The Sunday Post - August 23, 2026: Budget Season, the Data Center Moratorium, and Creative Housing
- Michael-Paul Hart
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
A weekly report from Councilor Michael-Paul Hart — Building the Smartest City in America.
Volume 2, Issue 34
Budget Season and What Public Safety Really Means
We are in the heart of budget season, and I have spent much of this week listening to department presentations. Most of them are what you would expect. One request stopped me.
The Director of Community Corrections asked for $1.5 million to subsidize the cost of ankle-bracelet home-detention monitors for felons in Indianapolis. I do not raise that to dismiss the work Community Corrections does. I raise it because it made me think hard about priorities.
The same week, I attended a Mirror Indy event called Chat and Chew, where we talked about safety in Indianapolis. How it is perceived, what residents actually want, Flock cameras, and people's real experiences with officers.
Here is what struck me. When residents talked about public safety, they led with prevention. More street lights. Sidewalks. Third places like a YMCA or a revived mall. Bike lanes. Green space. The everyday things that make a neighborhood feel cared for, and safe, in the first place.
So when that funding request came, I was clear with the director. Before we spend $1.5 million subsidizing the monitoring of people after they have offended, I want to be sure we are investing in the conditions that keep people from offending at all. That is where residents are telling us to look, and I agree with them.
The Data Center Moratorium in Effect
This week the Metropolitan Development Commission passed a moratorium on new data centers. I opposed it, and I want to explain why plainly.
My reasoning is simple. Development standards are better than no standards, and a moratorium gives us neither. It just stops the conversation.
Here is what many people do not realize. For every economic development project, including data centers, the city can attach higher and more restrictive standards. These are called project commitments. They are recorded with the property, they run with the land, and they are enforceable by neighbors and named parties.
In other words, we already have a tool to hold these projects to a high standard, parcel by parcel, with real teeth for the community. A blanket pause throws that tool away and replaces it with nothing.
I did a few interviews on this. The longest was with Abdul, where we spent about twenty minutes on data centers and Flock cameras. The clip is below.
SmartIndy Housing: Two Creative Projects Worth Watching
Our SmartIndy Housing and Homelessness Committee met this week, and we were joined by two groups doing genuinely creative work that I plan to follow closely as they build.
Sanctuary Indy is focused on Indy's most vulnerable homeless population, developing a clean, modern approach to supportive housing on the west side. https://www.sanctuaryindy.org/
Eight Forty is building a distinctive set of container-style apartments in the Fountain Square area. https://the8forty.com/
What I find compelling is the creativity both are bringing to Indianapolis. Neither is a cookie-cutter project, and both are exactly the kind of fresh thinking our housing conversation needs.
But here is what I most want to learn by watching them. As they work with the City, what red tape gets in the way? What adds cost and time to a good project? Where does government slow down creative housing, and what could we change to help?
Neither project is in District 20, but both are worth all of our attention. I will keep this blog updated as they move forward.
Flood Recovery: Permit Fees Waived for Damaged Properties
A short but useful follow-up to last week. If your property was damaged in the flooding, there is help as you repair and rebuild.
The Mayor has signed an executive order suspending permit fees for flood-damaged properties in the impacted areas. That means the permit fees you would normally pay to make repairs are being waived. The Department of Business and Neighborhood Services has instructions for property owners applying for permits with the fees suspended.
If you were affected, please take advantage of this. And if you need help navigating the process, reach out to my office and we will walk you through it.
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See you next week with more updates from the Neighborhood.
Good report Michael. Thanks for not sticking your head in the sand on the data center issue. An important issue that needs immediate attention both to protect our communities while crafting a policy that encourages investment and progress. Hard work that must be done.