Public Safety
Friends and Constituents,
I hope you’re all well. If you’re like me, after the last month in Indiana you are feeling decidedly unsafe. I hate to send some dense and heavy stuff at you on a Labor Day weekend, but the budget season marches on, and you deserve to know about this important implication on your tax dollars and your families’ safety.
Watch the video
and then keep reading!
Since the end of July alone:
IMPD claimed that Dalys Jett, a 21-year-old athlete, shot two police officers, causing them to return fire. Weeks later, the public is beginning to find out what IMPD seems to have known within 48 hours of the incident: Dalys had his back turned and was running away when he was gunned down by IMPD officers. The only officer who was badly injured in the incident was actually shot not by Jett, but by another IMPD officer. Dalys Jett’s family is still waiting for the full bodycam footage to be released.
IMPD admitted that an officer accessed Flock cameras “hundreds of times for no legitimate law enforcement purpose” - a drastic understatement based on Washington Post reporters, who indicated that the number was 3800 searches over the period of 10 months. IMPD claims that they have changed their policies after this incident, but has been unwilling or unable to provide these policies to me when I asked for them. On August 25, IMPD Chief Tanya Terry told me “Our policy was already being revised to strengthen and improve it prior to learning of this misconduct. Our focus remains on preventing future violations and continuing to ensure public safety.” She told me that more detailed responses were coming soon - but they have not yet been delivered. City-Council leadership has been complicit in this delay and stonewalling, failing to show me any progress on the TRUST Act legislation that I introduced in June.
To be fair, Council leadership and IMPD leadership alike were probably slowed down by the massive, destructive, racist terrorism attack that Indianapolis experienced last week, apparently at the hands of ICE. Mayor Joe Hogsett originally claimed that he had received no communication from ICE, and top IMPD commanders and the Chief both told me as of late morning Monday they hadn’t even heard any reports about ICE operating in Indianapolis. Eighty faith leaders have signed an open letter demanding leadership from the Council and Mayor. I reached out Thursday to the Council President, Vice President, Chief of Staff, and communications lead asking how we could work together to call a public meeting as the faith leaders request, but have received no response at all.
Indiana suffered one of the worst natural disasters in state history, as a derecho storm caused massive rain and flooding across the state. In Indianapolis alone, City inspectors have estimated over $40 million in damage to private homes and businesses - not to even start counting the cost for emergency workers, damaged infrastructure, or economic slowdown. As a reminder, Donald Trump defunded the national agencies that help locals prepare for natural disasters like this one - and watchdogs have warned this would lead to Americans dying and suffering unnecessarily. Here in Indianapolis, Joe Hogsett’s administration fumbled terribly with communications, failed to warn people with sufficient notice, and lied to the press and to neighbors about it. Budget hearings this week showed that our 911 dispatch and Metropolitan Emergency Services Agency are drastically understaffed - with a 30% vacancy rate last year, and still no appropriate funding for enough agents to meet national standards this year.
Donald Trump has once again turned up the heat on the long-simmering war against Iran - killing and injuring dozens of civilians by directly targeting a wedding celebration this week. Foreign policy experts continue to point out that this increases the risk of Iranian retaliation on American soil.
Over and over again, Indianapolis is made less safe by the institutions that take and misuse our taxpayer dollars in the name of public safety.
But a better world is possible!
We can demand that our tax dollars are spent accountably and responsibly.
We can demand that our elected leaders show leadership or get out of the way.
We can uninvest in Flock cameras and data centers, and invest in real public safety, starting with empowering communities to care for their neighbors and bringing wealth back to the neighborhood level.
You can help with all of that.
Join me at the Public Safety Committee meeting on Wednesday, September 9th. The Committee meeting starts at 5:30 pm on the second floor of the City-County Building at 200 E Market Street in downtown Indianapolis. There will be public comment at this meeting. It’s the perfect time to tell Council leaders what you think of our ICE response, what you think of our flood response, what you think of the Flock cameras in our city, and more!
I will be attending a rally in support of Dalys Jett that starts at 5:00 pm outside the building, and would love to see you there as well.
Take some time out of our stressful world to enjoy a cookout, try to get one more splash in at a pool, and thank the working people of the world for a long weekend if you get some extra time off. The struggle continues, and we need you to keep yourself healthy so you can keep on fighting with us.
In love and solidarity,Jesse
As promised, here’s my monthly log of activities from August! Sorry for the delay.
