City of Marion’s Traveling Town Hall kicks off at Allen Temple AME Church 

Allen Temple AME Church hosted the first Traveling Town Hall on Monday, where citizens asked Marion city employees about ongoing projects. 

“Our administration is built on transparency and open dialogue,” said Mayor Ronald Morrell Jr. “Through these town halls, we are bringing city government directly to the community.” 

Those in attendance were encouraged to write their questions out on provided notecards, and a reception was held afterwards where people could ask more detailed questions.  

“I think it was very thorough, you know, and very complete,” said Douglas Reed, a community member who attended the meeting.  

Some of the topics covered were the Clean City 2.0 initiative, education and this year’s 1.5 million dollar grant for road construction. 

“We apply for it yearly through the Indiana Department of Transportation,” said Mike Graft, Marion’s director of engineering and traffic. “So, in the previous years, the total match was a million dollars, so this was the first year they increased it by $500,000.” 

Graft said he and Morrell were able to secure the maximum amount of money through funds from local road industry, general funds and economic development taxes.  

“He was able to allocate those funds that we haven’t had the ability to allocate before, which helped us get us over the top to get the maximum that we could,” said Graft.  

Graft said road construction will most likely begin in north Marion once the asphalt is ready to be laid.  

The town hall will travel to Marion’s five remaining districts in the coming weeks. Four out of these five remaining town halls will also be hosted in local churches.  

“The only city building we have that can accommodate something like this would be just City Hall,” said Morrell. “There’s a church in every district that allows us easier access to host and move and have the meetings move around.” 

Allen Temple AME Church is also the home of the Southside neighborhood association meeting on the second Monday of every month. Tanya Smith, the pastor of Allen Temple, said that many members of that neighborhood association were at the traveling town hall. 

“It’s imperative that they come to these kinds of meetings so that they’ll know what’s going on in their neighborhood,” said Smith.  

The next Traveling Town Hall will meet at 8^th Street Wesleyan Church on Sept. 26 at 6 p.m.