By Greg Halbleib
Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner said he’s “shocked” and “puzzled” by Alderwoman Diana Hauman’s announcement that she will run against him in his bid for re-election.
Hauman’s announcement of her candidacy stated the city needs a strategic plan, which Renner said is already in place.
“When she announced, she didn’t say anything that was concrete. I still don’t know why she’s running,” Renner told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin. “We do have a strong vision for our city. I’ve been promoting it with respect to our community development plan, our comprehensive plan, downtown plan, and we have been making lots of progress. I still am puzzled as to what she would have done differently.”
Renner appointed Hauman to the council in September 2014. Hauman’s statement said the city can do better, but Renner said Hauman has had plenty of opportunities to contribute.
“She can either ask me to put something on the agenda that’s not on there or she do what she did one time in the last two years, and that was prohibiting e-cigarettes,” Renner said. “If there’s something that we’ve not been doing that she wanted us to do, where’s been the leadership on her part in promoting that?”
Renner and Hauman are the only two announced candidates for mayor. The election is in April.
Greg Halbleib can be reached at greg@wjbc.com.
