Ockomon mayoral news

I wrote last Sunday that I would post on Kris Ockomon's mayoral bid. He had a booth at the farmer's market and I did pick up his campaign literature. Between mislaying that literature and the need to make a living, I had no opportunity to write the post.

First, remember all this literature consisted of a brochure. I hope he expands on some of his talking points further on in the campaign. Such as the fundraiser at Riley's Party Barn on July 24 or on the web page for the Madison County Democrats. He says in the brochure that he is preparing a more detailed plan.

About the brochure, I think the meat is here:

...Anderson is at a critical juncture. We need to pursue an all new aggressive effort to bring jobs to Anderson by focusing more on communicating with and courting companies here in the Mid-West and even right here in Central Indiana. Also work closely with our Federal and State Government to bring development here. We cannot afford to discourage those who want to create businesses and jobs in Anderson. We should be making it as easy as possible. That will involve streamlining processes while making them more open and transparent to the people who have a stake in them. As I consider our city's future, I look forward to offering a voice to this most important issue.

Here is my take on this statement:

1. Economic development remains the obviously big issue.
   
2. The searching for business investment in the neighborhood of the Midwest and Central Indiana is not a bad thing. If it is only to play to the annoyance of our current Mayor's seeking foreign investment, then this is short-sighted. I say so long as Muncie seeks foreign investors, then we need to also be playing that game. If this indicates a more complex plan of where to seek investors, then this is a very good idea.
3. Of course, either Ockomon or Smith will be working with federal and state officials. Howe much good they do us will be outside of either's control. What about others in areas - other counties, other cities - who are in the same boat as us and with whom we may find cooperation profitable?
   
4. No we cannot discourage those who want to invest in Anderson but how to preserve the businesses we have here and encourage those living here to create new businesses? I think Anderson has a cultural problem with those who create their own businesses. I think my opinion about homegrown businesses create more security for us than imported businesses is quite clear. The Flagship Enterprise Center is a good start but the culture of dependence on outside businesses still needs a vigorous attack. If Ockomon proposes a serious support of local investment as well as importing foreign industries, then I think he is onto something.
5. Streamlining city government sounds as good as streamlining any government but we all know how often this really happens. I hope he soon explain what he means by his open government initiative.
   

A good start.