It’s been a contentious first six months in office for Anderson Democratic Mayor Kris Ockomon, much of it a result of paying political dues.
The mayor hadn’t even taken over the fifth floor of City Hall when he was slapped with a lawsuit from members of the outgoing Kevin Smith administration over Ockomon’s residency during the mayoral campaign. Later, Smith joined the suit.
To many people it looked like political sour grapes on Smith’s part. The case was soon tossed out, but by then Ockomon was making staff appointments based more on cronyism than qualifications.
Larry Russell, for example, was named head of the animal shelter and had to go to school in St. Louis to get minimal qualifications for euthanizing animals. Then he began executing animals at a quick rate and eventually was let go. Now he drives a bus for the Parks Department, though he was fired in 2007 from a similar job at CATS. Russell still has a city job because he’s a longtime Democratic Party operative.
Such appointments have opened up Ockomon’s administration for a lot of criticism and consumed valuable time. A little foresight on those appointments could’ve prevented a lot of headaches for the rookie mayor. The mayor did reach across party lines to appoint Joe McClain to head the revamped animal shelter, which had come under heavy criticism for its treatment of animals.
The mayor also blundered when he sold Parks Department land at Hoosier Park for $750,000 when the land was appraised at $2 million.
On the other hand, the mayor deserves praise for backing Anderson Municipal Airport. He said in his campaign that the issue of a southwest county airport was dead as he wanted to see improvements to the current airport. He’s done that.
During his campaign, Ockomon downplayed foreign travel for economic development and often slammed Smith for forays to the Orient. The mayor has now decided that reaching out to foreign investors is a good thing. This fall, representatives from Anderson, but not Ockomon, will travel to China and Japan to keep up contacts, including the doors opened by Smith in China’s Yuhang District.
The Herald Bulletin was in favor of such trips when Smith went, and we’re still in favor of them. But it seems as if the trip is being downplayed with the mayor not going. After all, the people who will be greeting the Anderson group hail from the top echelons of government and business in those areas. Is it really a good idea for the top government official in Anderson to stay home? If Ockomon is sincere in his attempts to reach out to foreign investment, he needs to go courting them himself.
Jobs were always the mayor’s top priority, and the city claims 1,379 jobs have been created since the beginning of the year, though the roots for many of those jobs reach back into the Smith administration. It’s a good start, but the administration needs to be extremely aggressive in pursuing potential employers. According to Linda Dawson, the city’s economic development director, the city has seen a 25 percent increase in employer and investor contacts from last year.
That’s great news, but now the administration has to have the package that will bring them to Anderson.
A lot of the problems facing Anderson are rooted deep in the city’s past dependence on the auto industry and other factors, and no one expects miracles in six months. We hope the mayor has thrown off the baggage — unwise appointments — that weighed down the early months and gets down to the business of running Anderson and tackling the troubles that are facing the community.
He’s dealing with an economy that has taken a downturn, shedding jobs, foreclosing of homes and runaway price increases for oil and food. It’s going to take a chief executive constantly in tune and focused on improvements.
If Sunday’s profile of Ockomon in The Herald Bulletin is any indication, he’s learning and making his own mark. By the end of the year another report card will be due. We’ll see how it goes then.
Opinion
EDITORIAL: Rookie mayor Ockomon on a learning curve
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