Mayor Anderson's Half-Term Review

Date: 3/10/2002
By Peter Ciancone
Tribune-Star

Terre Haute Mayor Judy Anderson said she "absolutely" intends to run again for mayor in 2003.

Too much remains to be done.

"Things don't get done as fast as you want them to," she said in an extensive Feb. 14 interview in the mayor's office. "What did it take -- nine years to get the [National Road Heritage] Trail?"

Anderson outlined what she sees as her administration's accomplishments midway in her tenure as well as her goals for the next two years, then discussed a broad range of city issues and topics.

Local leaders and former members of city government were asked to weigh in on how they viewed the first half of the Anderson era, commenting on her accomplishments and leadership style. In a highly politicized job in a town known for its tough political life, comments ranged from complimentary to critical.

Anderson pointed to reopening the two firehouses -- at 13th and Chase streets and Ninth Street and College Avenue -- finding ways to upgrade much-needed safety services equipment and instituting user fees for some city services to defray the costs of maintaining them as major accomplishments thus far.

These things were a campaign promise, said councilman Bill Thompson, D-at large.

"She fulfilled that commitment [to open the firehouses]," he said. "And she is still trying to improve police and fire protection."

"We have tried to address needs that had been neglected for years," Anderson said. "If you wait until everything is broken, it's going to cost a lot of money to fix it."

Many of the battles between Anderson and the City Council over the past two years have come not over whether the city needs to upgrade its equipment and facilities, but over funding of those initiatives. Some say Anderson errs too much on the side of the employees instead of with taxpayers.

Likening it to "the inmates running the asylum," former City Councilman and candidate for County Commissioner Chuck Ennis said, "The mayor and the employees seem to be in lock step over things like ambulances, equipment and pay raises.

"It doesn't look like the mayor and the employees have had any disagreement at all," he said.

The danger in that is taxpayers often had to pay for employees' satisfaction, Ennis said.

"When we're addressing those issues, we're doing it for the taxpayers," Anderson said. New equipment and better services meant a safer, happier community, she said.

Norm Loudermilk, D-3rd, said Anderson gravitated to some elements of the job more than others, adding that Anderson had become an outstanding advocate for Terre Haute and other Indiana cities in Indianapolis.

"On some things, she has done a fantastic job; On some, I wish she'd done more," he said.

Others said her work with city employees was a type of leadership style.

"I truly think she wants to be liked by everybody she's leading," said Council President George Azar, D-at large. "I think that sometimes gets in the way of making decisions. I think it's the mayor's job to keep employees happy, but when that gets in the way of running a tight ship, that's when the ball needs to come down."

Councilman Joe Duby, D-1st, said in politics, it is impossible to please everybody, and she shouldn't try.

Anderson bristled at that review.

"Yes, I do like to be liked, but I don't care if I'm not liked if it's over something I think is right," she said.

Anderson said in her 2002 State of the City address that among her greatest accomplishments was picking good department heads. Others say that Anderson should take a stronger stand on individual issues.

Members of her administration and the City Council clashed earlier last month over the need and financing for a second ladder truck. At issue was whether the truck would be paid for out of the general fund or a fund created from ambulance user fees to help buy Fire Department equipment. Anderson said she didn't care how it was funded.

Councilman Ryan Cummins, R-2nd, said he looked to a chief executive for long-range planning.

"I would like to have seen a capital improvement plan for each department," he said, with goals and a step-by-step way to achieve them.

"Obviously, my ideas and [Anderson's] ideas about what a mayor should be doing are different," Cummins said.

"I'm not sure I take that as criticism," Anderson said. She preferred to emphasize teamwork in achieving goals, and allows her department heads as much leeway as they need to define their goals and ways to reach them.

"I don't micromanage; It's not my style," she said. "I just feel like I've chosen the right people."

Anderson also highlighted her efforts in economic development, both in finding new industry and in helping those already located here to grow. It's an accomplishment that is lauded in many circles.

One of the first accomplishments in her tenure as mayor was to agree with Vigo County officials to combine the two departments of redevelopment into one, and place Steve Witt as executive director, Anderson said. President of the Vigo County Commissioners Paul Mason said that arrangement had been working well.

Mick Love, D-4th, complimented Anderson on her work to bring in a second federal prison and on downtown redevelopment issues.

Todd Nation, president of Downtown Terre Haute Inc., said the mayor had taken charge of many aspects of downtown issues.

"I was pleasantly surprised that this administration got an outside look at downtown," he said. Terre Haute recently received a study from HyettPalma, planning consultants who have worked with many Indiana cities to find ways to adapt their changing mid-town landscapes. "That was very much a product of Judy."

Brian Conley, member of the Terre Haute Redevelopment Commission and former City Council member, said Anderson had done strong work with downtown and the industrial park. He added that Anderson inherited many problems when she took office: Fire department overtime, a perennial litter problem and annual budgetary restraints that have gotten worse as the state tightens its belt.

Both former mayors -- Jim Jenkins and Pete Chalos -- declined an opportunity to comment. Chalos said it wasn't appropriate for former officeholders to comment on present officeholders.

Jenkins said anything he might say would be interpreted as sour grapes. Anderson defeated Jenkins in the May 1999 Democratic Party primary race, and she carried the November election with more votes than the other three challengers combined.

"You can't get it all done in four years," Anderson said of her mayoral agenda.

Duby said it wasn't right for him to try to rate the mayor. Others will do that better than he could.

"How she's doing as mayor? We'll know in two years, " he said. "The people will tell her."