Joe Kernan (politician)

Kernan played a key role in attracting the College Football Hall of Fame to South Bend

At the time he was mayor, Kernan was praised for his ability to attract economic development to the community.[29][26] Among the major developments he was able to garner South Bend was the securing of the city as the location for the College Football Hall of Fame.[29] Kernan had been instrumental in getting South Bend selected over 89 other cities as the site for the College Football Hall of Fame.[30] Kernan originally pledged that city funds would not go towards the project, and that it would be funded by corporate donations. However, after the city was only able to raise under $2 million in corporate donations, the city issued municipal bonds to pay for the construction.[31]

Among the developments of which Kernan was particularly supportive was the Blackthorn development, a multimillion-dollar golf course and office park development.[29] In 1992, he had touted the concept that became Blackthorn as a "pump for future development."[32] In 1995, Kernan took interest in a proposal to build an arena in South Bend for a new minor league ice hockey team.[28][33][34] However, this proposal ultimately failed to materialize.

Some of the developments that were initially regarded as successes for South Bend when Kernan was mayor ultimately fell short in the long run. For instance, the College Football Hall of Fame never met its initial attendance projections.[35] By the late-90s, it already had begun to be criticized as a failure, due to a lack of corporate sponsorship and poor turnout even during special events.[36] The Hall of Fame would ultimately leave South Bend for the city of Atlanta in the 2010s.[35][37] The Blackthorn, particularly its golf course component, fell short of expectations as well.[32] However, Kernan, as late as 2015, defended the Blackthorn development, having regarded it, personally, to have been a success.[32]

In November 1996, Nancy Armour of The Associated Press wrote that Kernan,

Took a city that had lost thousands of factory jobs and helped diversify its economy, attracting new manufacturing as well as corporate jobs.[27]

Kernan worked on long-term job creation efforts as mayor.[5][6][16] Kernan came to office shortly after a number of companies had left the city or closed,[38] such as South Bend Toy in 1985[39] and Wheelbrater-Frye.[38] Kernan took credit for stopping companies like Allied Products' South Bend Stamping from leaving the city.[38] He also took credit for attracting other jobs to the city, arguing that as mayor he had been able to create or retain 4,000 manufacturing jobs.[38] Another example that illustrates Kernan's work in this area was his successful work in 1993 to keep the Hoosier Lottery's 15-employee regional headquarters in South Bend. After they began looking for a new location, eying sites outside of South Bend, Kernan worked directly with them to find a new location for their offices within the city.[40]

The construction of a new South Shore Line station took place during Kernan's tenure as South Bend mayor

The loss of $20 million annually in federal funds which the city had received prior to Reagan and Bush budget cuts to urban programs had taken its toll on South Bend's infrastructure.[41] Nevertheless, a number of infrastructure projects took place under Kernan's mayoralty.

Among the infrastructure projects that took place during Kernan's tenure as mayor was the shifting of South Bend's South Shore Line station from a facility shared with Amtrak to a new location at the city's airport, which opened in 1992.[42] In 1993, Kernan testified before congress that this move had been partially responsible for a 73% increase in ridership from South Bend, attributing this to the fact that the previous location of the station was in an area, "isolated and very difficult and perceived to be unsafe" [42] Plans to move the South Shore Line station to the airport, creating an air, bus, and rail intermodal terminal, had dated back to the 1970s.[43]

South Street Station, the result of efforts to construct an intermodal transit center which began during Kernan's tenure

Kernan and others would work to see a new intermodal transit center built in Downtown South Bend, which would feature a new station for Amtrak and a new transit center for South Bend Transpo.[44][42][45][46] Efforts planning this station date back to 1992.[47] It ultimately opened in 1998, after Kernan's mayoralty had ended, as the South Street Station, but only as a bus center without an Amtrak component.[44][47][48]

During Kernan's tenure many changes were made to South Bend's parks. Several new facilities opened, including Blackthorn Golf Course in 1994.[49] In 1993, for the first time, non-reverting funds were established to create money for capitol improvements to the parks.[49] Additionally, a City-County parks merger was studied in 1993, but ultimately not implemented.[49] In 1995, South Bend's recreation commission was dissolved, and the Department of Parks took over management of recreation programs and was renamed the Department of Parks and Recreation.[50]

