An already antagonistic Highland Town Council study session Monday evening culminated in a yelling match that witnesses were concerned would get physical between two councilors afterward.
The council, after its special budget meeting, had a lengthy discussion about its interactions with the town’s Redevelopment Commission that saw Councilwoman Toya Smith, D-2, question actions Councilman Tom Black, R-4, took as its liaison. After the meeting adjourned, the two almost immediately had a heated exchange, the gist of which had Black calling Smith a liar and saying she “didn’t know when to shut up,” and Smith responding that no one is going to speak to her that way, witnesses told the Post-Tribune.
The exchange became so intense, Councilman Mark Schocke, R-3, stepped between the two, witnesses said, which Schocke confirmed before declining further comment.
Smith on Tuesday said she wasn’t sure why Black feels she’s a liar, but she was trying to get a clearer understanding of what was going on with the Redevelopment.
“I serve the people, and I just had questions. It wasn’t personal to anybody,” Smith said. “But (Black’s actions were) disrespectful, and it’s unacceptable.”
Black, for his part, agreed and apologized. He told the Post-Tribune Tuesday that he’d let himself be goaded by someone else in the room just prior to the exchange, but that wasn’t an excuse for him to lose his temper.
“I’ve shared all the information I’ve received from Redevelopment, and I have invited them to meetings (with the council), so I feel she impugned my integrity,” Black said. “Still, I was wrong to have responded the way I did, and I do owe her an apology.”
The tension started as the council was finishing its special meeting in which the town held its public hearing on the 2023 budget. They were set to approve the Civil Town’s portion when Smith made a motion to zero out the $347,000 earmarked for the Redevelopment Department but leave its levy so it could continue to pay its bond issues.
Black asked that the council hear from the Redevelopment Commissioners who were there — Commission President Sean Conley and Commissioner George Georgeff as well as newly appointed Redevelopment Director Maria Becerra — before they made any decision.
Schocke told the council that minus it selling the building in which SIP 2 Coffeehouse resides, he’s been “disappointed” in Redevelopment’s 2022 efforts to propel Highland forward.
“I think it’s a good idea for the town to not own property and put it back on the tax rolls. That makes sense,” Schocke said. “Frankly, otherwise, I haven’t seen any movement from the Redevelopment Commission. Previously, all I would hear every month was, ‘Oh, we’re having a (restaurant) crawl’ and items from the menu, but literally nothing else, so why are we expending $340,000 to have a crawl every month?”
Schocke then pointed out that the commission didn’t consult the council on its hiring of a director when every other commission or board needs the council’s approval.
“I literally know nothing about this person except, if it’s the person I’ve heard, that she works with you, Mr. Georgeff, and that seems to me to be a little bit like cronyism,” he said.
Georgeff said that he knows Becerra through their work as real estate agents but also through her experience as East Chicago’s redevelopment director and head of Hammond’s Housing Authority, and that the commission was having a hard time finding someone to replace Kathy Deguilio-Fox, who recently retired. The Commission tried to hire Deputy Redevelopment Director Lance Ryskamp for the spot, but Georgeff said Ryskamp took the lower paying job at the Griffith-Highland Chamber of Commerce because of the way the council treated Deguilio-Fox.
“He told me he didn’t want to have to deal with this council,” Georgeff said. “But I’m hoping Mr. Black shared with you our goals.”
Schocke reiterated that the council invited Redevelopment to show up many times but no one ever came, to which Black said there might’ve been a “miscommunication” and that he understood how Redevelopment might not want to appear because of how berating the council can be.
Councilman Roger Sheeman, R-5, pointed out that Redevelopment is, by law, independent from the council except for bonding and budget, but that the council so vilified Deguilio-Fox at council meetings, she was reluctant to discuss anything.
“She was treated terribly by some on the council and by the public, and that’s why she quit,” Sheeman said. “But she came to the council with projects when they were real projects, not just some guy calling and saying, ‘Hey, I want to do this.’
“Eliminating some of their budget, is that rational? I don’t think that’s rational.”
After Georgeff said that he’s told Black if there’s anything the council wants to the commission to pursue to let it know because the commission wants to work together, Smith told Sheeman and Black that for them to act like the council never asked Redevelopment to appear before the council was “a shame” because they had on numerous occasions.
“They’re here. How could that not have been a discussion? You’re talking backward,” Black said.
Becerra confirmed that Black had asked them to be at Monday night’s meeting and said the council is welcome to drop and speak with her any time they wish.
Smith’s motion to zero out Redevelopment’s budget failed 3-2, with her and Schocke voting in favor of it.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
