Cross your fingers and hope Gary gets the $24.7 million in federal stimulus money it needs to raze 1,124 abandoned, derelict buildings.

And take this issue as a reminder of the power of civic engagement to bring about positive change for your community. All it takes is one person to create the spark that can bring about positive change. Are you up to the challenge?

You already know about U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh touring Gary on Tuesday with Ron Sims, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Gary Mayor Rudy Clay.

Usually, mayors like to put the best light possible on their city when visiting dignitaries visit.

Not so this time.

Clay took Bayh and Sims to a bad neighborhood to show what can happen when blight grows. First one property goes into decline, then neighboring properties do, then the whole neighborhood spirals into neglect. City revenues drop, which means there's less money available to revitalize the neighborhood.

On their tour in Gary's Emerson neighborhood, Bayh, Sims and Clay saw everything from burned houses to a caved-in street. It wasn't a pretty sight.

But let me take you now on a behind-the-scenes tour of events that led up to this week's visit.

Clay had the brilliant idea of asking the National Guard to bring in bulldozers and raze some of these abandoned, derelict structures. The city doesn't have enough money to do the work itself, and these decrepit buildings are a major public safety issue. These rundown, falling-apart buildings are a magnet for crime.

They're also a deterrent to economic development. Move in next to a building that looks like a bomb went off inside it? No thanks!

The National Guard idea was marvelous, but it wouldn't work because the National Guard is using that equipment overseas, fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Clay told The Times editorial board last year.

So when the editorial board met with Bayh last December, a CFL light bulb went off in my head. Bayh, as governor, sent in state troopers to help Gary gets its runaway crime problem under control, so he would be a good choice to bring help to the city again.

How about steering some of that federal stimulus money toward the city to tear down some of those abandoned buildings? Bayh liked the idea. Had anyone from the city asked him about it? No, Bayh said.

So I wrote a column last December suggesting Clay give Bayh a jingle to talk about this idea. Each time I spoke with Clay after that, he thanked me for the suggestion.

Now you know the back story, and you know the result. Bayh and Clay are working together to pry money out of the federal government to raze 1,124 abandoned buildings in Gary.

All it took to get this idea moving was for one person -- OK, I'll take the credit -- to put the right people in touch with each other. The result: synergy.

Here's your homework assignment: Figure out what could be accomplished in your community if the right people started talking to each other, then introduce them and see what happens.

Who knows? You might see a major improvement happen in your community, too. Don't just complain about your community; be a driving force for improvement. You could be the spark lighting the fuse for explosive change.

Editorial Page Editor Doug Ross can be reached at (219) 548-4360 or (219) 933-3357 or Doug.Ross@nwi.com. The opinion expressed in this column is the writer's and not necessarily that of The Times.