Kernan greeting President Ronald Reagan in 1988

In 1989, Kernan considered, but ruled out, running against Republican Dan Coats for the United States Senate in the 1990 special election for the seat that had vacated by Dan Quayle upon becoming vice president.[51] While Kernan was considered a strong prospective candidate among the possible Democratic contenders, commentator James Grass observed prior to Kernan making his decision not to run that, "to run a successful campaign," a Democratic nominee would likely need, "statewide name recognition, a good reputation, and the ability to raise lots of money. All the Democrats still considering a candidacy lack at least one of these qualifications."[52]

In 1992, Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton proposed a $200 billion ($20 billion annually) plan for infrastructure. Mayor Kernan declared to the media that under Clinton's plan, in which a city of South Bend's size would have received at least $5 million annually, South Bend would have been able to complete critical road construction and complete reclamation on hundreds of acres of former industrial property.[41]

In 1993, Kernan campaigned in support of President Clinton's deficit reduction and economic stimulus proposal. After meeting with Clinton when accompanying Governor Evan Bayh to the Democratic Governors Association quarterly meeting in March 1993, Kernan declared that he had been persuaded by Clinton that it was necessary to pass both deficit reduction and economic stimulus in a singular piece of legislation rather than separating them into separate bills.[53] Kernan declared,

It must be viewed as an entire package. If you begin peeling away pieces, the whole thing will fall apart. Combined it has something for everyone. As a whole, it has great benefit for the country. On balance it is extreme fair.[53]

To promote the legislation to Indiana's federal representatives and their constituents, Kernan pointed to an analysis that had found that Indiana would be one of only five states that would benefit fiscally from the proposal, as Indiana, at the time, had typically received less in federal funding than it contributed in federal taxes. Kernan also touted the prospect of South Bend receiving sever million dollars in one-time federal funding through the legislation. He also argued that the stimulus portion of the legislation was needed to generate jobs.[53]

Kernan also argued that it was past time for legislators to cease considering alternative proposals, as several Republican alternative proposals had already been voted down. Kernan remarked, "This is the only game in town. While there may be some folks who disagree with some party of it, it's the only economic package in the country that has a change of passage." He argued that failure to pass the proposal without a viable alternative would worsen federal legislative gridlock and hurt the chances of Clinton achieving his target of implementing a significant economic change.[53]

As mayor, Kernan worked to create a better working relationship between South Bend and the nearby University of Notre Dame.[54][55]

In December 1988, a fire that destroyed the Morningside Club Residence, an apartment hotel, displaced more than a hundred residents.[56][57][58] Kernan was able to persuade the then-unopened Center for the Homeless to rush its opening in order to accommodate some of these displaced residents.[54][56]

Kernan refinanced Coveleski Stadium

In 1988, taking advantage of a decline in interest rates, Kernan refinanced Coveleski Stadium through the newly created South Bend Redevelopment Authority.[59]

Kernan instituted a mayor's night out/mayor's night in to provide an opportunity for his constituents to better meet with him and share their concerns with him.[60] He held his first such event in January 1988.[61] This practice was also continued under his successor, Steve Luecke.[62]

Kernan was involved in the creation of Indiana's Vietnam and Korean War memorials.[16]

Kernan was sworn-in as lieutenant governor by his own father.[73] As lieutenant governor, Kernan served as the President of the Indiana Senate, the Director of the Indiana Department of Commerce, and as the Commissioner of Agriculture.[3][24]

In 1998, Kernan headed the Insurance Industry Working Group, a group aiming to boost the economic fortunes of the state's insurance industry.[3][24] The group succeeded in getting a reduction to the insurance premium tax rate, securing the passage of a new demutualization law, and getting Ivy Tech to create a new associate degree focusing on the insurance industry.[24]

In 1998, Kernan was involved in the formation of the Pork Crisis Working Group, which later became Agricultural Crisis Working Group.[24] Kernan chaired this group.[3]

