https://progressiveindiana.net
SUMMARY:
Rev. Tony Alexander opens the program with a wide-ranging discussion of data center proliferation across Marion County townships, pressing lawmakers for the guardrails they declined to put in place months earlier. Pike Township Trustee Annette Johnson joins to explain the trustee office’s emergency assistance role and her reelection campaign. In the second half, Concerned Clergy President Pastor David W. Greene Sr. returns to discuss the grassroots momentum pushing politicians on data centers, Governor Braun’s signing of a public camping ban, and Greene’s own affordability-first state legislative campaign. The program closes with voting reminders ahead of the May 5th primary.
WHAT’S INSIDE
00:00:27 Introduction and how to tune in
- Listeners can tune in live Wednesday nights at 7pm on Praise AM 1310 / 95.1 FM, Facebook, or YouTube (Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis page).
- Call-in number: 317-480-1310.
00:01:58 Data centers: Carson announces legislation, council proposes guardrails
- Congressman André Carson announced today that he will introduce legislation related to data centers, with details expected tomorrow.
- The city-county council is also now proposing guardrails — something Alexander notes they had the opportunity to do when they voted on the Metrobloks data center in Martindale Brightwood and declined.
- Alexander points out that Councilor Jesse Brown proposed transparency measures in the Democratic caucus and was voted down, only for colleagues to now embrace the same idea months later.
- Community asks include: transparency on facility size, energy usage and demand, infrastructure impacts, and binding community benefit agreements.
00:05:25 Townships fighting alone — and what comes next
- Communities in Decatur, Franklin Township, Pike Township, and Martindale Brightwood are all battling data center proposals with no coordinated legislative cover.
- Alexander argues the burden fell unfairly on individual councilors like Jesse Brown while the broader caucus stayed silent.
- A DC Blox data center meeting is scheduled for next Monday at Downey Avenue Christian Church, 111 South Downey Street (Council District 14), hosted by City-County Councilor Andy Nielsen; livestreamed as well — search “DC Blox” (B-L-O-X) to register.
00:09:04 Voting reminders: Marion County primary
- Mail-in ballot application deadline: Thursday, April 23 at 11:59 PM.
- Satellite early voting locations open this Saturday at township government centers in Decatur, Franklin, Perry, and Warren townships.
- Pike Township early voting: Pike Township Public Library, Fort Ben branch library, Krannert Park, and St. Luke’s United Methodist Church (86th Street).
- City-County Building early voting already open; closes May 4 at noon.
- Election Day: May 5th.
00:12:04 Guest: Annette Johnson, Pike Township Trustee — role and funding
- Johnson is in her eighth year as trustee (second four-year term), having previously served 14 years on the township board.
- The trustee’s office provides emergency assistance — utilities, mortgage, rent, clothing, school uniforms, food vouchers, diapers, and supplies for expectant mothers — funded entirely by the local township tax base.
- Pike Township is one of only three Marion County townships with a standalone fire department, which makes up the largest share of its budget.
- To qualify: must live in the township (verified by zip code), present ID, and document an emergency that occurred within the past 30 days — layoff, hours cut, medical leave, or fire damage.
00:17:13 Federal and state funding cuts: pressure on the trustee’s office
- Alexander raises the concern that federal and state funding sources are disappearing — will trustees have to absorb the slack?
- Johnson says the office hasn’t hit that wall yet but predicts it within two to three years.
- She is building relationships with churches and community organizations now to help fill any future void.
- Johnson notes the township’s budget is fixed to the local tax base across three areas: emergency assistance, small claims court, and the fire department.
00:22:19 Top issue: utility bills / How the 30-day rule works
- The number one presenting issue right now is utility bills, which Johnson calls out of control.
- Johnson works with the Winter Assistance Fund (WAF) — she matches WAF’s $800 contribution from township funds, reducing a $2,000 bill to $1,600, for example.
- Johnson’s goal is to pay the full balance so clients leave with a zero balance; she pays senior citizens’ bills in full without exception.
