Rudy Clay for Mayor


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	County commissioner says support, not payback, is his motive By Mark Kiesling, Times Staff Writer GARY -- Forget the yard signs touting Lake County Commissioner Rudy Clay for another term this November. Clay said Monday he's already off and running for next year's Gary mayoral election. Clay said this is not political payback for the spring Democratic primary, when Deputy Mayor Suzette Raggs ran against Clay for commissioner with the blessing and financial and political backing of Mayor Scott King. Although Clay polled about 49 percent of the vote in a four-way race, Raggs pulled in a respectable 39 percent in a hard-fought contest. Clay virtually is assured victory in the commissioner's race in November, as there is no Republican opponent. The mayoral primary is in May. "This is not personal. This is about people I see in the streets, in the churches, in the hospitals, and they are all telling me to run for mayor," Clay said. "It's nothing personal." King declined to respond to Clay's announcement, his press secretary LaLosa Burns said. "He'll pass on comments on Rudy Clay's candidacy," Burns said. "The mayor has generally not commented at filings, and the only comment he will have is when he makes his own decision (on running)." Clay said he does not expect a backlash from people who voted for him for commissioner, only to find out he now wants to be mayor. "The same people who voted for me for commissioner are the people telling me now to run for mayor," he said. "I asked them the same thing. I like being commissioner. I think I do a good job, but they say they want me to run for mayor." Clay's targets sound familiar to anyone who watched the commissioner's race last spring, which was at its roots a campaign between Clay and King. Clay again is hammering at "sweetheart deals" that brought a new minor league baseball team into the city to play in a stadium in which cost overruns resulted in what Clay said is a $52 million ballpark. City officials have said the stadium's price tag is $45 million. The commissioner said the expenses of running the stadium will be borne by Gary taxpayers, while the profits will go out of town to a consortium of King's friends. "This contract is, and will continue to be, a noose around the necks of Gary taxpayers for years to come," Clay said. The commissioner, however, said he hopes the SouthShore RailCats minor league baseball and Steelheads basketball franchises will succeed. "I hope the baseball stadium is successful, I really do, because we've got it now, and we've got to use it," Clay said. Clay, who is black, said he will not allow race to become an issue in the city where 80 percent of the population is black and King is white. "I will not have anybody in my campaign play the race card. I will not have anyone in my campaign who will not talk about issues," Clay said. "The only color that is important in this campaign is green, and all that green is going out of town to (King's) friends." As far as keeping people and jobs in the city, he said, there needs to be a transformation of the Gary/Chicago Airport into a freight and air cargo hub instead of continuing to rely on passenger service, and there needs to be downtown renovation. He said it was a mistake to build a new public safety building in the old Mercy Hospital on the city's west side, which he said should have been made into a "one stop" city services building. He said a new police facility should have been built from the ground up, "a state-of-the-art building like they have in East Chicago and Hammond, that they built with casino money." Clay also wants to use money from the two Gary casinos to relieve property tax burdens on senior citizens, whom he said King largely has ignored. The commissioner admitted the battle against an incumbent with a popular public image and a large war chest will be uphill, but he said he relishes the fight. "Let me say that it's going to be extremely difficult to beat the incumbent mayor," Clay said. "He has tons of money, mountains of money to throw around, and he loves to buy up people. But I've been around, I don't need to gain name recognition. I have name recognition."







			Clay gives fundraiser to build more wheelchair ramps. Click here.


			*There is a change in the way lots can be disposed of. Click here.*


			*Clay proposes using casino funds to pay property taxes for senior citizens. Click here.*


			*Clay holds the "Toys for Kids that Santa Claus Forgot" program. Click here.*