Pete Buttigieg served as
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
of
South Bend
South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...
,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
from 2012 to 2020. Elected in
2011 as a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, he took office in January 2012 at the age of 29, becoming the second-youngest mayor in South Bend history, and the youngest incumbent mayor, at the time, of a U.S. city with at least 100,000 residents. During his mayoralty, he acquired the nickname "Mayor Pete".
Coming out as
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
in 2015, Buttigieg became the first elected official in Indiana to come out while in office, as well as the highest-ranking Indiana elected official to come out. Buttigieg won reelection in
2015. Buttigieg opted against running for reelection in
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, instead launching
a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in the
2020 United States presidential election.
Buttigieg focused on urban development during his tenure. As mayor, Buttigieg supported numerous private developments. He also oversaw the sale of numerous city-owned properties to private owners. A key initiative of Buttigieg's first term was his Vacant and Abandoned Properties Initiative, also known as "1,000 Properties in 1,000 Days". This initiative reached its goal of repairing or demolishing 1,000
blighted properties across the city. In his second term, Buttigieg completed two major infrastructure projects, a $150 million "Smart Sewer" project and a $25 million
complete streets
Complete streets is a transportation policy and design approach that requires streets to be planned, designed, operated and maintained to enable safe, convenient and comfortable travel and access for users of all ages and abilities regardless of ...
program named "Smart Streets". Buttigieg also took a number of steps to commit the city of South Bend to greater environmental stewardship.
Buttigieg's early tenure had been marred by a scandal involving
South Bend Police Department Chief Darryl Boykins illegally recording officers. This led to Buttigieg demoting Boykins, and ultimately asking for his resignation. The firing of the city's first
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
police chief sparked backlash.
Election and transition
Buttigieg was elected
mayor of South Bend in the November 2011 election, with 10,991 of the 14,883 votes cast (74%).
In 2011, as South Bend's mayor-elect, Buttigieg supported
John Broden in his successful bid to become St. Joseph County Democratic Party chairman. Buttigieg took office on January 1, 2012 at the age of 29, becoming the second-youngest mayor in South Bend history (
Schuyler Colfax III had become mayor in 1898 at the age of 28), and the youngest incumbent mayor, at the time, of a U.S. city with at least 100,000 residents.
Buttigieg was sworn in on January 1, 2012 by former congressman
Romano Mazzoli
Romano Louis "Ron" Mazzoli (November 2, 1932 – November 1, 2022) was an American politician and lawyer from Kentucky.
He represented Louisville, Kentucky, and its suburbs in the United States House of Representatives from 1971 through 1995 as ...
at
Century Center
The Century Center Convention Center, designed by architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee, broke construction in 1974 and opened in 1977, has been managed by SMG since July, 2013. The center, built on the banks of the West Race canal, overlo ...
.
First term
Housing, urban development and blight removal initiatives
In February 2012, soon after taking office, to address allegations of improperly awarded contracts and misallocated funds in the Housing Authority of South Bend, Buttigieg, along with the board of the housing authority, requested that the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...
conduct a "full audit and investigation"
In 2013, federal officials outlined "dire" mismanagement and financial problems, and faulted the board with failure to provide proper oversight to the agency and catch its problems.
In October 2014, after the board failed to present a plan to resolve the agency's problems, the federal officials encouraged Buttigieg to take initiative actions, including recommending that he explore "the possibility of replacing all or some existing board members".
In January 2015, after all six of the board's members either resigned or saw their terms expire, Buttigieg appointed six new members.
As mayor, Buttigieg promoted the transformation of the former
Studebaker plant location into a technology park named
Ignition Park
Ignition Park is a technology park under development in South Bend, Indiana, United States on roughly of land south of the city's downtown that were formerly the site of the Studebaker manufacturing complex. Though originally the park was only ar ...
. He also supported the development of the "Renaissance District" located near the technology park.
Buttigieg was involved in the creation of a nightly laser-light display along downtown South Bend's St. Joseph River trail as public art. The project cost $700,000, which was raised from private funds.
The "River Lights" installation was unveiled in May 2015 as part of the city's 150th anniversary celebrations.
By the end of Buttigieg's first term, South Bend had sold off 71 city-owned properties.
An example was the former
Bendix Corporation headquarters and factory, which the city sold to Curtis Products in 2014.
[ In late 2014 and early 2015, South Bend negotiated the sale of the city-owned Blackthorn Golf Course.] The LaSalle Hotel was sold to developers in 2015 for conversion into apartments.[ Also in 2015, the city sold the former site of the College Football Hall of Fame to JSK Hospitality.
One of Buttigieg's signature programs was the Vacant and Abandoned Properties Initiative. Known locally as "1,000 Properties in 1,000 Days", it was a project that aimed to repair or demolish blighted properties across South Bend.] In late September, Buttigieg announced that the program had reached its goal three months before its scheduled end date in November 2015, declaring that more than 1,000 homes had either been demolished or refurbished. By the thousandth day of the program, before Buttigieg's first term ended, the city was reporting that more than 1,000 homes had either been demolished or repaired. In 2019, Buttigieg would acknowledge that many of the homes demolished had been in communities of color, and that this had led to early distrust between his administration and these communities.
