The mayor's State of the City Address, the proposed downtown convention center, a population increase, workforce development and this weekend's Easter egg hunt.
On this week's installment of Ask The Mayor, Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight 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: I wanted to start with your State of the City Address you gave a couple weeks ago. You talked about Fake Outrage, in particular with the use of Twitter and Facebook. What's your message to Kokomo residents?
Goodnight: It's really people with a personal agenda. They're mad at the school system because maybe their son or daughter is failing or they were expelled from school. So when the school has any type of story they just go out to discredit the school system. They make the little things that happen day to day into fake outrage. It goes further than schools, it's in politics, it's in coaching. Everyone becomes an expert from their laptop.
So that's what I talked about. Stop with the fake outrage. So your trash tote was not put back exactly where you like it, so goes life.
Hren: You did mention the proposed hotel conference center, but no news yet and no innkeepers tax increase?
Goodnight: The first 95-percent of this is easy, the last five is the devil is in the details. We're working through that and very optimistic. I keep saying withing the next 60 days we'll be able to announce it. Once we announce it, it will take about a year to completion.
The tax did not get passed, it just didn't get any traction this year in the legislature.
Hren: I just saw the latest report on how Indiana's population increased for the first time since 2009. The increases were in metropolitan cities and decreases came in rural areas. In previous shows you mentioned how Kokomo can help rural areas increase populations.
Goodnight: The numbers show a slight uptick in Howard County which is completely different than what was predicted. At the beginning of this decade they predicted we'd lose about 1,400 residents. To show we had a slight increase is a big turnaround for a community like ours.
But yes, if you look at rural areas that are doing pretty well, they are next to a successful metropolitan area. The ones that are struggling are the ones next to a struggling metro area. Everyone in Indiana should want Indianapolis to do well and thrive. We want to make sure Kokomo is doing well and that will benefit the small towns that are in close proximity.
Hren: The city's twitter page toutes an extra 1,000 jobs too compared to a year ago, so this is all tied together?
Goodnight: Keep in mind, over 70-percent of the jobs are based or come from where people live. It's where you spend your disposable income. So when we have an opportunity for jobs, we want to be sure we get the best from that and make sure people move here. To do that we have to make it the nicest, the no brainer option. This is a nice, safe community - a clean community, housing options for every demographic. And we have certain amenities and recreational activities that will make sure this is a place people will want to call home.
