Marie Hitze

How do you plan to reach out to constituents about what their needs are?

Holding regular talking sessions with constituents, creating a partnership with the mayor’s action center that will send township requests to us directly, continuous year-round direct door to door communication, and working with township organizations, councils, and neighborhoods to ensure concerns are heard, addressed, and residents are getting connected to vital services and resources to meet their needs.

What is the top issue your township is facing and how would you address it as trustee?

Our township has had too many evictions. I will work to ensure we are reducing the number of evictions in Warren Township by leveraging existing statewide and local programs to support residents and seeking additional funding to provide more direct support. Working in the public sector for nearly 20 years has provided a vast knowledge base of the available programs and grant funding opportunities, which I will bring the Trustee’s office to help our residents.

Considering the expected declines in revenue because of property tax cuts, how would you manage your office’s budget?

I will seek additional funding opportunities and grants to support the township. I will ensure the priority in the budget is providing constituent and resident services. Build new relationships and partner organizations to continue services at a reduced cost, such as clothing donations for the clothing pantry, working with the schools to reinstate the school uniform program, and creating additional programs to support Warren Township residents in need utilizing data driven decisions and partnerships to provide these programs.

Should township government be consolidated, or should specific services be consolidated, to better manage resources and save taxpayer money?

Township governments are vital to serving the area’s residents. The City/County Enterprise is making hard decisions on priorities with the services and responsibilities they now have, adding to their responsibility will cause an undue burden to all involved, including the enterprise but most importantly the residents of Warren Township. It is the responsibility of both the townships and the enterprise to be good stewards of public dollars, and I know just how vital that it is after being a public servant, budgets, priorities, and providing these services to residents must remain with the townships.

How would you improve residents’ access to township assistance?

Having standard business hours from Monday to Friday, 8am-430pm can create an access barrier for residents. I want to provide hours for the Trustee’s Office that allow access for more residents, including a few hours in the evening per week and one Saturday per month. I will offer more events and opportunities for the community to have access to resources, offering a one-stop-shop regularly with partners, such as the Prosecutor’s office, Marion County Health Department, the BMV, FSSA, Indianapolis Housing Authority, and more. I will improve the resources on the website, and work with those resource partners directly to provide them to our residents more efficiently, accessible, and consistently.