Published: October 13, 2009 11:38 pm      

Goodnight quizzed over minority hiring

Economy, employment among concerns at ‘Mayor’s Night Out.’

At a meeting with city residents Tuesday, a Kokomo minister asked Mayor Greg Goodnight how many African-Americans his administration has hired in the past two years.

The Rev. Charles Glenn also wanted to know the percentage of African-Americans on the city payroll.

Goodnight and several city officials met with approximately 50 residents during the quarterly “Mayor’s Night Out.” The meetings are intended to allow residents to ask questions of the administration.

“I can count on one hand the number of full-time people I have hired,” Goodnight said. Later, he said he has hired just three.

Because of the economy and its effect on city finances, the mayor said he is not in a position to add workers or award pay increases. But due to a federal grant, the police department will be able to hire five new officers after Jan. 1, he said.

“You’re not coming up with the answer I’m looking for,” Glenn said. “I will get the information and call you for a meeting. Many of us here are retired from Chrysler or Delphi, but we have a lot of family members looking for employment. They can’t get hired.”

Les Ellison, a member of the Howard County Council, said he has brought up the subject of minority hiring with county officials. Because of a hiring freeze, however, he said he is “powerless”.

Former city councilman Bob Hayes, a member of the Carver Center board, asked Goodnight to make a good-faith effort to fill some of the officer positions with minorities.

Police Maj. Brian Seldon said there are two African-American candidates that are eligible to be hired. He added that in the last recruiting class, only one African-American woman applied for a job with the police department.

Blacks make up 10.4 percent of Kokomo’s 46,235 residents, according to the Census Bureau.

Goodnight said Kokomo is trying its best to attract jobs to the city.

“A lot of times we don’t meet the criteria. Companies are looking for interstate access,” he said. “Something we will have in 2014 when the new bypass is limited access at the interchanges.”

Goodnight said the city is attempting to position itself for future investment. He noted Chrysler is the largest employer between Indianapolis and Gary.

“Howard County leads the state in the number of people who work here and live elsewhere,” he said. “That means they pay taxes and their community involvement is outside of Kokomo. We can make our city attractive to people, we can address that.”

Another question dealt with the city’s drug problem and the need for treatment centers instead of prison sentences.

“It is a problem in every community,” Goodnight said. “We’re dealing with more problems with less money.”

He said the state used to take care of drug and alcohol treatment. But because of fiscal constraints, Indianapolis is requiring communities to provide that treatment through unfunded mandates.

Goodnight said the city is willing to work with agencies that offer parenting classes.

“The problem is the people that need the classes won’t attend,” he said.

Hayes said the Carver Center would explore offering the classes.

• Ken de la Bastide is the Kokomo Tribune enterprise editor. He can be reached at 765-454-8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com