In 1998, Kernan was made chair of the new Hoosier Farmland Preservation Task Force.[74] It presented recommendations for farmland preservation and additional land use issues to O'Bannon and members of the Indiana General Assembly, and Laos provided information and advice to communities dealing with problems regarding these issues.[74]

During Kernan's tenure at the head of Indiana's Department of Commerce, the state recorded what were the second-highest export numbers in its history in the second quarter of 1998.[3][75]

In 1999, Kernan launched the Veterans Outreach Initiative, which was an effort to urge veterans to capitalize upon state and federal benefits available to them.[3][24]

Kernan was the chairman of the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, which was formed in 1999.[3]

O'Bannon and Kernan were re-elected in 2000, defeating the ticket of David M. McIntosh and J. Murray Clark.

In October 2001, Kernan unveiled the O'Bannon administration's plan for a comprehensive overhaul to the state of Indiana's tax system.[24][3][76] The plan was entitled the 21st Century Tax Plan.[76] Kernan had developed this plan alongside a bipartisan group of tax experts.[24] A tax reform plan based upon this proposal was passed in the Indiana General Assembly in June 2002.[24]

In July 2002, Kernan announced a reorganization of the Indiana Department of Commerce. It moved from dividing the department in the thirteen divisions to instead dividing into two teams (program operations and professional services). The reorganization also included the creation of twelve regional offices (including a central office in Indianapolis).[77]

In December 2002, O'Bannon and Kernan proposed a broad job-creation plan entitled "Energize Indiana".[3][78]

In 2002, a rift arose between Kernan and Governor O'Bannon over O'Bannon's selection of Peter Manous as Democratic State Chairman.[79]

On September 10, 2003, Kernan began serving as acting governor. O'Bannon had been hospitalized after suffering a stroke two days earlier. This was the first time that Indiana had ever implemented their state constitution's clause for handing over the authority of governor in the instance that the governor is unable to perform their duty due to disability. Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives B. Patrick Bauer and Indiana Senate President pro tempore Robert D. Garton had consulted with O'Bannon's counsel, medical treatment team, and family before making a request on September 10, 2003 to Indiana Supreme Court Chief justice Randall Shepard for the court to issue a ruling on O'Bannon's ability to perform his duties. After just over an hour of private discussion, the court ruled that Kernan would become acting governor.[80]

For his lieutenant governor, Kernan appointed Kathy Davis, making her the first female lieutenant governor in Indiana's history.[16]

Early into his governorship, Kernan made some key hires and appointments. This included hiring Marshall Michael Carrington to conduct a thorough probe of the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and appointing Cheryl Sullivan to head the Family and Social Services Administration.[83] Kernan was credited with strengthening the cabinet style of government of Indiana's executive branch, which had dissipated in its functionality in the later years of O'Bannon's tenure.[83]

Kernan assumed office amid an economic downturn in the state, with state revenue decreasing and unemployment rising.[81] During his governorship, the state struggled with budget deficits and job losses, which Republicans faulted Kernan for, but which Democrats blamed on the lingering aftermath of the early 2000s recession and the dot-com bust.[82] In 2004, the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute (IFPI) found that the state was facing a $824.3 million structural deficit, a deficit equivalent to more than 7% of the state's existing revenues, with the deficit anticipated to significantly grow every year under the existing budget priorities.[84] On a positive note, in 2004, the state began to experience notable increases in revenue in mid-2004.[84]

In November 2003, Kernan and Davis unveiled the Opportunity Indiana initiative, which would aim to optimize how the state conducts business and would aim to increase opportunities for Indiana companies.[85] Under this program, they created a working group to review how the state of Indiana deals with purchasing goods and services, and to provide recommendations to adjustments.[85]

In his 2004 State of the State address, Kernan outlined the Indiana@Work program, an expansion of the state's new jobs initiative.[85] By the end of 2004, 30,000 Hoosiers would receive skills assessments through this program.[86]

In January 2004, Kernan announced the Early Learning Trust, which was an initiative with the goal of providing every child in Indiana with access to voluntary full-day kindergarten by the year 2007.[87] It would also create pilot programs for early learning opportunities for at-risk children.[85]