Saturday 8/1: Woke up earlier than I wanted to! Caught up on correspondence and some housework. Attended the Hoosier Hospitality anti-ICE march in Fishers. Got disappointed when the event marshals protected an open Nazi at the march. Played some computer games in the evening.
Sunday 8/2: Housework, planned my week, wrote my newsletter and video.
Monday 8/3: Went with my Republican friend Eddie on a day trip out to Wayne County, Indiana, where we met with the outstanding Highway Department, supervised by Michael D. Sharp. Took notes on how efficient their operations were at highway and road maintenance and repair, in the hopes of driving better taxpayer value back home in Indianapolis.
Tuesday 8/4: IMPD Downtown District biweekly call. Got some groceries. Therapy. Took the bus to the Validus Movement’s rally against data center tax incentives and delivered a letter to the Mayor and Council President stating my opposition to any incentives. Attended several National Night Out celebrations and get-togethers.
Wednesday 8/5: Met with a young woman interested in politics to share my best tips and encouragement. Physical therapy for my neck and shoulder. Chatted with a socialist writer. Attended a Kheprw Mumbo Jumbo about protecting fair housing, especially the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana.
Thursday 8/6: Took a walk with my wife. Caught up on some housework. Did some exercises to try to help my shoulder/neck. Chatted with the steering committee of Fort Wayne DSA to explain some of the local drama from my perspective.
Friday 8/7: Physical therapy session. Party business call. Met with a digital ad agency to talk about effective political ads. Got tea with my friend Kenya to talk about politics. Went to an art show at the Athenaeum where I got to see my beloved friend Skeen’s mom’s art commemorating and honoring his life.
Saturday 8/8: Attended a Jewish Voice for Peace event at Ujamaa bookstore about the Break the Bonds campaign. Got coffee with my friend Tim to talk politics. Attended (and led chants at) the Citizens Action Coalition rally for a data center moratorium. Chatted with a state rep friend of mine who was increasingly angering the progressive base of the party. Talked to a young man who will be interning with me this semester. Wrote a letter of support for the WFYI Public Media Collective, still fighting for their first union contract.
Sunday 8/9: Weekly newsletter and video, housework. Got a beer with a politically conservative person who I had engaged with on Reddit to talk about where we could find common ground.
Monday 8/10: Chatted with a theater director friend to brainstorm ways to record a big song and dance number. Attended the full Council meeting to vote for a data center moratorium and to hear the corrupt Mayor’s budget presentation speech.
Tuesday 8/11: Got the tires on the car rotated. Helped to start organizing a phone banking operation with Ben Davis’s campaign. Did an interview with Rob Kendall. Got a late lunch with a potential campaign volunteer / person interested in getting more involved in politics.
Wednesday 8/12: Had to miss a KIB cleanup event I had signed up for due to pain in my neck and shoulder. Physical therapy session. Chatted with a woman working to improve efficiency and compassion in the way we treat unhoused people. Watched committee meeting recordings from committees on which I don’t sit.
Thursday 8/13: Met with a local business leader at Cleo’s Bodega to talk about financing solar panels that homeowners could lease their roof space for. Appointment with my psychiatrist to refill my ADHD prescription. Chatted with Abby from Action Neighbors about the 4th Amendment and how our city could better support it.
Friday 8/14: Therapy. Physical therapy. Party business. Chatted with Ben Davis and a database salesperson helping him get quality voter data. Caught up a bit on constituent correspondence.
Saturday 8/15: CAC board meeting. Watched a documentary about the rank and file workers who led a short general strike to fight back against ICE occupation in Minneapolis. Chatted with comrades in Rhode Island working to build independence and a worker’s party. Watched the version of TROY featuring Brad Pitt, as I had never seen it.
Sunday 8/16: Newsletter and video. Calendar planning for the week. Watched an episode of Task on HBO - so far really liking the show.
Monday 8/17: Met with a buddy who is running for office next year for breakfast. Met with Alisha from ASafeHouse. Met with Pastor David Greene to discuss homelessness, political leadership, and how we can better serve the people of the city. Metropolitan Economic Development Committee meeting.
Tuesday 8/18: Met with Andrew Dezelan at Rabble coffee to get to know him and hear his ideas about saving taxpayers money while improving outcomes for public sector employees with a few new HR programs. IMPD Downtown District biweekly call. Took a tour of the Assessment and Intervention Center, where I pushed to better use taxpayer dollars - prior to this tour, 18 empty beds were being kept empty every night, even though taxpayers had already paid for them. To OPHS’s credit, they have immediately worked to better utilize these resources after my request. CLT Board Meeting. Central Committee meeting.
