Football fans may have noticed that Indiana University has sold the naming rights of its football stadium to Merchants Bank of Indianapolis. That one move infused $50 million into the athletic department.

Logansport native Michael Petrie, an executive with Merchants, offered to bring a downtown housing development to Logansport during the last election. There was one catch: If Martin was elected, he would not advance the project. Martin was in a plurality, and the project will not go forward. 

When a major Indianapolis banker -- who is from Logansport -- won't work with Martin, it's a problem for the community. It also sends a message to other potential investors in Logansport that Martin is not viewed positively. In fact in many ways, he is viewed as a pariah for the city -- an embarrassment to the city's reputation and a detriment to its future.

Maybe Merchants Bank won't invest $50 million in Logansport, but a downtown housing project Petrie had planned if the outcome had been different would certainly have infused money into the city to create construction jobs, add value to surrounding downtown properties and probably result in keeping some of the restaurants lost during the Martin administration open. There are the visible problems associated with Martin, and there are those like this one that are invisible -- but impactful.

Join us in making an impact for Logansport's future by signing and sharing our petition demanding that he resign. We're calling for his replacement with a professionally trained and certified city manager -- a progressive step used in Fishers, Munster and many other cities nationwide.

Thank you for reading this and more importantly, thank you for caring about our community and it's future.