Gary mayor wants more 'tenacious' approach at airport

Gary Mayor Rudy Clay continues to push for putting cargo service at the top of the list when it comes to attracting new business to Gary/Chicago International Airport.

He also suggests others aren't pushing hard enough.

"It's been a little difficult to get that mindset to some people," Clay said last week.

The mayor hesitated when asked who has been hard to convince and said he didn't want to get into those issues. When asked if he was satisfied with the airport authority and airport management he had another answer.

"I think we need to be a little bit more proactive and a little bit more tenacious in our focus," he said.

Clay said having a flourishing cargo operation at the airport could act as a magnet for attracting passenger service. For the past 10 years, the airport has had only fleeting success with passenger service, with five airlines coming and going.

The mayor appoints four of the seven members of the Gary Airport Authority, so he has a key role to play in long-term policy at the airport.

Clay also said he agrees with Gov. Mitch Daniels that a public-private partnership should be examined as a way to induce airport development, but he did not give it a flat-out endorsement.

"It should be on the table," Clay said.

The mayor also said blame for the delay in extending the airport's main runway rests with Gary Community School Corp., which refused an airport offer of $368,000 for 103 acres of land needed to clear the way for the project.

"That is the top priority, to extend that runway," Clay said.

Airport officials blame both the disagreement with the School Board and protracted negotiations with railroads that own tracks in the path of the runway expansion for delaying the project.

The School Board claims the airport has not offered fair value for the land. The city has taken the school board to court over the issue in a condemnation proceeding.