Mayor James Mueller and the State of the City: Are you willing to commit to living here?

February 10, 2025

Mayor James Mueller and the State of the City: Are you willing to commit to living here? 

by Margeret Allen, Ph.D.

When Mayor James Mueller speaks about South Bend and the current state of the city and region, you would think that the trajectory rekindled by his predecessor, Pete Buttigieg, has not only stayed the course but surpassed expectations. Boosterism is part of any mayor’s job, but when politicians believe the spin, they and their supporters weave and stop taking self-critical looks at the community; they become deaf to public outcry. Worse still, lack of transparency suggests that these same politicians might as well be mute, as the public can no longer hear the stories politicians share because they are overly laced with rhetoric and too carefully curated to be meaningful. 

“The Hoosier Politician: Office Holding and Political Culture in Indiana 1896 – 1920” tells a history of Indiana politics more than a century ago when politicians had to speak honestly with their constituents and do their best for their communities. The politicians sometimes had to do things for the betterment of the whole, which meant that they had to be able to explain their votes, thinking, and actions to their neighbors. This was not easy business as elected officials were dispatched from their home communities to Indianapolis in an era without instant communications. They had to make decisions and compromises that their neighbors, friends, fellow congregants at church, and others would hold them (and their families) to account for the remainder of their days. 

In rural communities, some of these politicians relied on neighbors to work their fields while representing their region in Indianapolis. This meant that they were accountable to and beholden to their neighbors, yet still their neighbors did not hold the unrealistic expectation that they would be given favors; it was not necessarily a trade, but a responsibility for both the politicians and the neighbors. I fear we’ve lost this sense of doing the right thing because it is right, and too often, we think things are a trade, either a direct trade with our neighbors or some cosmic karmic trade. We need a reality where the trade is neither of those things, or if it is a trade at all, it’s a trade for what we believe to be the betterment of our future collective selves, the betterment of society. 

When those late 19th and early 20th century politicians finished serving their communities, they returned home. Their neighbors would always hold them and their families accountable for what went on during their terms in office. This did not mean their neighbors expected perfection or fealty to the region. It meant that they expected their politicians to serve to the best of their ability with the information they had at the time. If we held our politicians to this standard and if they held themselves to this same standard, it would serve us all very well. Still, the problem is that politicians at the state and national level and now even at the local level don't necessarily have to come home again after they serve. In essence, many politicians today move themselves beyond public reach and any real long-term public accountability, and in the worst instances, we see politicians profiteering from friends (and perhaps favors to those friends) they made while in office.

In recent years, the mayors of South Bend regroup and return home. Roger Parent left the community and returned to his earliest vocation of global service after his tenure as mayor. He returned with his family to South Bend and even served in an elected capacity again with terms on the school board. Parent’s successor left South Bend to serve in Indianapolis and eventually became governor of Indiana, and when he left Indianapolis, he too returned home. Steve Luecke stayed in his home above Leeper Park after his elected service to our community. This trend changed quite reasonably with Pete Buttigieg. 

As the second youngest person ever elected mayor of South Bend, it stands to reason that Buttigieg had several working years ahead of him once his elected service to his hometown ended. Buttigieg’s youth, talent, national profile, and political party affiliation all suggested that there was not a great deal more in the region to offer the Harvard-educated, honorably discharged military man and mayor. Having two young children also made the residential move to Michigan closer to his spouse’s parents seem reasonable. In this era, grandparents helping with young children of their working professional children is common when proximity to grandparents is possible. 

Dr. Mueller promoted a deficit budget in his most recent State of the City address. One of Mueller’s undergraduate degrees is in Mathematics, so he understands that this deficit is about negative $4000 per soul in our city. This is a large-scale deficit, and no plans exist to solve this shortfall. This deficit budget seems more unwise than ever in an era when the federal government is making it quite clear that subsidies from Washington D.C. are less likely than any time in the last eight decades, and partisan politics being what they are, it seems even more unlikely that traditional Democratic communities will receive aid from the national government. 

So, as the mayor’s calendar promises some very rare and modest access to our elected officials, with “Meet the Mayor & His Team” February 13th from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at “The Beacon” 4210 Lincoln Way West in South Bend, IN 46628 and then again at the State of the City address at Joshi Performance Hall (located in Northside Hall) at 1825 Northside Blvd., South Bend, IN 46615 on Tuesday, March 25th, at 6:00 p.m. we need to go with strategic questions. Those questions should include questions about the budget and the wisdom of deficits in the current political climate, questions about the schools in our community and how he plans to work with the school board or to challenge them or both, questions about why vacant Westside properties are not being quickly given away to any new Amazon tech employees who promise to build housing on any property they would like (because we can tax those properties after they build), questions about his commitment to public education given that he himself attended St. Anthony’s in South Bend and St. Joseph High School and then Notre Dame, how does he understand public education and the promises and responsibilities of this American tradition. We should question is commitment to raising the minimum wage in our community, affordable housing for all, and real jobs for real people.

However, if you want to know the future of our community, there is only one question to ask of Dr. Mueller and his spouse, Kellye Mitros, an official at the University of Notre Dame.  It is the question of the Hoosier politician, ‘where will you live in five years?’ You see, Mueller and Mitros have a lifestyle in our community that they cannot sustain when he leaves office. The Mueller administration has not created the kinds of jobs that working-class people need nor the kinds of jobs that a homegrown talent like Mueller can sustain at this point in his career, as there are not entry-level jobs that pay the equivalent of his mayoral salary ($122,900 in 2024), not even for talented middle-aged people, like Mueller, who grew up here. 

So, the only question we need to ask of James Mueller and his spouse is where they plan to live if they don’t get some sweetheart deal from Notre Dame for the lame-duck mayor. Where will they go to work, play, and thrive? What will the schools there be like? What about the housing situation? What about Civil Rights? How will the police there treat citizens? How much debt per citizen will that community carry? And most importantly, if he can’t take us all with them, will he remember that his successes have been predicated on the backs of laborers, taxpayers, and failed programs here in South Bend? 

If Mueller can’t promise to reinvigorate the city in a manner suitable for middle-aged professionals by the time he leaves office, he should step aside now and turn over our community to those who demonstrate that they intend to be here. If South Bend is not going to be sustainable, we all should know this sooner than later. The mayor should act with integrity and transparency now so that the rest of us can also plan accordingly. The promises that Buttigieg and his hand-chosen successor made need to become a reality sooner than later; there must be an expiration clock on their promises, and we do not just need cosmetic upgrades and new facades on old structures, promises, and politicians, but we need real civil rights, housing, safety, educational and retraining opportunities, and jobs that pay living wages. 

Dr. Mueller, where will you live and work in ten years? Ms. Mitros, how about you? Is our community on a trajectory that can support each of you and your goals, and if not, do you have any ideas on how we might get there? If you think we are on a trajectory that will sustain you, then fill the rest of us in not with rhetoric and spin but with the hard truths and sacrifices that must be made to achieve the kind of community that will be sustainable for you both and the rest of our diverse citizenry. 

About the Author: Margaret Allen is the pseudonym of a local PhD professor who wishes to remain anonymous due to concerns about social and political backlash.

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