Bennett says he isn't sure there are enough vaccinations for the number they need, he's watching for any TIF changes in this year's state legislative session, and renovations are underway on the new police station building.
On this week’s installment of Ask The Mayor, Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett addresses these issues and more on a Zoom conference call. 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. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: So much swirling around with the Capitol attacks, there's talk about Trump impeachment, certifying the Electoral College... you're the Republican mayor of Terre Haute, Indiana. What's your reaction to what happened this past week and how did we get here?
Bennett: Personally, it's been a circus for a while here now. And so you kind of felt like things were brewing. I would have never expected what happened in the Capitol. People go and do your protest, and whatever, but to march in the building, and that would just be like City Hall or the courthouse here, or the state capitol, I mean, when you start invading a building or packing security, that's just wrong, no matter what level it is what group you are, you can't do that. That's not how we solve problems.
It's really unfortunate, because all this drama, and all the conversations and all the media and all what Congress wants to do, all that distracts from us doing the business that we need to get done, and get this COVID thing addressed. It's just a bunch of noise to me. And it's unfortunate that that seems to be taking the front and center almost every day right now.
Hren: Indiana started a plan for rolling out the vaccinations by age group. If you're over 80, you can register online or calling 211. But people just want to know, when can they get vaccinated? Do you know any more about the rest of the rollout?
Bennett: No I don't, the last I heard was last week when they announced how they were going to roll out the shots for those 80 and above. And I'm kind of waiting on the next official release of information. Because, they were supposed to start giving those shots this week. And I'm sure they're doing that. And so I think by the end of this week, we'll have a better feel for how that went. But then, obviously the numbers are going to get bigger, the pool is going to be bigger here as you lower the age and begin to add other people to the mix. And I guess that will tell us whether the system is solid to be able to handle that. But I don't know if there's enough vaccinations out there for the numbers that we need.
Hren: Then you get all these questions too about are teachers considered essential personnel, and then we get questions such as, if I'm 68, but I'm caring for my 88 year old client, can I get it too?
Bennett: Great questions, every state's doing something a little different. And then I'm sure locally, you're working with the state guidelines that come down but you're probably pressured by the people on the front lines saying hey, why can't I get a shot? How many health issues do you have to make you qualify? But should there be a pecking order? I don't know. That's the questions we get. I don't have the answers to that. But my guess is we don't have enough vaccinations out there. That's what I'm worried about.
Hren: What are you watching for in the Indiana General Assembly that's underway?
Bennett: I'm watching the TIF legislation, as I do every single session, it seems like every year, there's attempts to tighten that up more and provide some funding out of that for other taxing entities in the county. The TIFs were created as a financial incentive to get development. I believe we've done that with our TIF dollars, we've not misused any of those monies. And then we all get penalized because of some decisions made across the state. I just don't want them to tighten it up anymore. I think it's a great tool. I don't have many other tools in the toolbox.
I'm also watching the executive stuff with the governor, I think he's done a good job. And I'll continue to say that, there are some legislators who want to be at the table. Well, maybe you should run for governor, I mean, there has to be some balance there with the legislature planning session all year. So they can't possibly be in on a daily conversation, and pull the session back in or have a session every time you want to make a decision, a significant decision. So I guess I'll be interesting to watch how that plays out.
Hren: And renovations on the new police station started this week?
Bennett: Yep, we were supposed to start last week. And we ran into a couple of little legal issues with closing. And so they delayed the closing. In order to go in there and do work on the building, we wanted to own it. So we had to go back and put some legal documents in place to move ahead with the project, and then delay the closing a little bit. It's just all legal stuff that popped up at the last minute. And people were off on the holidays, and didn't happen. And so now though, we've got everything worked out and the closing will be coming up here in the next few weeks, we can go ahead and get started on the building itself.
The project is about a seven to eight months total project from beginning to end. And so I'm hoping that we're in there in August. That's still my goal. So as soon as we move out, I would hope this fall, we'll get that building tore down and we're going to redevelop that site. We'll probably talk to some community partners or others outside of Terre Haute that may want to come in and acquire that property. There's about two and a half acres there right on Wabash Avenue on old National Road. And I think it'll be a great site for future development. Get it back on the tax roll.
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