Colwell: South Bend mayor's race offers a tale of two cities

South Bend Mayor James Mueller says the city is going forward, continuing progress that changed its national image from dying to growing in population and in economic development during the “Mayor Pete” era.

Mueller’s opponents for mayor, Henry Davis Jr., in the Democratic primary, and Desmont Upchurch, unopposed for the Republican nomination, portray the city as going nowhere, progress stalled, schools a mess and crime rising.

Mueller cites areas of progress, from fully staffing the police department to more housing and paving; from continued economic development to continued population growth in Census estimates.

He is buoyed by results of a poll commissioned by his campaign.

In an interview before his State of the City address, Mueller said the poll of likely Democratic voters found 83 percent giving him a positive job approval rating, just 13 percent disapproval, and that by a far better than 2-to-1 margin they saw the city headed in the right direction.

Presumably, likely Republican voters wouldn’t grade as high. Mueller said they will be included in general election polling. His concentration now is on winning the Democratic primary, not only for himself, also for a team of other candidates endorsing him, including six city council Democrats and city clerk candidate Bianca Tirado. He says some supporters are calling the primary “Team Henry vs. Team South Bend.”

Mueller said he is campaigning door to door and will have television advertising in the race with Davis, the council member who was trounced by Mayor Pete Buttigieg in the 2015 primary.

It’s vital to encourage Democratic turnout, Mueller said, not just for picking nominees but in building for victory in November.     “We got a wake-up call last fall,” Mueller said, referring to Republican wins to take control of county government — both Board of Commissioners and County Council — as Democratic voters stayed home in droves.

Column: South Bend mayor looks to continue legacy of progress

The result, he said, is Republican politicization of county government in a way that mirrors the divisive style of Washington and the state legislature.

He cited refusal of the county commissioners to fund a behavioral crisis center long-sought by law enforcement, the sudden decision to close Portage Manor and the denigration of the county Health Department in a way that will affect health initiatives for South Bend.

Mueller acknowledged that the city faces real problems with schools and crime.

While a mayor has no authority over the school system, Mueller said he has sought to work with the schools and that he pushed hard for a bond issue staving off earlier potential fiscal disaster for schools.

Where help is needed most, Mueller said, is from the state legislature, which he sees as hurting public schools, with emphasis on vouchers and charter schools, while providing inadequate funding for traditional public schools and now forcing South Bend to close some schools.

Everybody should be concerned about gun violence, Mueller agreed. He said the “flooding of guns” and their use in assaults comes from the easy access to guns of all kinds due to weak background checks and loopholes and the decision of the state legislature to do away with the requirement for a permit to carry a gun.

He expressed hope that the hiring and training of 16 additional police officers for full staffing, initiatives for investigating and solving crime and the behavioral crisis center, which the city funded when the county wouldn’t, will diminish some violence.

There were 25 fatal shootings and a total of 124 victims of criminal shootings last year. The pace of shootings was off to a slower start this year. Whether that continues or is changed quickly by a mass shooting is unpredictable.

But South Bend is far from a murder capital, no matter how statistics are used.

Nor is it perfectly safe, no matter what Mayor Pete or Mayor Mueller have done.

Voters will decide whether Davis or Upchurch could do better.

Jack Colwell is a columnist for The Tribune. Write to him in care of The Tribune or by email at jcolwell@comcast.net.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Democrats in South Bend mayoral primary race have two views of city