO Box 34133
Indianapolis, IN 46234
Phone/Fax (317) 726-1014
E-mail: info@inafd.org
www.inafd.org