By Eric Stock

BLOOMINGTON – One of the mayors who helped forge the Metro Zone agreement between Bloomington and Normal three decades ago suggests it’s time the two cities try to renegotiate a deal.

Former Bloomington mayor Jesse Smart told WJBC’s Sam Wood the deal that was struck in 1986 with then-Normal mayor Paul Harmon was simple – as the tax-sharing deal largely applied to the former Mitsubishi Motors plant.

“Maybe it was easier to negotiate then because we had a prize out there we were seeking and so things are a little different now that they would have been then, Smart said. “This imbalance wasn’t there then, it was basically the one (Mitsubishi Motors) plant.”

Smart said it’s not healthy to see the two cities engaged in a public spat as Bloomington wants to terminate the deal, but he said the spirit of cooperation doesn’t appear to be as strong as it was at the time.

“Maybe the city managers which are there when the elected people come and go will be able to put it together to agree on how to dissolve it, so it’s mutually beneficial to everybody,” Smart said. “It’s obvious the cooperation is not what it used to be.”

Bloomington wants out, claiming it’s been losing money in the deal, while Normal town officials say they were trying to renegotiate.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].