Buttigieg set aside $2 million in his 2014 budget to create comprehensive plans for corridors along Lincoln Way West and Western Avenue. This would lead to improvements that began to be implemented in 2019.
Policing
South Bend adopted the National Network for Safe Communities' Group Violence Intervention approach in 2014, launching the South Bend Group Violence Intervention program.
During Buttigieg's first term, the city's police force continued to struggle with a high homicide rate, a problem which preceded his tenure. The annual number of murders in South Bend was 18 in 2012, 9 in 2013, 17 in 2014, and 7 in 2015.[
]
Darryl Boykins
In 2012, after a federal investigation ruled that South Bend police had illegally recorded telephone calls of several officers, Buttigieg demoted police chief Darryl Boykins. Boykins had first been appointed in 2008 by Mayor Stephen Luecke and reappointed by Buttigieg earlier in 2012. Buttigieg also dismissed the department's communications director, the one who had actually "discovered the recordings but continued to record the line at Boykins' command". The police communications director alleged that the recordings captured four senior police officers making racist remarks and discussing illegal acts. The city is 26% black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
, but only 6% of the police force is black. Buttigieg has written that his "first serious mistake as mayor" came shortly after taking office in 2012, when he decided to ask for Boykins's resignation. The city's first ever African American police chief accepted the request. However, the next day, backed by supporters and legal counsel, Boykins requested reinstatement. When Buttigieg denied this request, Boykins sued South Bend for racial discrimination, making the argument that such a taping policy had been present under previous white police chiefs. Buttigieg settled the suits brought by Boykins and the four officers out of court for over $800,000. A federal judge ruled in 2015 that Boykins's recordings violated the Federal Wiretap Act. He called for the eradication of racial bias in the police force. Buttigieg's handling of the matter, including his ousting of Boykins, was seen as hurting his relationship with the city's African American community.
During his 2020 presidential campaign, Buttigieg came under pressure from political opponents to release the tapes, but said that doing so would be a violation of the Wiretap Act. Since 2012, the South Bend Common Council (city council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
) had been fighting in court for the mayors' office to comply with a subpoena of the police department that the Council had issued for the audio recordings in question. The subpoena had been issued to facilitate their investigation of Boykins' removal as police chief. However, the officers' featuring in the recordings have fought the Common Council in court to block the public release. In April 2019, St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Steven Hostetler ruled that the effort by the Common Council to obtain the tapes had legal merit warranting a trial. On May 10, 2021, St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Steven Hostetler found the officers lacked legal standing
Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...
to prevent the Council from being given the recordings. The officers appealed the ruling in a brief filed with the Indiana Court of Appeals
The Indiana Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the state of Indiana. It is the successor to the Indiana Appellate Court.
History
The Indiana Appellate Court was created by the Indiana General Assembly by statute in 1 ...
. The appeals court reversed Hostetler's ruling. This opened the possibility of a trial to block the release. In August 2022, the Common Council filed an appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court.
Other civic matters
In June 2012, fulfilling a campaign promise, Buttigieg hosted an economic summit for the city.
In his first year of office, Buttigieg oversaw an update of the city's phone and email systems as well as a redesign of the city's website. In 2013, Buttigieg oversaw the city's launching of a 3-1-1
3-1-1 is a special telephone number supported in many communities in Canada and the United States. The number provides access to non-emergency municipal services. The number format follows the N11 code for a group of short, special-purpose loca ...
system.
In May 2013, the city put in place its first shared lane marking
A shared lane marking, shared-lane marking, or sharrow is a street marking installed at various locations worldwide, such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Spain, and the United States. This marking is placed in the travel lane to indicate where ...
for cyclists
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of Bicycle, cycles for transport, recreation, Physical exercise, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", ...
.
In January 2013, Buttigieg joined the national group Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Everytown for Gun Safety is an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was created in 2013 when Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America joined forc ...
.
Buttigieg took some steps to address the city's environmental impact in his first term. In 2014, Buttigieg reconvened the city's Green Ribbon Commission. This had first been established in 2009 by his predecessor, Luecke, to assess ways to reduce city's negative impact on the environment. He also created an Office of Sustainability within the city's Energy Office.
In his budget proposal for the 2014 fiscal year, Buttigieg proposed combining South Bend's Code Enforcement, Animal Control, and Building Department into a single Department of Building Services to save costs and improve efficiency.[ The proposal failed, and the three have remained separate departments.
]
Service in Afghanistan
Buttigieg served for seven months in Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called R ...
, returning to the United States on September 23, 2014. While deployed, he was assigned to the Afghan Threat Finance Cell, a counterterrorism unit that targeted Taliban insurgency
{{Infobox military conflict
, partof = the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the Afghanistan conflict
, image = 2021 Taliban Offensive.png
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Map of the 2021 Taliban of ...
financing. In his absence, Deputy Mayor Mark Neal, South Bend's city comptroller, served as executive from February 2014 until Buttigieg returned to his role as mayor in October 2014.
