Ask The Mayor

Four years ago, when Crawfordsville won one of the state’s Stellar Communities awards, its art deco downtown Ben-Hur Building was one of the centerpieces.

Since then, though, it’s been plagued with delays, including changes in the contracting firm that’ll refurbish it. Now, the city says it’ll use tax increment financing to help push the project forward, but how much will that cost taxpayers – and is the amount more than it would have been four years ago?

In February, WBAA held a public forum in Frankfort which asked residents, in part: What's the "thing" that the city should be known for?

The most workable answer then seemed to be drawing in more visitors when the annual Festival of Lights show goes up each winter.

On this week's Ask The Mayor, we talk with Mayor Chris McBarnes about how his city has doubled down on trying to become just such a cold weather cash cow.

West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis garnered three-quarters of the vote in this week’s election, propelling him to a fourth term in office. Barring unforeseen circumstances, it’ll make him the second-longest-serving chief executive in the city’s history. And in his next four years, there are a number of projects to complete. This week on WBAA’s Ask The Mayor, we check in on the Chauncey Hill Mall, Morton Center and others.

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.

As a former police officer himself, it would seem to make sense that Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski supports a new income tax to fund public safety. His city saw a crime spike just a few years ago, but it’s been easing off the last couple years. So with crime on the decline under the current budget, why is now the right time to raise taxes to fight it?

We put that question to him today on WBAA’s Ask The Mayor.

Also on this week’s show, why has Mayor Roswarski decided not to go on an annual trip to Washington, D.C. to talk with Indiana Congresspeople?