What is Jessica Renslow up to Post Primary?

What is Jessica Renslow up to these day? Well she is still ever the community advocate, economic infuser and educator. 

You can follow her at 

https://www.facebook.com/renslow4theregion

https://www.instagram.com/renslow4theregion/

http://www.renslow4theregion.blogspot.com 

Jessie is also cohosting a weekly radio program on WLTH 1370 AM with Cliff Caldwell and Jeremy Yancey. Issues and Answers airs live Wednesdays from 6-8pm. You can call in by dialing (219) 794-1371. They promote civil discourse and spirited discussions about local, state and federal topics. 

They Facebooklive the show at 

https://www.facebook.com/issuesandanswerswednesdays. 

Thank You from the Friends of Jessica Renslow

Thank you to the #Renslow4Rep dream team for donating your time, talents and treasures. 

Our record speaks for itself 19 public events and 3 house parties in six months across all of #INHD3. 
We got over 41% of the vote running a purely grassroots, positive, volunteer based campaign against some pretty big odds. 

Please stay engaged and demand present leadership for Gary, Lake Station, New Chicago and Hobart. We are worth it. We need to demand it. 
                                     

Order Renslow 4 Rep Signs Here!

So, far we have conducted a canvas and clean up in Gary's Emerson, Midtown and Miller Communities. We have ones planned in Lake Station, New Chicago and Hobart for April. Political signs are more than symbols. 

(Created by a union, minority-owned shop within INHD3.)

They represent the candidate they’re branding, but when you choose to buy local and support a union shop, as I have, you choose to support a small business. My vender lives, owns and operates their company within INHD3. They are also from a population underrepresented in our unions. One thing I vow to do as a state representative is to help bridge the gap between our area employers, unions and population to help bring and retain 21st Century job opportunities for all of the people of Indiana House District 3. 

Sign up for a Renslow 4 Rep sign and/or to donate a sign here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/renslow4repsigns

Video from our third Decorate District 3 Event

Issue Paper 9: Agritourism as an Economic Infuser and Equalizer

Issue Paper 9: Agritourism as an Economic Infuser and Equalizer 

Indiana’s House District 3 is both a food desert and a burgeoning scene for urban agriculture. 

(Remus Farms Fall Harvest in Hobart, Indiana.)

With the loss of Lake Station’s Central Market, Jansen’s Fruit Market, along with the wide range of limited food options across Gary, our nutritional situation can seem bleak. 

(Volunteers plant the beginnings of an orchard in Gary's Emerson Community.)

However, there is some light here too. We have INHD3 anchors like Remus Farms and Johnson’s, as well as emerging groups like Gary’s Emerson Spotlight’s FAITH Farms initiative and the recently planted orchard in Emerson.

There's an #orchard going in #Emerson. It's taken almost 3 years from when we wrote the first draft of the #grant to the implementation of this #CommunityGoal but we're making it happen. #WeAreDistrict3 and we're here to work. 💪🍒🍐🍏 #CommunityOverCompetition #FocusOnOurFuture #INDistrict3

A post shared by Renslow4Rep (@renslow4rep) on Nov 10, 2017 at 8:54am PST

 

Marketing our area as a tourism destination is paramount to Indiana House District 3's economic development. Agritourism is a unique opportunity for INHD3 to capitalize on a combined blending of both the tourism and agriculture spheres to bring financial, educational and social benefits to our community. It will enhance the tourism industry by increasing the volume of visitors to our area and the length of their stay, while also infusing our House District with locally grown food sources.  

(Volunteers plant an orchard in Gary's Emerson Community with artist, Francis Whitehead.)

Agritourism grants farmers an opportunity to create extra revenue streams and a way for direct marketing to consumers. It also leads to a higher quality of product, which helps bridge the food desert divide. 

(The Renslow4Rep crew supporting one of Gary's Pop-up markets.)

(Shannon Farm Homestead is part of the effort to get Farmers Markets to urban communities.)

Agritourism can provide Hoosiers communities like ours the potential to expand their tax base and new job opportunities.  Additionally, agritourism provides educational opportunities to the public, helps to preserve agricultural lands, and allows House Districts to develop micro and macro enterprises. 

Checking out #INHD3's newest coffee shop. #CultivatedCulture on Lake Street in Gary, Indiana. ☕️✔️💕 #WeAreDistrict3 #CommunityOverCompetition #BuyLocal

A post shared by Renslow4Rep (@renslow4rep) on Dec 31, 2017 at 12:20pm PST

(The Cultivated Culture Cafe features locally sourced goods from INHD3 farmers on their menu. )

Agritourism can include:

• U-Pick operations

• hay rides
•on-farm farmers’ markets

• corn mazes
•demonstration farms
•cut-your-own Christmas tree farms
•living history farms

• pumpkin picking patches

• agricultural museums
•winery tours and wine tasting

• dude ranches
•garden tours

• bed & breakfasts

Tourisms will raise our quality of life, beautify our blighted areas, build up our transportation networks, all while raising Gary, Lake Station, New Chicago and Hobart’s profile on the national/international level. 

