The mayor's 2017 priorities, Vice President Mike Pence, Trump's immigration and travel ban, downtown's riverfront project and a new feature film "Columbus."
On this week's installment of Ask The Mayor, Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop addresses these issues and more. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: Let's start with some 2017 objectives for Columbus, what's on your agenda for this year?
Lienhoop: We submitted a couple of proposals to the Indiana Department of Transportation with respect to the railroad traffic we anticipate. Those were well received, but they put those in the basket with other projects that they're considering and we'll have to wait to see how those come out. But I caution everybody to remain patient, because even if we move as quickly as we can move, 2022 will be likely when we start construction.
Hren: You attended the inauguration of President Trump and Vice President Pence, since you know Mike Pence, have you been able to talk to him since he's taken office to see how the transition has been?
Lienhoop: There's the expression about drinking from a fire hose, we experienced that last year and I'm sure he is now. I've talked to him a couple of times and from my perspective he seems to be handling it pretty well, so more power to him and wish him all the best.
Hren: As mayor of Columbus, what's your response to President Trump's executive order on the immigration travel ban?
Lienhoop: Really don't have a role here as mayor, our role in respect to immigration is to try and make people feel welcome and to the extent that this walks in a different direction from that, it makes it a little more difficult. But Columbus has a pretty big international community, so our concern is to make them realize they are welcome here.
There's some concern at Cummins not only how their international travel will be affected, but many of their employees who are foreign nationals with a green card, they're here legally, but there's concern they may leave the country and not be able to get back in.
Hren: What do you hope happens now?
Lienhoop: There are certain parts to this that I think I understand some of the urgency for. I've spent a little bit of time in southern Arizona. People down there are very excited about secure borders, so perhaps we can address a topic such as that and that won't have such an effect here in Columbus, Indiana.
Hren: Let's talk Indiana legislation, what are some of the items you're keeping an eye on here in Columbus?
Lienhoop: The railroad issue we mentioned previously, there are mitigation efforts we've identified that require state assistance. We continue to be concerned about opioid use and abuse and we feel like we're going to need a fair amount of help from the state.
