Southsiders, you may want to think twice before you throw away a piece of paper that’s squeezed beside your front doorknob.
It’s not a pesky solicitor — it’s a quarterly newsletter from Jim Cooney, mayor of Southport. Cooney, a Republican in his second term, said he enjoys getting to know his neighbors while working in government.
“I’ve made a lot of new friends, met a lot of people, which is fun,” said Cooney, who was first elected in 2019. “I believe you can’t have too many friends.”
Since 2020, Cooney and a few volunteers have hand-delivered quarterly newsletters to roughly 800 homes on the southeast side of Perry Township. Heat waves kept Cooney’s volunteers indoors the first day he distributed newsletters in late June. But he said he doesn’t let extreme weather prevent him from spreading awareness about his community.
“I don’t cancel unless a leg fell off or something like that,” Cooney said. “There’s a lot of importance that I put into being dependable — if I say I’m going to do something, I do it.”
Cooney, who refers to himself as the ambassador of Southport, loves to highlight the benefits of living in a small city. It’s easier for him to connect with constituents, and he can easily answer people’s questions if they need a new trash can or other assistance.
The newsletter contains a quarterly update from the mayor, clerk-treasurer, police chief and other city leaders. It also shines a spotlight on a Southport business owner and lists information about local community activities.
“I know government’s not real popular. People don’t like people that are with the government,” Cooney said. “And one of the coolest things about Southport is everything we do is quick because we’re small and we’re nimble.”
While walking his distribution route in neighborhoods near Anniston Drive, Cooney ran into resident Marcia Toliver. She had seen the newsletters before, but Toliver hadn’t realized they were delivered by the mayor.
Southport Mayor Jim Cooney spoke with resident Marcia Toliver while distributing quarterly newsletters on June 27, 2025 at Anniston Drive in Southport, Indiana.
“I love it here,” Toliver said about the city she’s lived in for three years. “I’ve never felt so safe anywhere.”
She previously learned about the local senior center, Perry Senior Services, through Cooney’s newsletter.
While the newsletter is also online, Cooney takes pride in providing a novelty service that can only be found in the charm of a small city. Along his route, he explained how Southport functions as a city within a city.
City origins
Southport was established in 1832 and grew to a population of 285 people in 1900, according to census data tracked by STATS Indiana.
“We were the last little town before you hit total wilderness,” Cooney said.
The 1960s sparked a small national wave of government restructuring when Nashville, Tennessee, and Jacksonville, Florida, merged with their surrounding counties. In 1969, Indiana lawmakers approved a bill that allowed Indianapolis and its suburbs to merge and create a combined city-county government known as Unigov.
Communities that didn’t join the Indianapolis city-county government became excluded cities, such as Beech Grove, Lawrence, Southport and Speedway.
The cities manage budgets that are separate from Indianapolis, and residents are able to elect two mayors — one for their excluded city and one for Indianapolis.
Since the excluded cities are still within the Marion County boundary, they have the ability to use many of Indy’s services. For example, Southport is in charge of its own zoning laws and has a small police department, while Indianapolis provides the area with fire department services.
“We have a good relationship with Indianapolis,” Cooney said. “We need their help, they need ours. We help them with police runs with our police department, and then if we have something going on, they help us too. We also partner with Perry Township schools’ police department really well.”
Cooney said the Unigov setup also comes with disadvantages, such as a small budget. But he appreciates the autonomy of an excluded city.
“Southport is in charge of its own destiny,” Cooney said.
Passing the baton
In 2020, Southport was home to 2,123 neighbors, and Cooney hopes new housing developments will attract younger generations.
Looking ahead, Cooney, who is 69, hasn’t decided if he’ll throw his hat in the ring for the 2027 mayoral election. That’s why one of the reasons he distributes newsletters is to encourage younger people to join city boards and prepare for the future.
“I’m also trying to hand the baton off to the next generation because I can’t do this forever,” Cooney said. “And we need new ideas, different ideas, fresh ideas.”
The next Southport newsletter will be distributed in late September.
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Mirror Indy reporter Elizabeth Gabriel covers the south side of Marion County. Contact her at elizabeth.gabriel@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X at @_elizabethgabs.
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