Ask The Mayor

When Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton reconstituted his city’s defunct Human Rights Commission, it was seen as a chance to adjudicate some lingering issues concerning different types of prejudice in the city.

But since, meetings have become scarce – and this week a member of the commission sent a letter to Mayor Barton, and to WBAA, signaling her displeasure with the actions of the board and her intention to resign from it.

At the beginning of this year, WBAA held a public forum in Frankfort asking residents what amenities they wanted to see in town, and also asking this question: is there a single signature feature around which an identity could be built?

This week on WBAA’s Ask The Mayor, we ask Chris McBarnes whether he might be able to turn recent difficulties with recycling into an opportunity as the waste disposal industry tries to re-evaluate its future. In a manufacturing-heavy city such as Frankfort, it might make sense.

The week leading up to our monthly conversation with Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski has been one of political comings and goings.

Gary State Senator Eddie Melton made his run for governor official, as did Lafayette resident Joe Mackey, who’ll seek to represent Indiana's 4th Congressional District in Congress.

This week on WBAA’s Ask The Mayor, we find out what Mayor Roswarski would like to see his party’s nominees run on next year, such that Lafayette would benefit.

Also this week, West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis announced he’s dropping out of his only scheduled debate in this year’s election – less than two weeks before it was to happen. We’ll ask Mayor Roswarski, a longtime friend and former Lafayette Police Department colleague of Mayor Dennis, what he thinks of that move.

The West Lafayette City Council is considering a resolution which sounds good on its face – reduce the city’s carbon footprint by 20% at a time, repeated every four years. But this week on WBAA’s Ask The Mayor, we talk with John Dennis about whether that’s feasible even once, let alone in ongoing fashion.

There’s been a lot of talk recently about wide, open spaces in Clinton County – and we address some of those issues this week with Frankfort Mayor Chris McBarnes on WBAA’s Ask The Mayor.

Prairie Creek Park won’t be open in time for the city’s inaugural Hispanic Heritage Festival, but it will be a site that alcohol sales and consumption will be allowed in the future.

Speaking of the festival, we’ll ask Mayor McBarnes how he defines success – and what the city is doing to quell fears in the Hispanic community nationally that they’re being targeted.

Not to mix literary metaphors, but since Crawfordsville won the Stellar Communities competition a few years ago, the Ben-Hur building has been a bit of a white whale for Mayor Todd Barton. It was sold as a cornerstone of the way Crawfordsville would look when the Stellar projects were complete – but it’s been plagued by delays and confusion ever since.

Now the state has given another $100,000 for the building’s renovation, so will that kickstart development? We put that question to Mayor Barton today, on Ask The Mayor.

This coming weekend is the biggest of the year in terms of visitors to Crawfordsville. With the annual Taste of Montgomery County overlapping with a big, nationally-televised motocross race, many more eyes than usual will be on the city.

This week on WBAA’s Ask The Mayor, we attempt to suss out what kind of opportunity that presents. Can it help Mayor Todd Barton lure more young professionals to live in the city, or does he have to be happy with just the once-a-year influx of cash into the local economy?

Last month, we asked Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski about an unusual step his city's Board of Public Works took -- rejecting all the bids for a road repair contract on Beck Lane.

This month, we talk about not just the re-opening of those bids, but the awarding of a contract for a little less than the original amount the city had planned to spend. But here's the catch -- not as much is going to get done for the same money.

Purdue students planning to vote this year have new ID rules to contend with. And with about three months to go until Election Day, what can the city of West Lafayette do to help ensure these voters make it to the ballot box?

Montgomery County is searching for ways to improve travel and roadways, and Crawfordsville is at the center of that discussion. Intercity train travel took a hit late last month with the loss of the Hoosier State Line. So how is Crawfordsville working to improve transportation and travel for residents?