RFRA opposition and coming-out
In 2015, during the controversy over Indiana Senate Bill 101—which was widely criticized for allowing discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people—Buttigieg emerged as a leading opponent of the legislation. Amid his reelection campaign, in a June 2015 piece published in the '' South Bend Tribune'', he came out
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
as gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
to express his solidarity with the LGBTQ community. By coming out, Buttigieg became Indiana's first openly gay elected executive. He was the first elected official in Indiana to come out while in office, and the highest elected official in Indiana to come out.[
]
Second term
Reelection in 2015
In 2014, Buttigieg announced that he would seek a second term in 2015. He won the Democratic primary with 78% of the vote, defeating Henry Davis Jr., the city councilman from the second district. In November 2015, he was elected to his second term as mayor with over 80% of the vote, defeating Republican Kelly Jones by a margin of 8,515 to 2,074 votes.
Environment
In 2017, Buttigieg signed onto Climate Mayors' statement in response to President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. Also in 2017, Buttigieg signed onto "We Are Still In", voicing South Bend's commitment to the goals of the Paris Agreement. In 2018, he joined the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. Also in 2018, Buttigieg signed the "Pledge to Repower Indiana" letter, urging utility companies to supply 100% clean energy.
In 2019, Buttigieg signed onto the "Mayors for Solar Energy" letter resolving to make solar power
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovolta ...
a key element of the city. In April 2021, more than a year after he left office, the city of South Bend would be awarded "Gold" designation by the group SolSmart (their highest designation) in recognition of its efforts in easing the adoption of solar power for its residential and commercial buildings.
In April 2019, the South Bend Common Council approved Buttigieg's request to enable his administration to develop a city climate plan. That month Buttigieg contracted with the Chicago firm Delta Institute to develop a plan. In late November 2019, the Common Council voted 7–0 to approve the resultant "Carbon Neutral 2050" plan, setting the goal of meeting the Paris Agreement's 26% emission reduction by 2025, and aiming for a further reductions of 45% by 2035.
Buttigieg, in a February 2019 appearance on ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second ...
'' promoting his exploration of a presidential run, expressed a belief attributing to climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
's impact on extreme weather events the phenomenon of a 500-year flood impacting South Bend in 2018 only eighteen months after a 1,000-year flood impacted the city in 2016.
Housing and urban development
In a new phase of the Vacant and Abandoned Properties Initiative, South Bend partnered with the Notre Dame Clinical Law Center to provide free legal assistance to qualifying applicants wishing to acquire vacant lots and, with local nonprofits, to repair or construct homes and provide low-income home ownership assistance using South Bend HUD (Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...
) funds. He increased city funding levels for home construction and improvement in the 2018 South Bend budget via several programs, including the UEA (Urban Enterprise Association) Pilot Home Repair Program, a grant intended to improve low-income residents' quality of life.[
]
As a further part of the development of the city's "Renaissance District", in 2016, South Bend partnered with the State of Indiana and private developers to break ground on a $165 million renovation of the former Studebaker complex, with the aim of making the complex home to tech companies and residential condos.[ In 2017, it was announced that the long-abandoned Studebaker Building 84 (also known as "Ivy Tower") would have its exterior renovated with $3.5 million in Regional Cities funds from the State of Indiana and $3.5 million from South Bend ]tax increment financing Tax increment financing (TIF) is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects in many countries, including the United States. The original intent of a TIF program is ...
, with plans for the building and other structures in its complex to serve as a technology hub.
While many aspects of South Bend had improved by 2016, a Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
study found that the rate of eviction
Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosed by a mortgagee (often, the prior owners who defaulted on a mortgag ...
s in the city had worsened, more than doubling since Buttigieg took office.
Buttigieg supported a proposed high-rise development in South Bend's East Bank neighborhood that would greatly exceed the existing height ordinances. In the weeks after the Common Council voted against the development in December 2016, Buttigieg and his administration negotiated a new compromise plan with the developer, Matthews LLC, that reduced the height from twelve stories to nine. In January 2017, the Common Council voted to approve a ten-year tax abatement
A tax holiday is a temporary reduction or elimination of a tax. It is synonymous with tax abatement, tax subsidy or tax reduction. Governments usually create tax holidays as incentives for business investment. Tax relief can be provided in the ...
for the $35 million development. In February, the Common Council raised the height limits for the East Bank neighborhood to facilitate the development.[ The city later committed $5 million in tax increment financing to the project.
In 2017, after complaints from downtown business owners about a homeless encampment that had formed under the Main Street railroad viaduct, Buttigieg assembled a 22-member task force to develop recommendations to prevent such encampments from forming. The task force's report recommended a gateway center and permanent supportive housing project, which would have a "housing first" approach that would provide immediate shelter regardless of behavioral or substance abuse issues. However, this project was scrapped by the city, due to an inability to find a location due to ]NIMBY
NIMBY (or nimby), an acronym for the phrase "not in my back yard", is a characterization of opposition by residents to proposed developments in their local area, as well as support for strict land use regulations. It carries the connotation that ...
ism. Those living near prospective locations had opposed the establishment of such a facility near their properties. The city instead opted to attempt a scattered-site housing approach with participating landlords.
