Hammond mayor lectures at IUN
By Michael Gonzalez Post-Tribune correspondent February 8, 2012 11:06PM
Hammond mayor Tom McDermott speaks to students at Indiana University Northwest in Gary Wednesday afternoon. McDermott was invited by the course instructor former Gary mayor Richard Hatcher. | Jeffrey D. Nicholls~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 11, 2012 8:37AM
GARY — Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson will have to get investors to believe in her city if she wants to boost economic development here, said Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., who said he is “something of a mentor” to the other sitting mayors in the area.
McDermott was a guest Wednesday in former Gary Mayor Richard Hatcher’s urban studies class at Indiana University Northwest.
“The people with money don’t have the confidence to invest” in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago, McDermott said. “I think in Hammond, we’re starting to give them confidence, but it’s taken time.”
Elected to his third term last November, McDermott spoke at length of his brief legal career and his political accomplishments while answering questions from students.
He touted the popular College Bound program, which uses casino funds to pay the tuitions of Hammond students whose families own property in the city.
“We’re saying, ‘Buy a house. Keep it nice,’” McDermott said. “It’s like buying stock in a corporation.”
McDermott used his opposition to NIPSCO’s rate increase several years ago to criticize Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. Daniels appointees approved an 8 percent increase in NIPSCO’s rates, McDermott said.
“I want to make Gov. Daniels look like a hypocrite because he is,” the mayor said of the rate increase and Daniels calling on cities to live within property tax caps. “Mitch is holding cities to one standard, but then we get a rate hike approved by five people appointed by Daniels.”
The Hammond mayor said he is the longest-serving mayor in Lake County, along with Whiting Mayor Joe Stahura.
“For some of the younger mayors or some just starting their second terms, I’ve been kind of a mentor to them,” McDermott said.
McDermott, whose father was a three-term Republican Hammond mayor, also spoke of the negative influence of money on American politics, his decision to become a Democrat while in law school and what he called his “outspoken nature.”
“I’m usually the guy recognized as beating up the governor or calling out the Republicans,” he said.
Hatcher lauded McDermott and said he “would not be surprised” if the Hammond mayor moved onto national politics.
Roy Cast, of Gary, was not as convinced. He said McDermott’s visit was relevant for the class work, but Cast also said Hammond doesn’t have the same struggles as Gary.
“I have to believe (McDermott) has an easier deck of cards to deal with, especially with money from that Horseshoe Casino,” Cast said. “But, what do we get when we leave this classroom? I’m going to have to get around pot holes to get home.”
William Mabon, also of Gary, gave McDermott more credit.
“I think (McDermott) answered the students’ questions the best he could considering his constraints,” Mabon said. “After all, he’s still a politician.”
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