ELKHART -- President Barack Obama's third visit to Elkhart brought back some confidence to a community struggling with high unemployment.
"How much of the economy is confidence?" Elkhart City Councilman Rod Roberson asked, reflecting on Obama's just-finished town hall meeting Monday afternoon at Concord High School.
Roberson, the council's president, said once Obama's stimulus plan passes, Elkhart can be its measuring stick because the area and its RV industry are usually the first to feel a recession -- and the first to come out of it. "Elkhart should show the country the way out," Roberson said.
He said when the president talks about middle-class America and putting people to work, he's also talking about people who buy RVs.
Obama came "to the eye of the hurricane. He manned-up," Roberson said of the president's visit to the city.
Fellow councilman David Henke, R-3rd, said he thought Obama was honest about the recovery not being a quick fix. He said he wants the president to introduce "RV Ed," the man who introduced the president at the town hall meeting, to the rest of America as someone who worked all of his life and who at no fault of his own, lost everything he worked for.
Henke said, however, that he wished the president had talked about investors.
County commissioner Mike Yoder, a Republican, had a similar, but much harsher, criticism. Yoder said Obama doesn't understand what Elkhart County needs to bring back jobs here. "Congressman Donnelly understands what Elkhart County needs. Congressman Souder understands what Elkhart County needs," he said.
Road and bridge projects aren't going to fix RV jobs. The banking system needs to be fixed, Yoder said.
Obama is set to make a major announcement about financial reform today. He mentioned that as one of the three legs in the reform stool during the town hall meeting, but Yoder called it an "afterthought ... He should have announced it today because he was in Elkhart County."
Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman said Obama's comments about freeing up credit "probably resonated well with the business people" at Concord who see that as a bigger problem than lowering taxes.
"I think we'd have a lot more jobs in Elkhart County right now if access to credit was easier," Kauffman said.
He agreed with Yoder about the impact of building roads and bridges. "I don't see that as producing a huge number of local jobs," Kauffman said. "I don't think there's one silver bullet."
Goshen School Superintendent Bruce Stahly felt positive that Obama's stimulus plan would save jobs in education. He also indicated that the system would take advantage of energy savings dollars for school buildings, which would have long- and short-term benefits by replacing items that are not very energy efficient. "I think we would do what he would want us to do," Stahly said.
Stahly said he hoped the version of the plan that's passed is closer to the House version than the Senate version. Obama said during the event that the Senate version cuts a lot of the education funding from the plan.
Yoder said one positive aspect of Obama's speech was the emphasis on green technology, particularly since Elkhart County has a number of small, start-up companies. "That is good news there is money perhaps going in that direction," Yoder said, although he said there weren't a lot of specifics.
Elkhart Mayor Dick Moore wasn't surprised that Obama mentioned the Prairie Street Underpass, one of the projects on the city's stimulus list, during his speech. It was the most expensive project on the city's list, but not its top priority.
"I don't know if he got that from his advisers," Moore said. "We did not give any special input on that."
In fact, if the city is asked to prioritize, combined sewer overflows will top the list, the mayor said.
Moore said one of his concerns is how the money will be channeled back to cities, a concern shared by Kauffman.
That was the first question Obama was asked during the town hall meeting and he tried to answer it, saying it really depended on what the money was planned for. He said anyone would be able to track money sent to their area at recovery.gov.
Contact Stephanie Gattman at sgattman@etruth.com.