Mayor Pete Buttigieg announced today that he will not run for a third term as mayor of South Bend. Some excerpts of his remarks are printed below:
“When I returned home to South Bend just over a decade ago, I did so hoping I could get involved and make a difference in my hometown. Very quickly I found that this city became my life, not just my home.”
“In 2011, hard to believe, but eight years ago, South Bend took a chance on a rookie mayor, and elected me to a four-year term, when we were able to build a team that helped change the trajectory of our city. In those years, among many other things, we strengthened our neighborhoods by addressing over a thousand vacant homes, we reached across the aisle and teamed up with the state and the business community to establish that South Bend was open for business- seeing thousands of new jobs created and hundreds of millions in new investment, we kept the campaign promise in establishing a 311 center and transformed how our city serves its residents, and closed out that first term with a citywide 150th anniversary celebration that was a chance to cement our community’s newfound belief in itself.”
“As that term came to an end in 2015, some asked if I was going to leave to pursue higher office. But the way I saw it, I couldn’t think of an office that ranked higher in my world than the one I already held, right then in 2015. I asked for the chance to serve again, and voters gave me that chance. In this second term,we have seized the opportunity to delivering results and keep driving changes the community needed. We delivered a new streetscape that transformed our downtown and set the stage for new hotels -everything from the revitalized chase tower, now liberty tower, to a new face for the Studebaker building and tons of development in between, we made major strides in diversity and inclusion, we established new capabilities in the administration and supported small businesses and minority owned businesses with new resources, we’ve reimagined the relationship the city has to technology, and we have undertaken a transformation of our shared public spaces that is underway right now with the level of resources and commitment that we haven’t been able to bring to bear in a century in this city. The city has built a gathering reputation winning awards and recognition nationally and internationally for the work.”
“Now, the time has also come to ask myself whether to seek a third term. I have been humbled and flattered by those who have asked me to serve again, from long-time supporters, who believed in us from the begging, to residents I run into along the way.”
“Serving this city has been the great honor of my life. Even on our toughest days, I have taken enormous satisfaction in the progress we have been able to make, and above all, in the team of talented and dedicated public servants like the people you see at my side right now.”
“For most of a decade, I have given everything that I can to helping this city into a new future. I love this job. I am mindful that it may well be the best job I will ever have. But this is not the kind of job that you can do forever. The responsibility of leading this administration also includes a responsibility of recognizing when it is time to move on. After all, eight years ago I campaigned for mayor based on the idea that a city needs a fresh start from time to time.”
“I haves pent the last few weeks in careful discernment, consulting with friends and colleagues, above all with Chasten, who makes tremendous sacrifices every day to allow me to do this job that I love so much. Through that consultation and that discernment, I know now that the time has come for me to prepare this city for new leadership once again. And when my present term in office comes to a close a year and two weeks from now, at the end of 2019, I will not be seeking a third term as mayor.”
“I know that the next mayor will have different strengths and weaknesses than mine, and perhaps different priorities. But I also trust that the next mayor will care about this city, as we all do, and serve it with dedication and integrity. I hope that many candidates with that spirit and foundation, as well as their individual experiences and qualities, step forward.”
“The achievements the city has made on my watch are not the work of one person, or one administration, but of a whole community. I have great faith that the tremendous momentum of our again-growing city will continue and even accelerate under my successor.”
“My term has one year and two weeks to go, and I intend to use that time to continue driving progress in our city and delivering for our residents until the last day. Earlier this morning I let our department heads know that the expectations for the coming year must be not lower but even higher as we sprint through the finish line. I know that they will continue delivery for our community as well. For as long as I hold this office, residents can expect us to continue to work hard to accomplish our mission: to deliver services thatempower everyone to thrive.”
“Every day I serve with great gratitude, for my colleagues, my family, for our city. And South Bend will always be my home.”
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