In March 2004, Kernan requested to the state's public colleges and universities that they cap tuition and fee increases at 4% for the 2004–05 academic year.[86][88] In October 2004 he unveiled plans to expand the state's community college system from having ten campuses to having 23 in time for the fall of 2005,[86][89] which would mean that every state resident would live within a 30-mile radius of a community college's campus.[86]

Through executive order, Kernan created the Early Learning and School Readiness Commission.[86]

As co-chair of the Indiana Education Roundtable, Kernan took charge in work to adopt the P-16 Plan for Improving Student Achievement.[86]

Kernan took actions as governor to address rising healthcare costs.[86] Changes were made to HoosierRx to allow senior citizens twice the discount when it was utilized in conjunction with the new federal Medicare prescription drug benefit. Kernan signed legislation which created the state's prescription drug purchasing pool.[86] Kernan pushed forward with the Hoosier Health Plan.[86] On December 1, 2004, Kernan convened a prescription drug summit aiming to develop an "Indiana solution" to drug affordability concerns.[86]

Kernan supported a controversial project extending Interstate 69 from Indianapolis to Evansville, which had earlier received O'Bannon's support.[90] Kernan also pursued upgrades to U.S. Route 31. The Indiana Department of Transportation estimated that Kernan's proposed projects for U.S. Route 31 would cost more than $1 billion.[84]

In his 2004 State of the State address, Kernan announced the Peak Performance Project, in which he delegated lieutenant governor Davis with overseeing a review of state government performance.[85] The Peak Performance Project would ultimately result in the creation of a broad plan for overhauling the state's government.[86]

On March 17, 2004, Kernan signed House Bill 1349, which provided protections for gun owners whose firearms were stolen from being sued for injuries or deaths resulting from misuse of those stolen firearms.[91]

In 2004, Kernan became the first governor of Indiana in 48 years to spare the life of an inmate on death row, when, just days before his scheduled execution, Kernan commuted the sentence of Darnell Williams to life in prison without parole.[82]

2004 Indaina gubernatorial election results by county:
Daniels:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Tie:      40–50%
Kernan:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

In December 2002, whilst lieutenant governor, despite previous widespread anticipation that he would seek the governorship,[77] Kernan made the surprise announcement that he would not run in the 2004 election.[81] However, two months after assuming the governorship, he reversed this decision, declaring himself a candidate.[92]

In their bid for a first full term as governor and lieutenant governor, Kernan and Davis outlined their vision for what he would seek to accomplish in their prospective continued tenure in the state's top two offices in a plan entitled "Action Indiana".[93] Kernan and Davis were ultimately defeated by the Republican ticket of Mitch Daniels and Becky Skillman. At the time, the election was the most expensive gubernatorial election in the state's history, in regards to campaign spending.[82] The Republicans have controlled Indiana's governor's mansion since Kernan's departure.

One of the things Kernan criticized his opponent, Daniels, for was Daniels' decision in 2000, as a member of the board of the Indianapolis Power & Light Company, to vote to sell the utility company to an out-of-state company. Kernan characterized it as "terribly bad judgement".[94][95]

Kernan pledged to pursue upgrades to U.S. Route 31 calling it, "one of my top priorities since I first took office as lieutenant governor in 1997, and...still among them today." He declared that there had progress in the pursuit of improvements, and that the plans had been made in a "fiscally responsible manner" Kernan also voiced opposition to the prospect making the thoroughfare a toll road, declaring, "I will not make hoosiers – or the people who are driving through on business or pleasure – pay a toll to travel this roadway." Daniels criticized Kernan's proposals, characterizing them as fiscally irresponsible, claiming, "The gap between the cost and the available funds in the Indiana Department of Transportation's budget is more than $3 billion in the next six years. For a state that is broke by every measure, the governor's promise list is impossible."[84]

In 2005, Kernan became president and managing investor of the South Bend Silver Hawks baseball club, after convincing approximately 50 others to invest in the team. This kept the team in South Bend, amid rumors that they were eying a move out of the city.[97]

Kernan's tenure with the South Bend Silver Hawks team ended in 2011.[16] Kernan then agreed to sell the team to Andrew Berlin, of Berlin Packaging, so that he could develop the Silver Hawks further and keep the team in the South Bend area.[98] The team has subsequently been the renamed the South Bend Cubs.

