Mayor Bennett responds to Former Mayor Burke

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett said he had lots of reasons to turn down a deal from former Mayor Kevin Burke.

News 10 told you Tuesday about an offer made by Burke to end all the legal proceedings surrounding the 2007 mayoral election. Burke sat down with members of the media Tuesday to explain a deal he and his legal team made to Bennett.

In the deal, Burke asked Bennett to stop all litigation, ask Judge Bolk for a special election and work to minimize the cost of a special election. Bennett said he turned down that deal for several reasons.

"First of all, he started the legal proceedings from the very beginning and so I've upheld the whole time I've supported the fact that was available to him. We should all be patient and work through the process. I said it repeatedly and I still say it today. He started the legal proceedings and it needs to finish with legal proceedings," Bennett said.

He also said there's a lot of incorrect information out there about who would be on the ballot of a special election.

"We don't know what the rules of a special election are. They've never been laid out. You look at that state statute and that code there's several options and there's no way I'd ever agree to a special election not knowing who's going to be on the ballot," Bennett said.