The Miller Citicens Corporation (MCC) was founded in the spring of 1971, at a time of crisis for our city and our community. The whole Emerson neighborhood was for sale, as black families moved in to a formerly white area and the existing residents sold out or just abandoned their homes. Many Miller residents were determined not to replay this scenario in our community. White and black residents came together here to form a new community organization, which would work to make Miller a desirable neighborhood for the whole spectrum of people who chose to live here. Originally, there was a three-man presidency, headed by Fred Eichorn, Mose Dilts, and Clarence Borns.

For 37 years, this organization has retained many continuing goals and interests, as it responded to different challenges that came along.

The 70s

In the early years, the MCC was challenged to demonstrate that white and black residents could live together and build a desirable community together on a friendly and cooperative basis.

To dispel unsettling rumors, we had the MCC "hot line"
To discourage panic selling, we successfully promoted a ban on displaying "for sale" signs.
To protect our commercial base, at a time when all the liquor outlets in downtown Gary wanted to move to Miller, we setup the Liquor Coalition, to fight any new liquor outlet in our community.
To make Miller a desirable place to live, we supported the formation and the expansion of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. We even sent delegates to Denver to lobby in favor of the National Park expansion.
To protect the natural environment, we also fought against sandmining which would level our dunes, at a time when sand was in demand for highway construction.
To keep Miller looking attractive, we encouraged the city to enforce its zoning and housing codes, and we started the MCC community cleanups, which have continued for 35 years..
We also developed some of the interests and activities which we continue to cultivate: promoting public safety and education and working to keep our community clean.

The 80s

In 1980, the MCC held its first Valentine's Day Dance, bringing Miller residents together to enjoy each other's company at a mid-winter ball. The MCC Dance has remained a highlight of the season in Miller.

In 1982, the MCC organized the original Lakefest - modeled after the "Taste of Chicago". We offered food from 24 vendors, free music, a beer tent, and other activities in Marquette Park. With leadership from Len Pryweller, Mike Chirich, and Paul Wengel, hundreds of people contributed their time and effort to making the event a success, and thousands of people came to enjoy the fun and to demonstrate that we could hold a pleasurable event in Gary at which all the people could participate.

In the mid-80s, the MCC became an early proponent of Community-Oriented Policing (COP) and was the force behind the city-wide COP organization. In time, the city-wide operation faded away, but the MCC remained and continues to support community policing.

Our active education committee concentrated successfully on two specific goals: having text books for every student in every academic subject, and hiring a more dependable (and cheaper) bus service to replace the Gary Public Transportation Corp. for bringing students to school.

The MCC supported the construction of the new Wildermuth Library on Lake Street, and tirelessly monitored the building process.

At this time, the local housing market began to recover, until it was thrown into another tailspin (in 1983) when US Steel dramatically reduced its employment.

The 90s

During the Barnes administration, Gary stopped enforcing the prohibition of "for sale" signs, but by then it wasn't really needed, because panic buying and selling were no longer a problem, and race stopped being a reason for people to move in or out of the neighborhood.

In the mid-90s, a rise in the level of crime and some conspicuous criminal acts caused a great deal of alarm. The MCC was instrumental in getting Governor Bayh to send a large detachment of State Police into the city, to get matters under control.

Subsequently, the Gary Police Department adopted the concept of Community-Oriented Policing, which the MCC had long promoted. The MCC took on the responsibility of recruiting volunteers to staff the Miller COP office on Lake Street, which is still operating.

MCC people were instrumental in obtaining a lease on the former Marquette Park Bathhouse, which has been renovated as the Aquatorium, a place for meetings and celebrations and a landmark on the beach.

The 21st Century

The proliferation of strip joints and the unsavory activities they fostered, brought the Liquor Coalition back to life. The MCC successfully promoted the passage of an ordinance controlling strip clubs, but has not been able to get the city to enforce the new legislation. The MCC did successfully remonstrate against a number of liquor license applicants, whose licenses were not granted or not renewed. We have been represented at almost all meetings of the local liquor board since 2000.

In 2003, legislation at the state level brought on a property tax crisis for Miller residents. At the same time, Indiana changed the basis of assessing property and reassigned the responsibility for assessing our major industry - US Steel. The result was a huge shift of the property tax burden from industry to individuals, which was especially hurtful in Miller. The MCC saw this as a survival issue for our community. We created the MCC Defense Fund to fight for reasonable taxation. We challenged the constitutionality of the new property tax legislation and won vindication from the Supreme Court, but no redress for injuries. We talked directly with Governor Kernan, and convinced him to institute, through administrative action, the first property tax cap. We have continued to fight vigorously for reduced government spending and a reasonable distribution of the tax burden, and we eventually found allies in state government to continue and expand the property tax caps.

Where we are today

Unfortunately, the past forty years have not brought an endless series of successes. The performance of our schools continues to disappoint. Our businesses, burdened by excessive taxes, have continued to decline. Like everywhere in America, commercial activity in the Region is increasingly concentrated in a few areas which do not include Miller. High taxes are also a continuing problem, although vigorous effort from the MCC has so far staved off disaster. We are devoting more and more effort to keeping an eye on our many units of government - what they are doing, what they are not doing, and how much they are spending.

At the same time, many new residents from near and far have discovered Miller as a desirable place to live or to spend part of their time. Property values have increased, in spite of the high taxes.

The biggest contribution of the MCC is to be always ready and alert, to confront any crisis which our community encounters. In the future, the MCC will continue to promote the development of our community, and will be adding new paragraphs to this short history of its activities. It will remain:

the organization that does the things people think just happen.