Poorer neighborhoods of South Bend were shown to have a high incidence of lead poisoning among its youth. Buttigieg was originally reluctant to tackle the issue himself, arguing citizens should pressure the state government to act. However, after pressure from citizens groups, as well as an editorial in the '' South Bend Tribune'' urging him to act, Buttigieg worked to address the problem. The city, in 2017, committed $100,000, contingent on the city also receiving a roughly $3 million grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...
to address the problem. The city, however, had their grant application rejected. By late 2017, Buttigieg's administration was partnering with a private group to address the problem. In December 2018, Buttigieg announced that the city government, in partnership with the St. Joseph County Health Department, had received $2.3 million from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to remediate residences with lead paint
Lead paint or lead-based paint is paint containing lead. As pigment, lead(II) chromate (, "chrome yellow"), lead(II,IV) oxide, (, "red lead"), and lead(II) carbonate (, "white lead") are the most common forms.. Lead is added to paint to accele ...
.
In November 2017, at the Buttigieg administration's recommendation, the South Bend Common Council approved a property tax abatement for a planned $9 million five-story office building. The building would break ground in April 2019, marking the first new construction in the city's business core in over two decades.
Buttigieg's budget proposal for the 2018 fiscal year included items to address various public health concerns, including funding for a "healthy homes" program,[ which was ultimately included in the 2018 budget approved by the Common Council.]
In September 2018, Buttigieg voiced concern about a number of issues regarding the Housing Authority of South Bend, calling for reforms to be made. The following month, he presented its board with a letter outlining several problems, and declaring that the Housing Authority of South Bend had risen to the "top tier of priorities for my administration, and will receive sustained attention from my office for the balance of my time as mayor."
In January 2019, Buttigieg launched the South Bend Home Repair initiative. This expanded the existing South Bend Home Repair Pilot, which helps make available funds to assist residents with home repairs, through the use of $600,000 in city funding (double what the city had earlier pledged to the program) and $300,000 in block grants. It also created two new programs. The first of these is the South Bend Green Corps, which makes funds available to lower-income homeowners for such uses as energy-saving measures and basic weatherization, the installation of smoke
Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-produc ...
and carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...
detectors, lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
tests, and energy bill review. It also provides education on reducing energy bills.[ The South Bend Green Corps was funded with $290,000 from the city and $150,000 from AmeriCorps.][ The second program is Love Your Block, which assists citizen groups and local nonprofits in revitalizing neighborhoods, and which was funded with $25,000 from the city and $25,000 from the nonprofit Cities of Service.][
By one account, by the year 2019, the city had seen $374 million in private investment for mixed-use developments since Buttigieg had taken office.][ By another account, during Buttigieg's tenure, Downtown South Bend alone had seen roughly $200 million in private investment.
]
Infrastructure and transportation
In 2013, Buttigieg proposed a "Smart Streets" urban development program to improve South Bend's downtown area, and in early 2015—after traffic studies and public hearings—he secured a $25 million bond issue for the program backed by tax increment financing Tax increment financing (TIF) is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects in many countries, including the United States. The original intent of a TIF program is ...
. Smart Streets was a complete streets
Complete streets is a transportation policy and design approach that requires streets to be planned, designed, operated and maintained to enable safe, convenient and comfortable travel and access for users of all ages and abilities regardless of ...
implementation program. Smart Streets was aimed at improving economic development and urban vibrancy as well as road safety. The project involved the conversion of one-way streets in downtown to two-way streets, traffic-calming measures, the widening of sidewalks, streetside beautification (including the planting of trees and installation of decorative brickwork), the addition of bike lanes and the introduction of roundabouts. Elements of the project were finished in 2016, and it was officially completed in 2017. The project was credited with spurring private development in the city. In 2016, the project received the national awards for "Complete Streets" and "Overall Success" at the United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States a ...
's Safer People, Safer Streets Summit.
Under Buttigieg, the city also began a "Smart Sewer" program, the first phase of which was finished in 2017 at a cost of $150 million. The effort utilized federal funds and by 2019 had reduced the combined sewer overflow by 75%. The impetus for the effort was a fine that the EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
had levied against the city in 2011 for Clean Water Act violations. However, Buttigieg also, in 2019, sought for the city to be released from an agreement with the EPA brokered under his mayoral predecessor Steve Luecke, in which South Bend had agreed to make hundreds of millions dollars in further improvements to its sewer system by 2031.
Buttigieg was involved in bringing a bike sharing
A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost.
The programmes themselves include bot ...
service run by LimeBike to the city. The service launched in July 2017 as a pilot program. South Bend was the third American city in which LimeBike had launched operations. It was reported that, within the service's first year, it saw 290,000 individual rides. In 2019, Lime withdrew its service from the city amid the company's decision to end its bike sharing service in order to focus solely on scooter sharing. In October 2019, Buttigieg signed into law a comprehensive shared mobility ordinance. This ordinance would, among other things, give the city controller the power to order shared mobility vendors, similar to Lime, to designate locations where devices could be stored when not being used.
