Maybe Gary Mayor Rudy Clay is trying to stoke the fire of economic development with his support of a new rail station downtown, or maybe he is trying to pour cold water on attempts by people in the city's Miller neighborhood to disannex.

The construction of the proposed $120 million Adam Benjamin Gateway Station in the heart of the downtown area would replace the aging metro station now there with a modern structure with two parking garages and an overhead walkway to the Genesis Convention Center.

But as part of the deal, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District would close the South Shore rail station in Miller, replacing it with a bus route to take people from Miller to the gateway station.

Clay supported the project when it would have closed both the existing downtown Gary Metro station and Miller, and put the gateway station near the junction of Interstate 65 and U.S. 20, about a mile and a half east of downtown.

Public pressure caused him to reverse his stance and support the reconfiguration of the Gary Metro stop.

The claim at the time by the developers was that both the Gary Metro and Miller stations did not have "high-level" platforms and were incapable of quick loading and unloading of passengers.

But there is also considerable pressure from Miller residents who don't want their station abandoned, and it seems to be falling on deaf ears at City Hall. In a recent letter, Miller resident Jim Nowacki called it "a perversion of rational logic" to close the Miller station at Lake Street.

Nowacki is part of an effort to disannex Miller from the city, a move that arose after residents of the area began getting their tax bills following the 2003 shift in the way the state determined assessed valuation for homes.

Suddenly people in Miller, many with homes within walking distance of Lake Michigan, found their property values had skyrocketed (says the state), and tax bills of more than $10,000 a year became commonplace.

It's hard to fault the people of Miller because they are subsidizing the lower-valued homes in many other parts of the city, and now their rail link to Chicago is being jeopardized while Clay stands by and applauds.

Where is the motive for Clay to go to bat for a rail station for people who want to leave his city?

The motive is that he is still their mayor, and maybe if he acted like it fewer Miller residents would want to escape his administration's fiefdom.

The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at markk@nwitimes.com or (219) 933-4170.