(Jessica Renslow helping plant the orchard in Emerson last November. Jessie helped Francis Whitehead write the original version of the grant for the orchard's seed funding.)

If elected, Jessica Renslow will fight to:

• Create and implement an INHD3 tourism strategic plan and marketing campaign that will give our area presence on the national/international level.

• Cultivate better communication between our rural and urban farmers so that they can advocate for Indiana House District’s nutritional needs on the local and state levels. 

• Pursue local businesses to start prioritizing active and passive tourism in all seasons as an economic driver.

• Advocate for business investment in INHD3 that is complementary to promoting life-long communities. 

• Foster sponsorship relationships between area businesses and industries to help infuse tourism initiatives, support active transportation, improve infrastructure and protect our environment, so that the burden of funding is not on INHD3 residents.

• Encourage local eateries and food venders to build relationships with local farmers to promote “farm to fork” products.

• Increase jobs and economic development by monitoring/ maintaining compliance of our local and targeted hiring programs. 

• Ensure that INHD3 tourism revenues and benefits stay in Gary, Lake Station, New Chicago and Hobart.

(The regionally famous Marilyn's Bakery at Johnson's Farm in Hobart sells a wide range of products.)

Issue Paper 8: International Women’s Day and Continuing to Advocate for Equal Pay

Happy International Women’s Day everyone! Women and their allies celebrate March 8th on the global scale. Many are calling 2018 "The Year of the Woman."

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of women first getting the right to vote. Many great strides have been made to bridge the gender parity gap, however for two decades our state legislature has refused to agree that women should make the same wages as their male colleagues. 

(Dorothy Day with her prison dress. In November 1917, Day went to prison for being one of forty women in front of the White House protesting women's exclusion from the electorate. )

(League of Women Voters members from across Indiana advocated for HB1390 in January.)

Sadly, House Bill 1390 did not make it this year. According to our census, our most common head of household in Indiana House District 3 are our single mothers. 

(Rep. Linda Lawson addressing an audience on International Women's Day 2018.)

If you consider that 51% of our families are only averaging 74 cents to the dollar, you can see how this gap affects funding for everything from our roads, to our schools, to our parks. 

Now think about how much money the majority of IN HD3 families can spend to support our local businesses. What does that 26 cent gap mean for all of us? 

(That 51% of our population is not even including our working single childless women, or our married mothers!)

The wage gap is not a partisan issue. It is not just a problem for women, nor House District 3, it affects all Hoosiers.

What made House Bill 1390 different than the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990? 

In a Right to Work State like Indiana, employers can choose to fire workers at will. This can include an employee who discloses his salary to a female coworker.  House Bill 1390 provided protection for coworkers to discuss their salaries without fear of losing their jobs, which would have led to more transparency of discrepancies in the Indiana workforce, thus allowing all Hoosier heads of households to better advocate for wage increases with their employers. 

According to the Indiana Institute for Working Families  “In 2016 in Indiana, the median earnings of full time male workers were $12,717 higher than the median earnings of full time female workers. This is a 26 percent wage gap. Even as the nation’s wage gap narrowed between 2015 and 2016, Indiana’s wage gap widened 2 percentage points. The Hoosier gender wage gap is now the 6th highest in the nation, not far behind Louisiana and Utah, which, at 30 percent, are tied for the highest in the nation. Within Indiana, there is considerable variation from county to county, with some counties in Indiana showing nearly a 40 percent gap, while others have gaps in the teens.”

(League of Women Voters members/ state representative candidates Jessica Renslow, Carolyn Jackson and Chris Chyung advocated for HB1390 in January.)

If elected, Jessica Renslow will fight to:

• Continue to advocate for equal pay for all working families.

• Promote business investment in INHD3 that is complementary to creating life-long communities. 

• Increase jobs and economic development by monitoring/ maintaining compliance of our local and targeted hiring programs. 

• Bring back the outreach and pride of the labor movement into our schools by facilitating mentorship opportunities to help bridge the disconnect between our educational institutions and our regional employers. 

• Advocate for entrepreneurial education and financial literacy across INHD3 via community partnerships with local financial institutions/ business incubators. 

(This vintage sash showcases the International League of Women Voters colors. Suffragettes traditionally wore purple and gold.) 