- The 30-day rule refers to a qualifying emergency within the last 30 days — typically a pending disconnection notice, not the age of the debt itself.
- Johnson does not cover reconnection deposits — only pre-disconnection balances; she called on state legislators to update the restrictive guidelines governing trustee assistance levels.
00:26:29 Re-election pitch and campaign contact info
- Johnson’s three-part platform: protect the Pike Township Fire Department, expand innovative assistance programs, and be a powerful community voice.
- Community priorities she’ll advocate for beyond the trustee role: opposing data centers, Save Eagle Creek, and keeping charter schools out of Pike Township in favor of public schools.
- She recently held an essential goods giveaway with Walmart donations and plans to continue community-facing events.
- Contact: AnnetteJohnson2026.com | 317-418-7801
00:30:38 Pastor David W. Greene Sr. joins: Data centers and grassroots pressure
- Greene attributes the recent pivot by Carson and the city-county council to sustained grassroots pressure, not top-down leadership — politicians are recalculating mid-election.
- Save Eagle Creek yard signs are now ubiquitous across Pike Township; Greene notes the coalition organized entirely from the bottom up.
- Decatur Township residents have filed a lawsuit over the rezoning of a data center there; a new data center was also announced on another side of Indianapolis.
- Greene called out the Council’s treatment of Brightwood residents who came to speak at a recent hearing involving Councilor Ron Gibson.
- Greene praised Trustee Johnson for going beyond her job description to fight on data centers, Eagle Creek, and public education.
00:35:24 Community benefit agreements and the DC Blox meeting
- Alexander lays out what communities are asking for: transparency on size, energy demand, and infrastructure impacts, plus binding community benefit agreements before any approval.
- Greene agrees: “It’s time out for trying to do something to the community and not with the community.”
- Greene draws a distinction — not all politicians are on the wrong side; Johnson is an example of an elected official going above and beyond her role to fight for the community.
- A DC Blox data center meeting is scheduled for next Monday at Downey Avenue Christian Church, 111 South Downey Street (Council District 14), hosted by City-County Councilor Andy Nielsen; the meeting will also be livestreamed — search “DC Blox” (B-L-O-X) to register.
00:39:18 Governor Braun’s public camping ban: homelessness is a condition, not a crime
- Governor Mike Braun signed legislation banning public camping across Indiana — targeted, both hosts note, primarily at Indianapolis.
- Greene: homelessness is not a crime, it’s a condition — and conditions require solutions, not punishment.
- A $500 fine and Class C misdemeanor won’t solve homelessness; Greene argues it will deepen it by damaging credit and creating warrant exposure for people who can’t pay or appear in court.
- Greene serves on the Mayor’s Leadership Council on Homelessness and calls for expanding affordable housing, mental health care, addiction treatment, and employment pathways instead.
00:44:06 The moral argument: money isn’t the problem, will is
- Greene challenges the “we don’t have the money” framing — the state is simultaneously pursuing the Chicago Bears stadium and handing out decades-long tax breaks to data centers.
- Alexander adds: federal spending on war and other priorities dwarfs what it would cost to fund early childhood care, Medicaid, and homeless services.
- The fastest-growing homeless population, Greene notes, is women with children — meaning the law risks family separation on top of everything else.
- Greene: “Becoming homeless is not a crime. It’s a condition. It’s not a crime. It never has been.”
00:47:29 Pastor Greene’s state legislative campaign
- Green is running on an affordability-first platform in a district covering Wayne Township, Pike, Zionsville, and West Carmel.
- Key pressures he hears across the district: unaffordable childcare, inaccessible healthcare, seniors rationing medication, renters and homeowners unable to keep up with rising costs.
- Additional priorities: fully funding public education, saving Eagle Creek (Green lives near the reservoir and warns an environmental accident from data center water usage is a matter of when, not if).
00:50:42 Closing and voting reminder
- Alexander repeats all early voting locations and deadlines.
- Mail-in ballot application closes Thursday April 23 at 11:59 PM; Election Day is May 5th.
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