In 2018, South Bend was designated as a silver-level "Bike Friendly Community" by the League of American Bicyclists
The League of American Bicyclists (LAB), officially the League of American Wheelmen, is a membership organization that promotes cycling for fun, fitness and transportation through advocacy and education.
A Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizat ...
. South Bend was only the second city in the state of Indiana to receive the group's silver level "Bike Friendly Community" designation.
Effective July 22, 2017, the Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...
revoked the city's quiet zone on the very active tracks (Norfolk Southern
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...
's Chicago Line and Canadian National
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN ...
's South Bend Subdivision) that run through the city, demanding that median barriers be installed at roughly eleven grade crossings and that other deficiencies be remedied. This had come as a surprise to Buttigieg and the rest of the city government when it occurred on July 22, as the letter from the Federal Rail Administration giving prior notice to the city had been mistakenly addressed to a former city attorney that had been deceased for six years. Buttigieg worked to get quiet zones restored, making changes to railroad crossings. By September of that year, part of South Bend's quiet zone was restored. Buttigieg was able to get even more of the city's quiet zone restored, completing phase one of the city's quiet zone project by June 2019 on the west side of the city
South Bend's road infrastructure experienced issues with potholes. In 2018, Ed Stemmler of the ''South Bend Tribune'' wrote that the city's pothole situation at the time might have been the "worst in recent memory".
In September 2019, the city of South Bend finalized a long-anticipated agreement with St. Joseph County to jointly fund the county's $18 million share of the project to double-track
A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track.
Overview
In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most li ...
the South Shore Line
The South Shore Line is an electrically powered interurban commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago and the South Bend International Airport ...
.[ Buttigieg was a supporter of efforts to double-track the South Shore Line.
]
Beginning in August 2018, Buttigieg promoted the idea of moving the city's South Shore Line station from South Bend International Airport to the city's downtown. He made it a goal to have the city complete this project by 2025. Buttigieg's earlier budgets had allotted funding to the existing South Shore Relocation project,[ which would have moved the station to a different end of the South Bend International Airport. Buttigieg had, prior to advocating for a downtown station, been supportive of the existing plans to relocate the station to a different end of the airport. Buttigieg's new push for a downtown station engendered suggestions of other possible locations. Buttigieg ordered a study of five location options, including his personally preferred downtown option, as well as two that would keep the station at the airport. Of the five, the downtown location was found to be the priciest, but also the one with the greatest potential economic impact. In December 2018, an engineering study was commissioned to further examine the cost of a downtown station.][
In 2019, South Bend launched Commuters Trust, a new transportation benefit program created in collaboration with local employers and transportation providers (including South Bend Transpo and ]Lyft
Lyft, Inc. offers mobility as a service, ride-hailing, vehicles for hire, motorized scooters, a bicycle-sharing system, rental cars, and food delivery in the United States and select cities in Canada. Lyft sets fares, which vary using a dyn ...
). This program was made possible by a $1 million three-year grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies
Bloomberg Philanthropies is a philanthropic organization that encompasses all of the charitable giving of founder Michael R. Bloomberg. Headquartered in New York City, Bloomberg Philanthropies focuses its resources on five areas: the environmen ...
Mayors Challenge.
In his position as mayor of South Bend, Buttigieg shared authority over the bus system, South Bend Transpo, with the mayor of Mishawaka
Mishawaka is a city on the St. Joseph River, in Penn Township, St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 51,063 as of the 2020 census. Its nickname is "the Princess City". Mishawaka is a principal city of the South Be ...
. After South Bend Transpo CEO David Cangany was fired in 2018 for both being abusive towards staff and charging personal expenditures to the transit agency, Buttigieg supported changes that the agency put in place to prevent these sorts of issues from recurring under any future CEO.
Parks and green spaces
In 2017, a new Venues Parks & Arts department was created in South Bend's government, merging two existing departments.
Under Buttigieg, South Bend invested $60 million in the city's parks, many of which had been neglected during the preceding decades. On August 23, 2017, the city's Venues Parks & Arts department first announced plans to spend $50 million on parks. It was planned that $19 million would come from private and outside funding, tax increment financing would cover $11 million, and $18 million would come from park bonds (both new and existing). The city ultimately secured $20 million in outside funding for parks investments, with money coming from such sources as the Indiana's Regional Cities initiative, the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians (Potawatomi: Pokégnek Bodéwadmik) are a federally recognized Potawatomi-speaking tribe based in southwestern Michigan and northeastern Indiana. Tribal government functions are located in Dowagiac, Michigan. ...
, and the University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...
. Roughly one third of the investments in parks came from taxes collected from tax increment financing districts. The rest of the investment in parks came from taxes, still being collected, that had originally been created for the purposes of paying for the College Football Hall of Fame.
