ANDERSON — The $800 billion federal stimulus project could be a boon for Anderson.

No one knows better than Mayor Kris Ockomon how much the city has to gain. He also believes the city has an inside track.

Ockomon opened the mayor’s office to the public on Monday for the latest installment of “Takin’ it to the Street Beat,” a radio show sponsored by The Herald Bulletin and NewsTalk 1240 WHBU. Every month, the show broadcasts from a different location, allowing the public to voice their concerns.

Around 25 people accepted the invitation Monday and heard Ockomon give them a reason to be optimistic.

“Anderson appeared in the New York Times a while back and the story caught the attention of Vice President Joe Biden,” Ockomon said. “He contacted a man named Ed DeSeve, who oversees all the stimulus funding, and he said ‘How can we help them?’”

On Wednesday, a team of city officials and community leaders will travel to Washington, D.C. to meet with DeSeve, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, and others to make a pitch for funding. The Anderson contingent will include state Rep. Scott Reske, Pendleton Town Council President Don Henderson, Flagship Enterprise Center CEO Chuck Staley and Julia Lewis from the city of Anderson.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has executive power over the state’s share of stimulus funding, but the cash flow slows when a Republican governor is in the Statehouse and a Democratic mayor is in city hall, Ockomon said.

“It shouldn’t matter, but obviously it does,” Ockomon said. “Gov. Daniels has done some good things for Indiana. But not everything we’re trying to do is through stimulus money. We also want to do some things through grants and other sources.”

Jason Hester was in the audience Monday and said he wants to see an end to partisan politics on the state and national levels. (Hester is not the Jason Hester who is central region director of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.)

“I don’t see why a guy with a ‘D’ in front of his name can’t go and see a guy with an ‘R’ in front of his name,” Hester said. “Why should we have to go to Washington to get what we deserve? And why doesn’t the governor support us?”

Ockomon recently released his “Economic Recovery Plan” for the city, a document that touches on education, training and business. He said the city is planning for a future that includes Bright Automotive, the company based at the Flagship Enterprise Center that wants to go into production with a 100-miles-per-gallon hybrid-electric vehicle.

In the short term, Ockomon said, the city hopes to tear down the four-story former antique mall at the corner of 14th and Main streets. Anderson’s first lady, Ann Ockomon, said she would like to see more after-school programs for children.

Dick Wiley, chairman of the Anderson Board of Public Safety, pointed to a framed portrait of President John F. Kennedy on the office wall and likened Kennedy’s comments more than 45 years ago to Anderson’s present situation.

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” Wiley said. “I think everybody needs to remember that. We have a great mayor and we need to support him.”



Contact Justin Schneider: 640-4809, justin.schneider@heraldbulletin.com



‘Takin' it to the Street Beat’

(Sponsored by The Herald Bulletin and News Talk 1240 WHBU)

• Live from Union Optical, 1503 The Rev. J.T. Menifee St. in Anderson, Monday, June 15, at 7 p.m.

• See the show in person or hear it live on the radio, read exclusive next-day coverage in The Herald Bulletin and online at www.theheraldbulletin.com