Renslow4Rep.com

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How do I volunteer for or donate to Jessica Renslow's Campaign?

Email renslow4rep@gmail.com or call (219) 292-2200 to volunteer for Renslow4Rep

DONATE ONLINE HERE

Or Make Checks out to:

Friends of Jessica Renslow

518 South Hancock Street

P.O.Box 2815

Gary, IN 46403

Issue Paper 7: Decorate District 3

On Monday, January 15, 2018 the Friends of Jessica Renslow volunteers gathered on the corner of 6th and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Gary’s Emerson neighborhood to kick off a different kind of campaign initiative. Covered in snow, eight hardy volunteers secured boards on a structure that had seen better days.

(Gary residents Aldwin Livingston and Katie Bohn creating a decorative board.)

Indiana House District 3 democratic candidate, Jessica Renslow stated, “We have so much potential in Gary, Lake Station, New Chicago and Hobart, opportunities for tourism and investment, but we also have a blight and illegal dumping epidemic. 

Unfortunately perception matters. When people drive by and see a blighted building predominantly situated, or large pieces of furniture laying in a ditch, they make assumptions. They usually don’t notice that the majority of the block is occupied. They don’t know that the ditch is a globally rare ecosystem. They don’t stop and chat with the neighbors who have been voluntarily mowing abandoned lots and maintaining their block. Outsiders see blight. Across House District 3 our cities are trying to strum up money to demolish structures, and keep up with people trashing our byways. It’s not easy. They are making strides, but they need all the help they can get. As a community builder I’ve always focused on blight reduction and beautification, this is just a natural progression for me as a candidate. I would rather raise funds to secure blighted buildings and conduct community clean ups than pay for billboards. Public safety and curb appeal are two of the main reasons we started our Decorate District 3 Initiative. We love our hometowns. We want them to flourish. We chose Martin Luther King Jr. Day as our kick off because naturally it’s become a day of service. It’s a great way for folks across the US to honor an American hero and give back to their communities. We started here in Emerson but this is just the first of many service projects.” 

(State Representative candidates Jessica Renslow and Chris Chyung securing a blighted building.)

What is a decorative board up?

When a blighted building has its windows and entrances secured by boards that have been painted.

(Before and after of the MLK Block Club House in Gary's Emerson Community.)

Why do a decorative board up if the building is just going to be torn down?

• It secures the building which promotes public safety.
• It aides in curb appeal.
• It can uplift community spirit.
• It can help create a community space.
• Sometimes the buildings get purchased and end up getting a new life.

 

(Last summer, an estimated 500 people attended the first annual Outdoor Adaptive Escapade at the transformed blighted Ralph's Grocery Store in Gary, Indiana.)

With the corner brick home on 6th and MLK Drive secured, the volunteers completed their first Decorate District 3 project. They have plans for more in the up and coming months. 

Do you know of a structure that needs to be secured, or a spot in need of a community clean up? Please email renslow4rep@gmail.com. 

(The Ken Parr Build a Bike volunteers are repurposing the blighted Ralph's Grocery Store in Gary, Indiana and tending its grounds.) 

Interested in joining the Decorate District 3 volunteer corps? 

You can sign up Here.

(Renslow4 Rep volunteers working on the MLK Block Club House in Gary's Emerson Community.)

Have you taken our INHD3 community survey  yet? 

(It’s just 4 questions.) https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/renslow4rep 

If elected Jessica Renslow will fight to:

• Protect our environmental jewels and promote public safety/curb appeal by focusing on properly managed blight reduction/beautification efforts across of all of Indiana House District 3.

• Advocate for green jobs that produce goods and/or provide services that benefit the environment, or conserve natural resources. 

• Work with state and local officials to ensure that all community environmental and health concerns are addressed at each stage of a bill's implementation cycle. 

• Foster sponsorship relationships between area businesses and industries to help infuse tourism initiatives, support active transportation, improve infrastructure and protect our environment, so that the burden of funding is not on INHD3 residents. 

• Promote private or environmental groups to develop preserves, solely funded via their revenue sources, on the edges of our already protected areas. This approach will benefit INHD3 by retaining our scenic beauty/ wildlife, reducing our blight situation and it will better guarantee our environmental jewels be allowed to retain their value.

• Create and implement an INHD3 tourism strategic plan and marketing campaign that will give our area presence on the national/international level.

• Pursue partnership opportunities between public school systems and aligned non-for-profits to help develop programming and stewardship of facilities. This approach will benefit INHD3 by lessening the burden of maintaining all of our school facilities on the taxpayer, while reducing our blight situation and better guaranteeing our residents receive meaningful education opportunities at all ages.

