What they're saying: Hannegan Roseberry on creativity, streets, SB-101 and demographics.

Damned spell check.

As the weeks go past in route to May's primary election, I'll try to provide periodic unedited candidate statements of approximate substance, as lifted from social media and news reports, and as opposed to familiar gems (although they certainly have their place) like "yard signs win elections, not people" or "donate to my campaign first, and maybe I'll have something of merit to say much, much later."

That's because it is my aim to determine whether our declared candidates have anything to say at all, and I'll quote all candidates, whether or not they're in a contested race. Just promising change and new ideas without divulging them won't cut the mustard, aspirants.

At-large city council candidate Hannegan Beardsley Roseberry (D) is taking the time to write, so let's take a look. These comments are collected from her Fb campaign page.

On what we want to be as a city:

I enjoyed seeing some New Albany natives tonight - the incredible Houndmouth. It is terrific to see a group from New Albany find such huge success; they are a reminder of everything we should strive to be as a city: eclectic, intelligent, innovative, creative and spunky. New Albany, we need to follow suit and claim our place in the region. Who do we want to be and how are we going to get there? As a city council member, these are the questions I will be pursuing.

On Speck's downtown street network proposals:

Matt Nash made some terrific points in his op-Ed piece in yesterday's Trib about the ongoing fiasco surrounding the street grid. If we are wanting to continue to attract people to live in our city, we have to appeal to their needs for a walkable, engaging environment.

Matt observes: "How often do “wide load” trucks need to actually use these roads? Is there enough traffic like this that we should force the entire city to kowtow to its needs? How do trucks manage to get from place to place in other towns who don’t have wide one-way streets?

You need not look any further than the city of Jeffersonville to see a city that’s downtown has thrived even with narrower two-way streets. They also have a couple of large manufacturers downtown that are able to ship goods without the need for a 40-foot-wide, one-way street. How has material arrived for the downtown bridge project without wide one-way streets?"

On the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act:

I have written a lot about this debacle on my personal page today, and will now share this here on my campaign page, as well. One of my goals is to help New Albany to claim its place in the region as a leader in culture, commerce, and community. New Albany needs to be a place where people are going to want to live, work, spend their money, and raise their families. Indiana's legislature just made our job this much harder - I stand for a New Albany that is welcoming to all people, and I disagree wholeheartedly with the notion that this is the way our founding fathers intended our governing bodies to be used. New Albany - we've got our work cut out for us if we are to counteract this sort of damning national publicity. We've got to be forward-thinking and welcoming to all - yes ALL - residents. We don't pick and choose our neighbors, but we do pick our elected officials. Make your voice heard and let our legislators know that this is not the Indiana that we want. In New Albany, we can do better than this.

On theater and why millennials matter:

New Albany Civic Theatre - now doesn't that have a nice ring to it? Millennials (ages 18-36) are currently 77 million strong, or 24% of the population, which is roughly the same size as the baby boomer generation. What does this mean? For cities like New Albany, we have to figure out what we're going to do to hang on to and attract these vibrant, creative young people. Studies show that millennials are flocking to more urban, mixed-use communities that are socially conscious and creative. Right now, New Albany is being outpaced by the surrounding communities as far as cultural offerings. As a city, we need to understand that a thriving cultural center results in economic benefit. New Albany is long overdue for a New Albany Civic Theatre, with additional space for art studios/classes/displays. This sort of creative venture is exactly the type of thing New Albany needs.
"COMMUNITY ARTS ANCHORS SERVE AS PURVEYORS OF CULTURE AND CONTRIBUTORS TO QUALITY OF LIFE.”–TIMOTHY MCCLIMON,AMERICAN EXPRESS FOUNDATION

I'm trying to be dispassionate in these surveys, but Hannegan's doing a great job so far in articulating substance.