Snyder, Clancy tangle in Portage mayor's race
October 30, 2015 - 8:07 PM
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-portage-mayoral-race-st-1101-20151030-story.html
Surviving as a red-blooded Republican in a quintessential blue-collar city is a skill Portage Mayor Jim Snyder has mastered.
Now, that talent is being tested by a veteran Democratic office holder with his eye on City Hall.
In what many describe as the most hotly contested race in the area, Democrat Brendan Clancy, Portage Township trustee and a former city councilman, is taking on Snyder in Tuesday's general election as he asks voters for a second term.
So far, early voting is heavier in Portage than other Porter County communities, according to Porter County officials.
Both men point to strong labor union support, a key to winning elections in a city where union halls are plentiful.
Snyder throttled Democrats in 2011, upsetting former Mayor Olga Velazquez by 237 votes. Snyder lost to Velazquez in 2007 by about the same margin.
Clancy, a pub owner who's married to Porter County Treasurer Michelle Clancy, hopes to return Portage to its Democratic stronghold status.
"I always believed in myself and my leadership ability," Clancy said. "I'm not afraid to attempt something if I think something is wrong."
Clancy thinks Snyder is wrong for Portage. He said Snyder has maxed out the city's credit card with bonds for various projects like paving, new police and fire stations, and a new street department building.
"If we get another Fronius that needs help with debt structure, we can't do it," Clancy said referring to Fronius USA, the Austrian solar inverter producer that moved its U.S. headquarters to Portage in 2011.
Snyder fired back, criticizing the debt load Clancy authorized when he was on the City Council. It included bonding for the University Center project at 6260 Central Ave., recently vacated by Indiana University Northwest because of low enrollment.
The city is now remodeling it with a $2.5 million bond for use as a police station. A new $3.97 million fire station is being built at Founders Square, just east of University Center along Central Avenue in an area Snyder envisions as the city's downtown identity.
In addition, a local developer is planning the $50 million Promenade at Founders Square, a combination of 300 upscale apartments, and retail and commercial businesses on ground floors.
Snyder hails the University Center transformation as an example of the bipartisan teamwork he said he's been able to accomplish in the heavily Democratic City Council. In the May primary, Clancy beat Leo Hatch Jr. with 2,137 votes to 468. Snyder picked up 577 votes, running uncontested in the GOP primary.
Snyder said he inherited a city in 2012 with a $1.9 million deficit and an A- credit rating. He says he built up a $2.5 million surplus and an A-plus credit rating from Standard & Poor's.
He's been sharing his accomplishments with voters in a series of mailings financed by the Citizens for Snyder campaign committee, which raised $193,855 to Clancy's $111,635 in the last reporting period.
"I think the message I took to the people was a positive one about the changes," Snyder said. "My opponent is resting on the fact that he's got a party affiliation. I sat on the debate stage with him for two hours and didn't hear one plan for what he was going to do."
Snyder hasn't followed the traditional GOP path that steers away from labor. When the GOP-dominated General Assembly dismantled Indiana's right-to-work and common wage laws, Snyder opposed the repeals in Indianapolis, as did Clancy.
Snyder also takes credit for automating Portage's garbage pickup, an initiative he says saved the city $1.25 million, and for paving more than a quarter of city streets last year.
Clancy challenges Snyder's union support and motivation.
"I don't think he's all that pro-union," said Clancy. "He does that to get elected. Voters will be able to differentiate."
Clancy, who was honored as the Indiana Trustee of the Year in 2012, said he has plans for the city.
"There will be open and honest government with transparency," he said.
He criticized Snyder for failing to establish a budget for the Redevelopment Commission, despite state law.
Clancy doesn't think Portage needs more apartments, referring to the Founders Square development. Because it's in a tax increment finance zone, the Portage Township Schools won't receive any tax money for students who live in the apartments, Clancy said.
"I would try to establish fiscal responsibility in government itself and a long-term program for downtown development that has a plan that doesn't change every half-hour," he said. "The most important thing is the financial stability of the city."
