(Michigan City, IN) - A man running for mayor doesn’t want Michigan City to run the risk of becoming another Gary in terms of decline brought on by crime. Candidate Mark Yagelski said residents he meets on the campaign trail seem most concerned about the number of shootings and rise in other crimes.

 

Yagelski said the image of a community as being unsafe can have a major negative impact, and that he doesn’t want Michigan City’s reputation to rise to the level plaguing crime-ridden Gary for decades.

 

He recalled the damage to the image of Gary from that city once being declared the “Murder Capital of America.”

 

“The perception is we’re unsafe right now.  We have to change that.  That can destroy a city.  I don’t want it to get to that level.  That's why I wanted to run,” he said.

 

Yagelski said his plan to reduce crime includes higher pay for police officers to reverse turnover and restore a department that once had more than 90 officers. Most recently, the number of police officers in the community stood in the upper 70’s.

 

Yagelski, who presently serves on the La Porte County Council, said the pay increase for Michigan City officers in recent months was not at the level that seems to have stopped the turnover at the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office.

 

“We’re in the hole right now.  We got to get out of the hole,” he said.

 

Yagelski is one of five Democrats seeking the party’s nomination in the May primary. He’s opposed by former two term mayor Ron Meer, city councilpersons Angie Nelson Deuitch and Michael Mack along with former city councilman Johnny Stimley, who also used to be the La Porte County Recorder.