As part of the investment in parks, from 2018 to 2019, Howard Park, a riverfront park considered to be a centerpiece of the city's park system, underwent an $18.9 million renovation, with the city contributing part of the funding through TIF bonds, and the rest of the funding coming from donations. Howard Park's renovation was the largest expenditure of the city's park improvements. Other investments in parks included a $4.5 expansion and renovation of the Charles Black Community Center, a $900,000 renovation of the clubhouse at the Erskine Park Golf Course, and $2 million in improvements to bathrooms and playgrounds at 40 neighborhood park Neighborhood parks, which generally range in size up to , serve as a social and recreational focal points for neighborhoods and are the basic units of a park system. Many include a playground.
Neighborhood parks provide relief from the built envir ...
s. By the spring of 2019, multi-million dollar upgrades were planned for the city's trail system, as well as Leeper, Pinhook, and Pulaski parks.
Buttigieg made a request in his 2018 budget proposal for $24 million to fund new green spaces in the city[ that was ultimately excluded from the budget.][
Buttigieg had arranged a deal under which the city's parks department would sell Elbel Golf Course to developers for $747,500.] In January 2016, amid public pressure, the city dropped the plan.[ The idea had been floated in 2014, when the city was exploring selling the Blackthorn ]golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
course,[ but began to gain momentum in 2015.] Buttigieg had justified the plan to sell the city-owned golf course by claiming that residents found golf to be a low priority, that the course had failed to turn a profit for over five years, and that the city was subsidizing rounds of golf at about $2 per round.[ Buttigieg characterized the course as a drain on the city's finances.][ Opposition arose, with concerns that the sale would limit public access to the land and endanger the protection of ]wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...
s surrounding it.[ At , Elbel is the city's largest park.] The park, while owned by the city, is outside city boundaries.[ The original plan Buttigieg outlined for the sale would have allowed it to be developed freely by the buyer.][
]
Police and fire services
In late September 2017, in his budget proposal for the 2020 fiscal year, Buttigieg sought Common Council approval to create the new position of Director of Public Safety, which would have oversight over the city's fire and police chiefs. Such a position had existed in South Bend during the mayoralties of Jerry Miller and Peter Nemeth; Nemeth eliminated the position in 1976.[ Buttigieg's budget proposal for the 2018 fiscal year earmarked $105,000 for the position's salary, which was more than the salary of the fire chief or police chief at the time.] The plan was opposed by members of the fire and police forces, including the local Fraternal Order of Police
The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is a fraternal organization consisting of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. It reports a membership of over 355,000 members organized in 2,100 local chapters (lodges), state lodges, and th ...
lodge.[ Criticisms included claims that it was unfair to both the fire and police chiefs to create an additional layer of bureaucracy between them and the mayor.][ The Common Council rejected Buttigieg's proposal,] and he rescinded the request. In late October 2019, it was announced that the South Bend Mayor's Office would have a slightly different new division, the Division of Community Initiatives. This was budgeted to be launched in 2020, when Buttigieg's successor would take office. Buttigieg supported this department's creation.[
In September 2018, South Bend sent roughly 20 members of its fire department's Swift Water Rescue Group to ]Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southe ...
, to assist in anticipation of Hurricane Florence
Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that caused catastrophic damage in the Carolinas in September 2018, primarily as a result of freshwater flooding due to torrential rain. The sixth named storm, third h ...
.
In June 2019, after Eric Logan, an African American man, was shot and killed by a white South Bend police officer, Buttigieg was drawn from his presidential campaign to focus on the emerging public reaction. Body cameras were not turned on during Logan's death. Soon after Logan's death, Buttigieg presided over a town hall attended by disaffected activists from the African-American community as well as relatives of the deceased man. The local police union accused Buttigieg of making decisions for political gain. Buttigieg, in the aftermath of the shooting, promised to give the city's police officers de-escalation training and to advocate for stronger discipline and accountability to be enforced by the police department on its officers. He also directed the police chief to order all of the city's police officers to keep their body cameras activated during all on-duty interactions with civilians. In November 2019, Buttigieg secured $180,000 to commission a review of South Bend's police department policies and practices to be conducted by Chicago-based consulting firm 21CP Solutions.
To address violence in the city, in the 2020 budget, Buttigieg and the Common Council set aside $300,000 in violence prevention grants.
During Buttigieg's second term, the city's police force continued to struggle with a high homicide count: 14 in 2016, 15 in 2017, and 13 in 2018.
During Buttigieg's mayoralty through 2019, the overall crime rate in the city decreased, largely due to a decline in some categories of property crime
Property crime is a category of crime, usually involving private property, that includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime is a crime to obtain money, property, o ...
since 2012. However, the homicide and robbery rates remained roughly the same, and reports of assaults and motor vehicle theft saw large increases. While Buttigieg had attempted to address gun violence
Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, and ...
as mayor, the rate of shooting
Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...
s did not decline.
During a June 2019 Democratic presidential debate, Buttigieg said, "I couldn't get it done" when remarking on his inability as mayor to recruit a diversified police force. By the time he left office, the number of black officers on the police force of roughly 230 officers had fallen by half of what it had been when he took office to only fifteen.
