Bennett says media and politicians should step aside and let non-vaccinated COVID residents consult their doctor. Convention center construction is on time and on budget, and officials are waiting for rescue plan money.
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: Our interview is Monday, so today's seven day positivity rate in Vigo county is falling to now 3.62%, it's in the blue state metric. So what's the next step?
Bennett: From my perspective, I don't know of anything else we can really do, I think what the governor has done and the process he's going through, and we're following that here, and City Hall is fine. I think it's just all about more time to pass with more people getting vaccinated and just that simple.
Hren: I did want to address that. More reports are saying that we may not hit herd immunity. The vaccine is open to everybody, but many still don't want to get it. A report from NPR says one in four don't want to get the vaccine. It's the highest for republican men and residents of rural areas. What's the strategy?
Bennett: I don't know if I really have one. I think if everything would calm down and the media overall, you hear a lot of drama every day with their point of people who won't get vaccinated or they're talking to people about vaccine passports or all those kinds of things in different states. Then everybody gets confused here, right? And even in Terre Haute, Indiana about how will this roll out the rest of the way. And so my thing is, you need to talk to your own doctor. Don't worry about what the media says or a politician says. Talk to your doctor and find out what they feel about you getting a shot. That's your source to get that taken care of.
And I would encourage everybody to get a hold of your family doctor and talk to him about it. And have your own personal plan for your family and turn out the noise of everything else out there. Some people are just not going to do it. I mean, I get it, there's a lot of people who don't get flu shots, so you're not gonna make people do it. And I don't think that helps - to make them feel bad because they don't feel comfortable getting a shot. Let's get them to feel comfortable.
READ MORE: "We've Hit A Wall": Vaccine Hesitancy Worries Health Officials, Especially In Rural Areas
Hren: You can't force people to get vaccinated, but if the numbers start to soar with new variants, and it goes back to square one. that does sound like a lot of drama, but it's also a reality.
Bennett: Right? It is, then I think, once again, and I say the drama thing, because I listen to the news and look at some stuff on social media, just what people are saying and thinking. And it's like, it only takes a little thing to get people to throw a wall, I want to be even keeled here, let's be common sense about it. Let's get more information out about how many people are getting their shots and the fact that there have been a few extreme examples of people that have reactions, but it's no worse than other things. And so let's just keep educating and let people make their own decision. And hopefully, they'll reach that right decision up to to your point. If the numbers start going crazy with a bunch of variants, then obviously, nobody wants to lock down again.
Hren: We talked last month about the American Rescue Plan Act. You talked about possibly a first deposit in May. Any word on that? And how much so far?
Bennett: No, we've not received it yet. But I was told that we're supposed to get it by May 11. Or sooner. That means immediately, I would expect that this week. Last week, the City Council created our funds. So we have the official place to place those dollars. And then the next step in the process for us will be to develop a budget for 2021. And so we're putting a committee together of city council members and administration. And we'll begin meeting probably in June to develop that initial budget. That's kind of where we're at. So I expect to get a little over $19 million any day now.
Hren: it's been a while since we've talked about the building of the downtown Convention Center, just thought we're due for an update.
Bennett: On schedule and on budget. So that's good. I say the same thing about the police station, if you ask about that in a minute. Anytime you do a large project like that, there's always change orders, there's always things that happen. But with the price of materials going up, it's a good thing. We timed this out when we did because those prices were locked in. So we haven't been affected by any of that.
I just drove by this morning coming to work downtown and they're hooking up the water line to the building right now, because they're starting to put the plumbing in. So when you look at it, it's starting to take its shape, and the internal walls are going in. I couldn't be any more excited about the progress, the weather has been great. And so they worked very hard. They continue to tell me that it will be ready next May, one year from now. And it's just, it's great. And a lot of buzz in the community.
READ MORE: Monroe Convention Expansion Project On Hold As Leaders Gather Public Input
Hren: Has the design changed at all or alterations now that we are in a pandemic, so new thoughts about maybe air ventilation or room size?
Bennett: That was really taken into consideration before. When you have a convention center, you divide spaces up, and then you have a common space, you kind of think about that anyway, pre-COVID and then reviewing those things, makes it look like we've done all the right things in the design. So I feel really good about the configuration and how it's going to be utilized, that we'll be able to work through hopefully we'll never see another pandemic in our lifetime, but who's to say, being as prepared as we possibly can to be able to deal with those kinds of things and still have some fanfare.
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