John Barth for City/County Council

The Indianapolis Star has endorsed John for City/County Council At-Large! The Star’s endorsement can be read in full below.

As published in the Indianapolis Star on October 26, 2011:

City government shouldn’t think just about helping neighborhoods, says Democratic candidate John Barth. It also should tap into their power.

An active member and former president of the Butler-Tarkington Neighborhood Association, Barth tells of a successful effort to remove parking meters from the 38th and Illinois streets area a few years ago, based on neighborhood association canvassing of merchants who said the machines hurt business.

As a civic activist and as a political candidate, Barth has continued knocking on the doors of residents and city officials alike. Recently, he helped lead a remonstrance that persuaded the city and the Army Corps of Engineers to rethink a controversial flood wall project along the Central Canal.

A health-care compliance executive with deep family roots in the city, he stresses education, jobs and economic development as well as neighborhood attention. He says the mayor’s office and City-County Council need to broaden their vision in areas such as mass transit and long-term financing of infrastructure, and declares that the community will buy in if it is honestly informed as to costs and benefits.

Barth is his own best example of an informed and involved resident. His elevation to the council would make it more responsive to both big ideas and block-level concerns.