Wednesday 8/19: Met with a former Republican candidate for City-County Council to discuss where we agree and where we align, and share tips and stories. Met with a young man interested in politics to share my best tips and recommendations. Attended a Kheprw Mumbo Jumbo about food insecurity, featuring OPHS’s food justice staff.
Thursday 8/20: Had lunch with my friend and constituent George, who is recently retired from the residents’ board at Barton Tower. Met with a judge on the side of the road to discuss abhorrent sidewalk and road conditions near 16th and Sherman. Attended an Operation Indy Animals working group meeting.
Friday 8/21: Therapy. Physical therapy. Party business. Caught up briefly with a comrade from Minneapolis working to build more working class power. Was too exhausted to go out and get a cocktail with my wife as planned, so we had a night in instead.
Saturday 8/22: Attended TomFest, the world’s largest event specifically to celebrate my high school buddy Tom. I hadn’t seen him in many years, and it was nice to catch up with some folks I hadn’t seen since I graduated from Cathedral in 2004. I found out several constituents are actually relatives of his! Attended my friend Komal’s birthday party down in Franklin Township, where I experienced the joy of a large Punjabi-American Sikh family’s celebration and marveled at her excellent garden. Attended Feast of Lanterns for only a very short time. It’s a sign of how badly my neck and shoulder have been bothering me that I actually LEFT while my favorite band, Sweet Poison Victim, was playing - and I didn’t even dance.
Sunday 8/23: Got a haircut thanks to my talented wife. Newsletter and video focusing on Miami Correctional. Caught up on committee meeting recordings and constituent correspondence. Watched another episode of Task.
Monday 8/24: Got breakfast with a supporter who works at Simon, to discuss political leadership and lack thereof in the city and how we could better encourage urbanism, density, and walkable/bikeable neighborhoods. Met with my intern. Helped do some project management work for Ben Davis. Set up a new communications committee for the party.
Tuesday 8/25: Met with Parks Department leaders to walk around Brookside Park as well as two other nearby parks to discuss the extremely long delays around the playground replacement, the problems with the stormwater code and how it impacted the Parks, and the lack of leadership from the 25th floor. Got lunch with a right-wing/libertarian person who I had argued with on Twitter, to find we actually could agree on quite a bit. Attended the Cole Noble board meeting at Wheeler Mission. Attended the NESCO board of directors meeting - a bit late thanks to the bus routes on detour on Washington Street and a train.
Wednesday 8/26: Chatted with Torriaun Everett to thank him for excellent public comments at committee meetings and to get to know him better. Chatted with Andrew Dezelan about the deplorable conditions at Miami Correctional and what details about the problems he could find based on his background. Caught up on several outstanding emails from constituents. Got a couple beers with my friend and constituent Carlos to catch up, talk about tactical urbanism and politics, and generally to blow off steam. Watched more committee hearings and caught up on a few more emails.
Thursday 8/27: Therapy. Caught up on several voicemails that somehow hadn’t sent me notifications. Offered some support to my wife on a trying day. Parks and Recreation and Indy Arts Council budget presentation committee meeting.
Friday 8/28: Went on The Morning Fellowship show as a guest. Physical therapy. Met with my friend Tony from Indy Community Yoga to discuss our mutually frustrating recent experiences with comrades. Attended a vigil against ICE detainment at Emerson and Washington. Got a burger and a beer with my friend Doreen. Attended the Eastside Community Action fundraiser and chatted with a bunch of great neighborhood activists there. Talked with Pastor Devanta Scruggs about Dalys Jett and his family’s experience.
Saturday 8/29: Party business. Played a tabletop RPG with some old friends and a new one. Caught up on yet more emails.
Sunday 8/30: Calendar meeting. Joined MFFred’s Flock Bike Tour as a special guest speaker. Recorded my infamous Flock video and released it with my constituent newsletter. Another episode of Task.
Monday 8/31: Tried in vain to organize my home office. Met with my intern. Wrote a couple letters in support and opposition of a few projects in front of the Board of Zoning Appeals. Had a phone call with my buddy Lucas to discuss what ethics and grievances should look like in a new party system. Did some cooking (made a cheap version of Moca Loca).
As a reminder, I send these updates about how I spend my time to you because you pay my salary. I appreciate any and all feedback you have! What am I not doing enough of? What do you want to see more focus on? How can I better serve you?