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In December the Metropolitan Development Commission held a public hearing on the City Council Resolution requesting changes be made to the Sign Ordinance to allow signs advertising special events on the property of certain not-for-profit organizations. The changes were ultimately approved by a 5 to 3 vote of the Commission. During the discussion, Ruth Hayes, President of Nora Northside Community Council, spoke in favor of a continuance so that neighborhoods could have an opportunity for input, saying that the suggested revisions did not develop through the usual process involving citizen participation. And thus, the Council vote did not necessarily represent the “true position of the community at large”. In a rather sarcastic retort, Commissioner Ed Treacy said “Then Madam, I’d suggest you do something on Election Day.” As you may know, Mr. Treacy is also the County Chairman of the Democratic Party. One certainly hopes that a person serving in either capacity would agree with neighborhood leaders when they say that, in a Democracy, citizen participation rightly does not stop once the ballots are counted. ****As mentioned elsewhere in this issue of Common Ground, Councilor Bill Soards is introducing a proposed Resolution asking the General Assembly to create a legal definition of grocery store. If you want a running list of the active proposals before the Council, log on to www.indygov.org/council/agen_min.htm and scroll down to ‘calendar of proposals’ which has a list of hyperlink dates. Clicking on the topmost date will take you to the latest list where you will find the proposal number, author(s), the committee to which it was referred, and the date and action taken by the committee. There is also a short digest of the proposal.****Mayor Peterson has announced that Beth White will be appointed to be the Assistant Director of DMD. The exact duties of this new position are still being defined.