In this week's installment of Ask The Mayor, Indiana Newsdesk's Joe Hren visits Bloomington's Mayor Mark Kruzan at City Hall.
Kruzan used the opportunity to announce he will not run for mayor in 2015.
He was elected as state representative for Bloomington in 1986 until he decided to enter the 2003 race for Bloomington mayor and has been re-elected two times since.
"When I thought about it, I realized only one other mayor has served more years than I have and there's a reason for that. You have a short shelf life for being mayor and for me, it's been 30 years in elected politics. I've just been blessed by this community," he says.
Kruzan reacted to Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard's decision not to run for re-election:
Mayor Kruzan also talks about the recent shootings and how the police department is coping with crime, changes that are coming to the downtown parking garages and meters and what the city has to do now to capitalize on I-69 later. Listen to the entire interview above. Here are some highlights:
Hren: Since the last time we talked, two shootings involving Bloomington police officers. In review, how where those situations handled?
Kruzan: Beyond excellent. It's something I think about almost every day is the safety of those officers. I see a daily police report seven days a week and I know what they're facing. I know they've got the best training, the best equipment available to them but I also know they have the intellect and instinct that is needed to do the job.
Hren: You confirmed changes were coming to the downtown parking meters and garages last month, what are those proposed changes?
Kruzan: Changing the meter hours from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., reducing fees during the summer ($0.50 an hour rather than $1.00 an hour), eliminate the credit card convenience fees, making all of the garages and lots consistent (one hour free, then $0.50 an hour). For this holiday season, Thanksgiving weekend we won't enforce at all, but this year we're adding every Saturday between Thanksgiving and New Year's so you can come downtown and shop.
Hren: In regard to the I-69 Regional Summit that took place a few weeks ago, what does Bloomington need to do now to take advantage of the future interstate?
Kruzan: Well, it's been happening. I think we're starting to turn the corner, how are we going to manage all this open ended questions but also how are we going to turn this into a positive. In fact, I will say, we've had one company that's expressed interest in Bloomington because they've heard about the interstate. It's an overseas company. We'll start to see, I hope, see more opportunities come from this.
Hren: Susan via email asks, Mr. Mayor, I love to take walks around my neighborhood and a lot of my neighbors walk also. Why is it that a developer is allowed by the City to build a neighborhood, continue to collect annual homeowner fees from each household, and not maintain the trees to a once a year pruning by an arborist?
Kruzan: There are rules about keeping the sidewalks clear and if Susan or anyone would like to contact us, call the Housing and Neighborhood Development Department. Some of the places where it is a homeowner's association, it is up to the association and we don't clear the sidewalks there, but we can always go out and try to work with the neighbor to get it remedied.
