By Adam Aasen
New Carmel Redevelopment Commission board member Corrie Meyer has announced that she will step down from that position to become the next CRC executive director.
Meyer is a certified urban planner who has worked for the past 10 years as a planner and project manager for Indianapolis-based Schmidt Associates, an architecture and design firm. Meyer is also a registered landscape architect and is certified in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design building and construction.
Meyer has lived in Carmel for 14 years with her husband, Nate, and two sons. She holds a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Ball State University.
The CRC has desperately needed a leader after former executive director Les Olds resigned in October. The lack of an executive who could communicate with the city council and the media has led to several disputes in the past several months that otherwise could have been avoided.
“This vision for the city and the redevelopment focus has already been cast,” she said. “And it soley relies in the Midtown and Phase Two of the City Center. So those two things will be my primary focus. My role is to keep the projects moving forward.”
Communicating with the public will also be a priority.
“My two primary goals are to strengthen communication and really increase that trust between all of the entities in the city,” she said.
“Corrie Meyer has a good background in city planning and landscape architecture, skills that will serve her well as executive director of the redevelopment commission,” said Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard. “Her job is to provide the staff support to finish the City Center, the Arts and Design District and the Midtown redevelopment project at the same quality they’ve been done to date. She has a tremendous amount of experience and we’re excited to have her on board.”
Meyer said she looks forward to working with the city council and doesn’t expect any problems.
“The way the 2012 ordinance is written is that we really are partners in the city and that’s the way we will approach that,” she said.
Councilor Luci Snyder, who was an outspoken critic of Les Olds, said she knows Meyer has a big task ahead of her.
She said the “records are not quite in order” at the CRC and so many of the people who are responsible for ongoing projects are now gone. She said she thinks Meyer will need to reestablish trust in the CRC – trust from the voters, the council and state auditors.
“We had to throw ourselves on the mercy of the state because we had someone who was director of the CRC who I wouldn’t trust directing a one-car funeral,” she said.
Snyder said she doesn’t know Meyer personally but that she seems like a good fit for the job.
“She looks like she has good architectural credentials, which is one important piece of the puzzle,” Snyder said.
New board member
Meyer’s departure does leave a vacancy on the CRC board, and Brainard named Carmel businessman Bill Brooks to replace Meyer on the board.
Brooks is Chief Operating Officer Emeritus for DWA Healthcare Communications Group in Carmel.
“In 1996 my wife and I relocated to Carmel and discovered the pride and comfort associated with a great home town,” said Brooks. “We have both enjoyed and marveled at our city’s wonderful transformation. With this opportunity to serve the community on the Redevelopment Commission, it’s time for me to give back.”
Prior to joining DWA, Brooks worked as an executive in both the printing and insurance industries after spending 25 years in the United States Air Force. He is a decorated military professional with a distinguished career in criminal justice, systems acquisition, development and deployment, project management, operations and command.
Brooks has earned a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Wilmington College. Active in the community, Brooks also is president of the Carmel Heroes Club, a board member of the Hamilton County Alliance and an active volunteer at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Carmel.
