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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe mayor of beleaguered Elkhart had a simple message for
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels yesterday: Send us stimulus money, and send it fast.
Mayor Dick Moore hopes federal economic stimulus cash can revive the northern
Indiana city, which has been hit hard by the collapse of the recreational
vehicle industry and is struggling with an unemployment rate of nearly 20
percent.
Moore’s meeting with Daniels yesterday was the latest in the mayor’s
string of attempts to bring home help. He’s talked with members of Congress,
hired a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and created a local stimulus committee.
And he’s spoken with President Barack Obama, who visited Elkhart last month to
promote the stimulus plan.
“We can’t leave any stone unturned,” Moore said in the
Statehouse atrium as he waited to talk with Daniels.
Moore said he left the 40-minute meeting feeling as though Daniels understood
the city’s plight.
“If you look at where the greatest need is in the United States of America,
the city of Elkhart, Indiana, should be on top of the list,” Moore said. “That’s
not a title we’re very proud of, but it is reality.”
Daniels characterized the meeting as a “very good talk.”
“The mayor does his homework and his team has its act together,” Daniels
said. “Because our efforts always prioritize regions of greatest need, Elkhart
right now is at the top of all our lists: water treatment, transportation,
worker retraining, economic development – everything.”
Both Daniels, a Republican, and Moore, a Democrat, hope economic stimulus
money will start flowing quickly.
State officials are still determining exactly how all the money will be
spent, but Moore is ready with his list of projects that can be started within
the next 180 days. The projects total more than $92 million and would create
more than 2,000 jobs, Moore’s office said.
Moore wants the money spent where it’s needed most. That means Elkhart, a
city of 52,000 that has become the epicenter of the state’s unemployment
problem.
The city’s jobless rate jumped to 19.2 percent in January – nearly triple the
rate from the same time last year. Lines often stretch out the door at local
unemployment offices, which have extended hours to accommodate the flood of
people looking for work and filing benefit claims.
Relief agency Feed the Children last week distributed $2.1 million in
food and personal care products in Elkhart, which bills itself as the “city with
a heart.” Hundreds of people waited in cars to collect donations, enough to
sustain more than 5,000 families for a week.
Moore said his city is working hard to keep its head up, despite ongoing
layoffs at RV plants and other companies.
“When you come to Elkhart, you’d see a pretty darn decent attitude in the
people for what we’re going through,” Moore said. “But an economic downturn like
this takes everybody down a little. Even if you’ve got a job, you’re not feeling
really great.”
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