Kruzan plans to integrate his goals

Though Mark Kruzan only officially became the Bloomington mayor a week ago, he has been hard at work since his Nov. 4 election when he defeated Republican candidate Fred Prall. During his campaign, Kruzan based his platform on three aspects of concern to him in Bloomington: economic growth, physical growth and the widening income gap. Kruzan said the transition has been an easy one thanks to the support of two important people.\n"(Former Mayor) John Fernandez and Deputy Mayor James McNamara and their staff have been invaluable in making the transition a smooth one," Kruzan said. "I've got more than 400 messages asking for meetings, appointments, positions within the new administration and other things, so it has been very important to have John and James to rely on for assistance and advice."\nFormer Mayor John Fernandez said the shift in power has been a fairly uneventful one.\n"We've had a lot of communication to try to make the transition as productive and helpful as possible," Fernandez said. "It's been a very smooth transition so far, and I think things will continue to go smoothly."\nOne less tranquil period in the changeover from Fernandez to Kruzan came with Kruzan's decision to replace some of Fernandez's staff members. Linda Runkle, who served as Corporation \nCounsel for the city under Fernandez, was replaced when Kruzan took office. In a previous interview with the Indiana Daily Student, Runkle said she is proud of the work she left behind.\n"I thoroughly enjoyed the past eight years with Fernandez, and I would be happy to continue," Runkle said. "But I recognize and understand that each new mayor has an opportunity to choose those people that work directly with them. We leave behind one of the best legal departments in the state, and I think that will help make the transition much easier for the new Corporation Counsel."\nIn addition to staff changes, Kruzan said he has also been meeting with citizens of the Bloomington community as well as his staff to approach the three issues he saw as the biggest challenges facing Bloomington.\n"I've met with many of the same people I met with in the last year, only now I'm able to be speaking with them for advice on how best to manage the city," Kruzan said. "I don't think I realized how much the election was serving as an educational experience. By campaigning, I was able to hear the priorities of hundreds of people, and now I'm in a position to be able to help them address those priorities."\nKruzan said since the election, his focus has shifted towards acting on his campaign issues but that some things remain the same. \n"The 12 to 15 hour days have continued," Kruzan said. "But the focus is now on getting organized internally within city government as opposed to communicating with voters for an election."\nDespite the continued long days, however, Kruzan said he is excited to be serving as Bloomington's mayor.\n"It will be great to be able to actually implement ideas I expressed during the election cycle," Kruzan said. "It's a very exciting time to be building a team to help me do that and to hear from so many people about wanting to help govern Bloomington. I've still got a lot to learn, but the last year has prepared me much better than I'd ever imagined."\n-- Contact staff writer Sarah Schwimmer at sschwimm@indiana.edu.