9/23/2005
Media Contact:
Steve Campbell, [317] 327-3622 |
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Deputy Mayor Kennedy to leave city government
INDIANAPOLIS-Mayor Bart Peterson today announced that Melina Maniatis Kennedy is leaving her position as Deputy Mayor of Indianapolis, but will continue to work on a volunteer basis on several of the Mayor’s top priorities. Kennedy has been with the Peterson administration since the Mayor took office in 2000.
Kennedy’s duties in the office will be reassigned in the upcoming weeks, the Mayor said, but she will continue to chair the city’s coordinated code enforcement task force, which is cracking down on neighborhood nuisances, such as abandoned houses and stay involved with the city’s efforts to prevent youth violence.
"Anyone who knows or has worked with Melina knows that she has been a tireless public servant for the people of Indianapolis and Marion County," Mayor Peterson said. "She was one of the original members of my team, and I credit her with so many of the great accomplishments and strides we’ve made as a community over the past six years.
"Even though she is leaving city government formally, she has agreed to follow the tradition of past deputy mayors and stay involved with our efforts to keep Indianapolis moving forward as a truly safe, livable and world-class city."
Kennedy joined the Mayor’s team in 2000 as assistant deputy mayor for policy development, where she headed up several policy initiatives for the mayor, primarily in the area of domestic violence. She coordinated city efforts that led to the Mayor’s Domestic Violence Roundtable, which developed the first ever Family Violence Communitywide Plan to identify gaps in local services and to propose strategies for reducing family violence.
In addition, she worked with Mayor Peterson to push for a new state law to enforce out of state protective orders and to eliminate filing fees that domestic violence victims had to pay to obtain protective orders against their violent partners.
As deputy mayor, Kennedy took the lead to help develop stronger, safer and thriving neighborhoods through community and economic development. Under her leadership, the Department of Metropolitan Development has provided new resources to neighborhood development and has taken a more aggressive approach to cracking down on neighborhood threats such as abandoned housing, adult entertainment establishments and other neighborhood nuisances.
She also has assisted the Mayor in combating youth crime and led the effort with the Indianapolis Police Department to enforce youth curfew sweeps. She also helped advise the Mayor on the efforts led by the Criminal Justice Planning Council to reduce jail overcrowding.
Before becoming deputy mayor, she served as the city’s director of economic development, where she oversaw the city's effort to grow high tech, high wage jobs in Indianapolis. She helped lead efforts to create BioCrossroads, the central Indiana life sciences network, and "BuyIndyFirst," a plan to promote the use of local businesses in the Indianapolis area.
She started her career in public service at the Indiana Supreme Court where she worked for Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr., and helped review scores of criminal and civil appeals. She also practiced law for several years in a local Indianapolis firm.
Kennedy earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana University, a master's degree from the IU School of Public & Environmental Affairs and law degree cum laude from the IU School of Law in Bloomington.
She has served on the boards of the Julian Center, an Indianapolis shelter for victims of domestic violence, the Greater Indianapolis Domestic Violence Network, and the Indianapolis Bar Association, where she chaired its Women and the Law Division.
She also received IUPUI's "Spirit of Philanthropy Award," and was named as one the Indianapolis Business Journal's "Women to Watch" and to the IBJ's prestigious "40 Under 40" list. Kennedy and her husband, two time Olympic runner Bob Kennedy, are the proud parents of twins Sophia and Marcus.
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