The moment new Gary Mayor Eddie Melton finished taking his oath, the chant started to roar: “Eddie! Eddie!”
Hundreds of supporters from all over packed the Gary West Side Leadership Academy’s auditorium Saturday afternoon to usher in Melton, the City of Gary’s 22nd mayor, as well the Common Council and new Fire and Police Chiefs. The message Melton, who beat outgoing Mayor Jerome Prince in May and Republican Challenger Andrew Delano in November, offered was hope and change.
Calling Gary and the community within “good soil to a budding plant,” Melton said he’ll start his tenure with “humility and gratitude.” As a child living on 7th Avenue and Tyler Street, he said he’d never have believed he’d grow up to lead the city, but now that he is, he does so standing on the shoulders of his mentor, former State Sen. Earline Rogers, in addition to Lake County Councilman and former State Rep. Charlie Brown, the late District 1 U.S. Rep. Katie Hall, State Rep. Vernon Smith, and late Gary Mayors Richard Hatcher and Rudy Clay.
“Not just ‘me,’ but it is ‘We,'” he said. “What foundation will we lay? What legacy will we leave? We will face these challenges together. The Melton Administration will fight on your behalf; will you join me in that effort?”
The administration will focus on improving the city’s finances, providing “basic services,” working on turning Gary’s education system around. To that end, he’ll fight for the state to open its $4 billion surplus “not asking for a handout, but a hand up,” he said.
He also said the city will do better at controlling and stopping illegal dumping, long a scourge in the city.
“Our collective work will be the evidence to those here in Gary and across the country that Gary is a world-class city. One that can be home to corporate headquarters, innovation centers, tech incubators, fine arts centers, thriving small businesses, nationally ranked schools and so much more,” he said.
Melton gave special thanks to Prince and his wife, Deanna, to who he said he owes “enormous thanks and gratitude.”
“You both led the city honorably and gracefully,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, introduced Melton before he took his oath. He said his father, former State Sen. Frank Mrvan, said Melton’s skill set brings together people from across the aisle with a “hipness” to boot. He said that he would remain an ally “who will move heaven and earth” to get the city administration what it needs.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, who also was sworn in to his third term over the weekend, said Melton will lead well and “with a servant’s heart.”
“These are no easy times to be a mayor in any city, but Eddie is up to the challenge,” Hogsett said. “He and I will stand in quite a similar place, and that is standing with those that we are charged to serve.”
Another mentor of Melton’s, former Gary Mayor Karen Freeman Wilson, gave Gary City Judge Deidre Morris her oath of office. She said she believes Melton will “be a great mayor.”
Newly elected Councilman Mark Spencer, D-At large, meanwhile, took in the excitement. Spencer is facing a caucus Jan. 3 against former Hobart Councilman Dave Vinzant for Melton’s former State Senate seat, representing the 3rd District.
“This is surreal, and it’s not a ceremony I take lightly,” Spencer said.
So far, Melton has appointed Derrick Cannon Sr. and Larry Tillman II as the city’s new Police and Fire Chiefs, respectively, and Michael Suggs as the city’s Chief Operations Officer.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
