Ind. mayors join forces to protest laws

SULLIVAN, Ind. (WTHI) - With the new legislative session underway in Indianapolis, some new leaders might be making an impact.

However, they're not congressmen, they're your area mayors.
     
They aren't with each other daily, but don't think your area leaders aren't working together.
     
All of the 120 Hoosier city heads are part of the Indiana Conference of Mayors.
     
It's a coalition that meets several times a year.

"What happens is you get these groups together and you find these topics that are common to everybody," said Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett.
     
Unfortunately, many of the topics nowadays seem to be struggles. They're struggles because not all decisions made in Indianapolis reflect the needs of every area.

"Over my five years here," Bennett said, "I've seen lots of examples of things where I say 'man, did they think about this? Did they really look at this at that detail level?'"
     
This year, the conference developed a campaign called "Trust Local."    
    
They will work with legislators, pushing three main changes to the law.
     
One, providing additional funding for roads and streets, two, tearing down abandoned properties, and three, curbing methamphetamine use by making Pseudoephedrine a prescription only drug.

Indiana mayors say there's literally dozens of issues that need to be addressed, but these three are problems that every Hoosier community faces.

"Whether you drive down the street, whether you live in a neighborhood with a bad house, dirty property, or whether you go to the store and see meth; it affects everybody," said Sullivan Mayor Clint Lamb.
     
By partnering with lawmakers, mayors can explain some of the fallout that is occurring in these situations.

"It's a constant communication to one, see what legislation they have on the table, and then for us to be right there on the front lines providing some input to it," said Mayor Bennett.

"We knew when we took office January 1 that these were main issues, and that we were gonna have to take them and face them head on," said Mayor Lamb.
     
Any new laws would go into affect July 1.