Other matters
In 2016, Buttigieg signed an executive order helping to establish a recognized city identification card. The program is run in partnership with the nonprofit La Casa de Amistad, which produces the ID cards. A December 2016 executive order signed by Buttigieg required police, schools and other government services recognize the cards as a valid form of identification. The program formally launched later that month. Many immigration advocates praised the program's approach for protecting undocumented immigrants
Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...
. In August 2019, Judicial Watch
Judicial Watch (JW) is an American conservative activist group that files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to investigate claimed misconduct by government officials. Founded in 1994, JW has primarily targeted Democrats, in particu ...
launched litigation arguing that, by not disclosing staff emails related to the program, the City of South Bend was acting in violation of Indiana's Access to Public Records Act. In the city's 2019 mayoral election, both the Democratic and Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
mayoral nominees voiced their support for retaining this program.
Buttigieg's budget proposal for the 2018 fiscal year included $156,000 for paid parental leave
Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and ...
to city employees. He was successful in this effort.
Buttigieg had expressed his openness to a proposal by the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians (Potawatomi: Pokégnek Bodéwadmik) are a federally recognized Potawatomi-speaking tribe based in southwestern Michigan and northeastern Indiana. Tribal government functions are located in Dowagiac, Michigan. ...
to open a tribal casino in South Bend. The Common Council approved a casino deal in April 2016, and the Pokagon Band received federal clearance to put the land into a required trust in November 2016. Under a revenue-sharing agreement that the Pokagon Band voluntarily entered into with the city, the city receives the greater of 2% of the casino's annual Class II gaming revenues or either $1 million or $2 million (depending on the number of games at the casino). The casino opened in January 2018 as Four Winds South Bend.
In 2018, Women's Care Center, a crisis pregnancy center chain, petitioned the city to rezone a residential property where they sought to open a location. This location would be adjacent to a planned Whole Woman's Health abortion clinic
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregnan ...
(which would be the only abortion clinic in the city, which had been without one since 2015). The rezoning case became a flashpoint between local anti-abortion activists supporting the rezoning and abortion-rights activists opposing it.[ In April 2018, the city council voted 5–4 to allow the rezoning.][ The group Pro Choice South Bend, which opposed the rezoning, organized a letter-writing campaign and other efforts to urge Buttigieg to use his ]veto
A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...
power to block the rezoning.[ Amid this, Buttigieg's office reportedly reached out to Whole Woman's Health Alliance and discussed various concerns.][ Four days after the Common Council's vote to approve the rezoning, Buttigieg vetoed it, in a decision he described as "one of the hardest decisions I've ever made" as mayor.][ In a letter to Common Council members, Buttigieg said he was persuaded by data provided by the abortion clinic showing that, at abortion clinics near crisis pregnancy centers, there were greater rates of harassment, threats, and violence. Buttigieg was careful not to criticize the crisis pregnancy center, writing that he believed that representatives of both the abortion clinic and the crisis pregnancy center "are good residents who seek to support women by providing services consistent with their values."][ In a press conference he held to explain his veto, he declared, "Issues on the morality or the legality of abortion are dramatically beyond my pay grade as mayor. For us this is a neighborhood issue, and it's a zoning issue."][ In mid-May 2018, Buttigieg said he was willing to work with Women's Care Center to find a different location in the area.][ Women's Care Center eventually opened at a location across the street from the planned abortion clinic.][ When Buttigieg ran for president, some criticized his assistance to Women's Care Center as a failure to stick strongly to his abortion-rights position.][
Also in 2018, Buttigieg explored annexing several areas bordering the city and redrawing the boundaries of several of the city's tax increment financing districts to better serve neighborhoods that had not benefited from redevelopment.]
In August 2018, South Bend pledged a $3.7 million bond issue to assist the Potawatomi Zoo in funding its renovations. In September, it was announced that the zoo renovation had obtained additional funding from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation is a body corporate and politic (i.e., a public-private company) in Indiana that focuses on encouraging business to set up shop or expand their existing operations within the state with tax benefits, g ...
's Regional Cities Initiative.
In August 2018, Buttigieg declared an intent to include a focus on neighborhoods in his budget proposal for the 2019 fiscal year. In addition to improvements to infrastructure, such as streetlight
A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...
s, Buttigieg also promoted the expansion of the city's Group Violence Intervention efforts, which he believed were showing success at reducing violent crime among the city's youth.[ The Common Council approved many of Buttigieg's requests in its 2019 budget.]
Succession as mayor
In December 2018, Buttigieg announced that he would not seek a third term as mayor of South Bend. In February 2019, Buttigieg endorsed James Mueller in the 2019 South Bend mayoral election.[ Mueller was a high-school classmate of Buttigieg's and his mayoral chief of staff, and later executive director of the South Bend Department of Community Investment.][ Mueller's campaign promised to continue the progress that had been made under Buttigieg's mayoralty.] Buttigieg appeared in campaign ads for Mueller and donated to Mueller's campaign. Mueller won the May 2019 Democratic primary with 37% of the vote in a crowded field. In the November 2019 general election, Mueller defeated Republican nominee Sean M. Haas with 63% of the vote. Mueller took office on New Year's Day 2020.
