In the first of two WCRD interviews of candidates running for Muncie mayor, Indiana State Rep. Dennis Tyler told Ball State students that he doesn't expect the university to recover funding that was lost to cuts in the state's budget for higher education.
"Probably the most distressing part to me is some of the things we've done in cutting education just hasn't made a lot of sense," Tyler said. "For that funding to come back to the college communities throughout the state of Indiana, we've got to get our tax base back up. We've just lost hundreds of thousands of jobs, and that's what it is."
Ball State tuition rose by 3.9 percent this year for undergraduates and 9.1 percent for graduate students, and is expected to go up by another percent next year due to state budget cuts.
The democratic candidate talked about a range of issues facing Ball State and the Muncie community last night on WCRD's "Radio Sweetheart."
Tyler said the number one issue he would focus on as mayor is job creation.
"I'll use Hamilton County as an example. Right now, it's ranked fifth in the nation for job attractiveness," Tyler said. "There are three key issues when you talk to the people over there who are involved in their economic development. They have a strong public school system, they have a great public parks system and they have a very strong, aggressive infrastructure program."
Tyler said he is optimistic about infrastructure projects in Muncie, saying the community has one of the biggest per-acre parks departments for mid-sized cities in the state.
"Many employers who are looking to locate or relocate, they look at those types of amenities for their employees to have those types of things available to them," Tyler said.
He also acknowledged the riff between Ball State and the Muncie community, something he said turns students off from participating in local elections.
"Once you walk off the Ball State campus, everything you see is governed by the city of Muncie — your streets, your sidewalks, your sewers, the police protection you have or don't have when get outside the Ball State campus and away from the Ball State University Police," Tyler said. "We make a heck of a lot of decisions that mean something to Muncie and to Ball State University."
Tyler also talked about a number of other issues in his hour-long interview:
- Keeping rhetoric between candidates in the upcoming Muncie elections civil.
- Ball State's relationship with charter schools and the lack of accountability for private schools in the state. Tyler said he doesn't support the new Indiana school voucher program without accountability within Indiana's private schools.
- Cleaning up Muncie's image using infrastructure projects and improving public schools.
- Working towards a climate of bipartisanship between city officials.
"Radio Sweetheart" will host Muncie mayor Sharon McShurley tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. on WCRD 91.3.
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