Renslow4Rep.com 

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Issue Paper 6: House Bill 1318 Construction/Demolition Site in Gary

HB1318 has passed from the House. Next it will be heard in the Senate. This bill was authored by Representative Harris and co-authored by Rep. Smith, Rep. Soliday, Rep Slager. It has been passed by the House and will next be sponsored in the Senate by Senator Melton. 

House Bill 1318 States: 

“Construction/demolition site in Gary. Provides that the prohibition against establishing a sanitary landfill within one-half mile of an area subdivided for residential purposes does not apply to the establishment of a construction/demolition site located within the corporate limits of a city that has a population of more than 80,000 and less than 80,400 and whose fiscal body and executive have filed a petition with the distressed unit appeal board seeking to have the city designated as a distressed political subdivision.”

(NWI residents giving input on HB1318 photo credit NWI Times.)

On Wednesday, February 7, 2018, at the NWI Public Forum at The Glen, Jessica Renslow, made the following suggestions to Senator Melton as possible amendments to HB1318 when it is presented in the Senate. She requested that he consider proposing an amendment in the Senate that addresses the concerns that the people of Gary have vocalized about HB1318. Jessica Renslow drafted these proposed amendments from the numerous requests she received as a community builder in Gary. She compiled these amendments from the emails, phone calls, social media messages and face-to-face interactions she had with the citizens of Gary, Indiana. The amendments would help ensure that this proposed construction/demolition site would have oversight that would protect Gary’s citizens by:

1. Limiting the debris that is accepted at the proposed site/sites to just be from structures generated by the city of Gary’s demolition team and their community partners within the city of Gary. 

2. Sunset this exception when Gary’s demolition needs have been met.

3. Provide a plan for what to do with the site/sites once all of  Gary’s demolition needs have been met.

Next steps for HB1318? It is being scheduled to be heard in a senate committee very soon. If you wish to speak out about HB1318 you will need to go to Indianapolis, or contact your state senator. (If you are within Indiana House District 3, your state senator is Indiana Senate District 3's Sen. Eddie Melton). 

(Renslow4Rep volunteers starting their MLK Day of Service Decorative Board Up in Gary's Emerson Neighborhood)

Here is a summary of the notes that Jessica Renslow received from the people of Gary:

Everyone knows Gary has a major blight problem. With 6,500 vacant structures it has one of the highest blight rates in the country. Additionally, Gary is four miles bigger than the city of San Fransisco with a fraction of the population. So when you take that in account, along with the cost of moving deconstructed items to the proper construction and debris sites outside of the city the costs really add up to totaling in the millions. 

(The Ken Parr Build-A-Bike volunteer crew fighting blight in Gary Indiana)

Also, Gary has a major illegal dumping issue. This problem is not just limited to Gary, but it is an epidemic within the Steel City. Thousands of volunteer hours are donated annually via 5x5 clean ups, and other blight busting efforts. 

(Aetna Manor Revitalization Program Volunteers cleaning Aetna Street in Gary.)

The people of Gary understand that they have limited resources that is why they volunteer so much to help fight the blight. The majority of folks stated that they had the following concerns about HB1318.

• People are wondering if this proposed construction/demolition site will be accepting debris from outside Gary? With our region’s history of environmental injustices, many are concerned that we might be ripe to become a dumping ground for other cities.

• Citizens want to know who is going to run this construction and demolition site. Will it be municipally owned or operated? Will it be run by a for-profit entity? Who will oversee the site and ensure no environmental regulations are being broken?

• HB1318 states that its goal is to point out that the prohibition against establishing a sanitary landfill within one-half mile of an area subdivided for residential purposes does not apply to the establishment of a construction/demolition site. How many feet from our community members homes would this C&D landfill be able to be established? Under a half mile is a relatively broad concept. 

• There does not seem to be anything in the bill that prevents anyone that is not affiliated with the city from establishing a C&D landfill. If after this bill is passed can anyone wanting to open a C&D landfill in a residential area be able to do so? Will there be a limit to how many of these sites can be opened within Gary?

• There is nothing in HB1318 stating what will happen once Gary’s demolition needs have been met.  Even if it takes two to three decades, most people in Gary have vocalized that there should be a plan not to continue this site into perpetuity.

(Jessica Renslow with Bethel Church youth group volunteers fighting blight in Gary. )

If elected Jessica Renslow will fight to:

• Protect our environmental jewels and promote public safety/curb appeal by focusing on properly managed blight reduction/beautification efforts across of all of Indiana House District 3.

• Advocate for green jobs that produce goods and/or provide services that benefit the environment, or conserve natural resources. 

• Work with state and local officials to ensure that all community environmental and health concerns are addressed at each stage of a bill's implementation cycle. 

Renslow4Rep.com 

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