In 2020, the website "Best Cities" ranked South Bend number 39 on its list of the 100 best small cities in the United States, giving much credit to the progress made under Buttigieg.
Speculations about higher office and national political involvement
During his second term, Buttieig began to involve himself in national politics. In the United States Senate election in Indiana he campaigned on behalf of Democratic Senate nominee Evan Bayh
Birch Evans Bayh III ( ; born December 26, 1955) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011 and the 46th governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997.
Bayh ...
and criticized Bayh's opponent, Todd Young
Todd Christopher Young (born August 24, 1972) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator for Indiana, a seat he has held since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, Young previously served as the U.S. re ...
, for having voiced support in 2010 for retaining the military's don't ask, don't tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on Decemb ...
policy, which Bayh had voted to repeal. In the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries
Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 4,051 delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention held July 25–28 and determine the nominee for president in the 2016 United States presidential ...
, Buttigieg endorsed Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
. He also endorsed Democratic nominee Lynn Coleman in that year's election for Indiana's 2nd congressional district
Indiana's 2nd congressional district is an electoral district for the U.S. Congress in Northern Indiana. It includes South Bend and Elkhart.
On November 8, 2022, Republican candidate Rudy Yakym won both the special election, to complete the r ...
, which includes South Bend.
In 2016, columnist Frank Bruni
Frank Anthony Bruni (born October 31, 1964) is an American journalist and long-time writer for ''The New York Times''. In June 2011, he was named an op-ed columnist for the newspaper. His columns appear twice weekly and he also writes a weekly ne ...
of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' published a column praising Buttigieg's work as mayor, with a headline asking speculating whether Buttigieg might one day become "the first gay president". Additionally, Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
was cited as mentioning him as one of the Democratic Party's talents in a November 2016 profile on the outgoing president conducted by ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''.
In January 2017, Buttigieg launched his candidacy for the 2017 Democratic National Committee chairmanship election. He was regarded to be dark horse candidate in the race for the chairmanship, and had the endorsements of former DNC chairman Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 2009 ...
, former Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
governor Martin O'Malley, Indiana senator Joe Donnelly
Joseph Simon Donnelly Sr. (born September 29, 1955) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 2013 to 2019. Since 2022, he has served as the United States Ambassador to the Holy S ...
, and North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...
senator Heidi Heitkamp
Mary Kathryn "Heidi" Heitkamp ( ; born October 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as a United States senator from North Dakota from 2013 to 2019. A member of the North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party, she was the first wom ...
. NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
described Buttigieg as having "campaigned on the idea that the aging Democratic Party needed to empower its millennial
Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s ...
members". He withdrew the morning before the vote was held.
With a rising national profile, Buttigieg made a national late-night talk show appearance, being interviewed on Late Night with Seth Meyers on June 22, 2017.
By the end of 2017, it had been noted that as his national profile increased, Buttigieg increased his out-of-city travel. By early 2018, there was speculation that Buttigieg was looking towards running for either governor or president in 2020. There was some speculation that, despite a presidential bid being a long shot, he could garner enough recognition to become a dark horse contender for the vice presidential slot on the Democratic ticket
Ticket or tickets may refer to:
Slips of paper
* Lottery ticket
* Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start)
* Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...
.
For the 2018 midterms, Buttigieg founded the political action committee Hitting Home PAC
Hitting Home PAC was a 527 organization founded by Pete Buttigieg in 2017. Buttigieg launched the PAC in June 2017, several months after his failed bid for the Democratic National Committee chairmanship in its 2017 election.
Hitting Home PA ...
. That October, Buttigieg endorsed 21 congressional candidates. He also later endorsed Mel Hall, Democratic nominee in the election
''The Election'' () is a political drama series produced by Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV). With a budget of HK$15 million, filming started in July 2014 and wrapped up on 28 October 2014. Popularly voted to be the inaugural drama of ...
for Indiana's 2nd congressional district. Buttigieg also campaigned in support of Joe Donnelly's reelection campaign in the United States Senate election in Indiana. Buttigieg campaigned for candidates in more than a dozen states, including early presidential primary states such as Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
and South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
, a move indicating potential interest in running for president.[
On January 23, 2019, Buttigieg announced that he was forming an exploratory committee to run for ]president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
in the upcoming 2020 election. Buttigieg sought the Democratic Party nomination for president. By the time he left office as mayor in January 2020, Buttigieg had already become a top-tier candidate for the Democratic nomination.
Analysis of Buttigieg's leadership style
A number of writers for outlets such as ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' and HuffPo have described Buttigieg's approach to governance during his tenure as technocratic
Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...
. Alex Seitz-Wald and Adam Edelman of NBC News described Buttigieg as a "delegator".
References
{{s-end
2010s in Indiana
2010s in LGBT history
2012 establishments in Indiana
2020 disestablishments in Indiana
Government of South Bend, Indiana
LGBT in Indiana
Buttigieg, Pete
Pete Buttigieg