The city is now under a LGBT non-discrimination ordinance, the new YMCA is getting rave reviews, the mayor explains $30,000 in fines from IDEM and construction continues on Municipal Stadium.
On this week's installment of Ask The Mayor, 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.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: Many are having to get through a terrible tragedy with the shooting death of Deputy Koontz. How is the community coping?
Goodnight: Well, we're going to go through a grieving process as a community. That has begun. Then we have to maintain stability. We're doing what we can in the city police department to help take calls, especially the next day or two as other officers want to be with the family. It's been very difficult for a lot of people. A lot of outpouring support for law enforcement agencies here in Howard County from the public.
Hren: Kokomo made headlines with the passage of a LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance. Why now?
Goodnight: It happened last year when the state passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The economic damage that was done have serious implications from that. We considered doing something last year but were promised by state government that they would fix this. That didn't happen in the General Assembly this year so we feel we needed to take action.
Hren: The ordinance seemed to ruffle many residents as there were people standing everywhere during the city council meeting. Most it seems were against the ordinance. Did you get the message from those opposed?
Goodnight: What people don't realize that maybe we're the 21st or 22nd city or county that put these protections in place, so we weren't breaking new ground. But it was something we needed to do to let people know we're a welcoming, tolerant and open community. There's always concerns with change. A lot of the dissension came from misinformation. There was some mis-characterization on some people's parts that tried to make this about public restrooms. Those aren't scientific arguments. Those were arguments based on emotion. There was some fear-mongering going on by people who would consider themselves community leaders, who did do that when they could have. Some of it was fair game to talk about.
Hren: I read a report earlier this month that Kokomo paid $30,000 in fines to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. They were for different projects. Did you know these were coming?
Goodnight: Those were different instances, but almost all of those were paid by the contractor that had not acted properly. We're a little disappointed, going through our research we didn't find too many times where the state issued fines. One of them involved trucks during wet season putting dirt on the road from their tires. So, we thought we were doing the right thing by avoiding the conflict and paying but not sure what direction we'll go next time.