In July 2007, Kernan and Indiana Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard, a Republican, were appointed by Daniels to co-chair the bipartisan Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform.[99][100][101] The commission published its report in December 2007.[102] It recommended making broad changes to the structure of local government in the state.[103] The report recommended having county argument mimic state government by having a single executive act that acts the chief executive officer and a legislative body which deals with fiscal and policy matters. The report also recommended saving costs bay eliminating township governments and having other levels of government assume services currently provided by townships. It also recommended having a unified county library system within each of the state's 92 counties. It also recommended decreasing the expenses of elections by moving municipal elections from off-years to even-numbered years.[100] The state acted on a recommendation to eliminate township assessors, merging their responsibilities with county assessors.[104] A state law was passed allowing townships to vote on whether to retain or abolish their assessors.[105] In October 2008, Kernan and Shepherd co-authored an op-ed urging voters to vote to abolish assessor positions in their townships in the November elections.[104] That November, 30 townships abolished their assessors, while thirteen retained theirs.[106]

In 2008, Kernan and his wife Maggie were Indiana co-chairs of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign[107] and actively campaigned for Clinton leading up to the state's May primary.[108] Ahead of the state's April primaries, Kernan also endorsed Jim Schellinger's gubernatorial campaign.[109][110][111] Like Kernan, Schellinger originally hailed from South Bend. In his endorsement, Kernan stated that he had personally known Schellinger for years prior and considered him a friend and a great prospective governor.[112] Breaking with her husband, Maggie Kernan endorsed Schellinger's primary election opponent, Jill Long Thompson.[113]

Kernan endorsed Pete Buttigieg during the 2011 South Bend mayoral election.[114][115]

In 2014, Kernan and several other city leaders, including his mayoral successor Steve Luecke and former South Bend fire chief Luther Taylor and Republican CEO of the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce Jeff Rea, held a press conference in which complained about visible infighting on the South Bend Common Council.[116] Kernan also cited lewd social media posts by then-5th district council member Henry Davis, Jr. to have been an embarrassment to the city.[116] At the press conference, Kernan levied the possibility that he would work to help remove problematic members of the council from office in the 2015 election.[116] Immediately after, in comments to the South Bend Tribune, Kernan criticized Common Council Vice President Derek Dieter as being "poison in the well", alleging that he had been "behaving like a bully".[116] Kernan criticized the leadership of Common Council President Oliver Davis, arguing that he believed Davis was a, "good guy," who was, "reluctant to make decisions".[116] Kernan's harsh rebuke of the council earned support from council member Fred Ferlic.[116]

In 2015, Kernan served as campaign manager and treasurer for Kareemah Fowler's campaign for South Bend City Clerk.[117][118][119] Fowler had a landslide victory in capturing Democratic nomination in a competitive primary, defeating veteran Common Council member Derek Dieter,[119] and was elected clerk in the general election.[120]

During the 2016 United States presidential election, Kernan appeared in a Priorities USA Action-funded television advertisement criticizing Republican nominee Donald Trump as "unfit to be president."[121] In the ad, he also referred to comments Trump had made deriding John McCain's military service, in which, like Kernan, he was a prisoner of war in the Vietnam war, as, "disgraceful".[122] The ad was run in nine swing states.[122]

In 2017, along with Republican former Ohio Governor Bob Taft, Kernan co-authored an op-ed arguing in favor of abolishing the death penalty for mentally ill criminals.[123][124]

Kernan endorsed Tim Corbett in his unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination in the 2018 St. Joseph County Sheriff election.[125][126]

On July 8, 2020, Kernan's family announced that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease several years earlier, and was living in a care facility in South Bend. The disease had progressed to the point that he had lost the ability to speak.[131][132] He died from complications of the disease later that month, on July 29, at the age of 74.[131][133][134]