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My name is Robert “Bob” McCasland, and I am campaigning to be the next Mayor and the first full time Mayor of the city of Valparaiso. I was raised here, graduating from Valpo High School in 1969, then on to Ball State University, class of 1973. I married my high school sweetheart, Sharon, in 1974, and we have two grown daughters and two grandchildren. I have owned my own business since 1979 and started another one with my wife in 1993. Sharon and our oldest daughter are both public school teachers in Northwest Indiana, and my youngest is a social worker.
I have been an elected precinct committeeman, served as Valpo’s fourth district city councilman, and ran for mayor in the last election. I can freely say that I am not a party insider. Being a believer in “less government,” I believe in the concept of citizen government, rather than government by career politicians. I feel strongly that anyone who uses an elected office for personal or financial gain is a thief! I had perfect attendance at the city council meetings for all four years that I served the people of the fourth district, and I never missed a vote. I will be your full time mayor, leaving my business if elected.
I have been active in the Valparaiso Elks Lodge 500 for many years, being elected twice to the position of Exalted Ruler and leading our lodge last year to a gain in membership. This halted a sad decline that has plagued many fraternal organizations in Valparaiso. I am an honorary member of the Valparaiso FOP Lodge 76. I was a Valpo American softball coach and am the proud father of a TJMS Science Olympiad national champion in Atlanta on the 1996 team. We have supported the team every year since.
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The Costas administration has spent the last eight years taking Federal grants to benefit only a few areas of the city, with a large cost to the citizens. “We are not spending your money, but federal money!” is the cry from city hall, but the government only spends money from your pockets!
These grants also come with strings attached, which means that we lose local control of the money as they require us to meet certain standards in order to qualify. They rarely pay to maintain the projects they are paying us to complete. For example, they paid for buses, but no maintenance, fuel, employees, tires, or management costs. And then we charge a fare that will never even pay for half the cost of running the system. Who are we really trying to help with a system that has no chance to succeed on its own, which will result in a drain on the taxpayers? The city of Valparaiso plans to spend over $730,000.00 of just local tax money in 2013 to support a system that is expected to generate only $195,000.00 from the fare box, with another $400,000.00 coming from Valparaiso University. The system doesn’t even serve our disabled or elderly citizens, or create any real jobs!
Let’s talk about ethics for a moment; I will push for a real ethics ordinance which will cover all the people who spend your money or who work for tax dollars. As I stated earlier, the use of an elected office for personal or financial gain is wrong; sometimes it results in criminal charges like the past Mayor of East Chicago.
Other times it just involves personal embarrassment as with an Indiana house representative. But it isn’t covered by Valparaiso’s ethics ordinance. Neither is campaign reform: I will only accept $100.00 campaign donations from anyone. This includes unions, vendors, PACs, and other special interest groups. I will work only for the citizens of Valparaiso and to better their lives in any way possible. Other elected officials claim that the money doesn't influence them, if that was true, why send them the money!!
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Now this IS leadership!
As Mayor I will make good sustainable jobs the top priority of this administration. Not buses to move people
to out - of - town jobs , but good jobs in the community. People that work and live in the same area are more
involved in schools, parks, drug reduction, and the upkeep of the whole community. There is a feeling of
involvement that comes with the feeling of “home” that gives a city its soul. We need to take our community
back and put our hearts in our “home.” I know some will say that this is an old-fashioned idea, but the less
time you travel to and from work the more time you have for family.
City drainage will also be a priority of this administration; new developments will have to be built to co-exist
with existing and additional drainage needs. We must stop trying to put ten gallons of water in a five gallon
bucket; it just doesn’t work!
Another area of concern to this candidate is the failure of the current administration to plan ahead and involve
all departments in our planning; we still seem to tear up streets just after we finish paving them. I also don’t
feel that the streets we do pave seem to hold up very well; this is because we are simply paving over the problems. We aren’t correcting the core deficiency of our older streets. These streets will continue to be the backbone of this city and must be maintained accordingly. This IS leadership!
Thank you for taking the time to get to know me a little better. I hope my ideas to get Valpo back to a great
place to live, WORK, and shop are something you can support with your hard-earned money, as well as your most
important right—your vote!
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Thank you --Bob McCasland
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