Joe Kernan (politician)

Kernan served South Bend Comptroller from 1980 to 1984.[4][8][15] He was appointed to the position by mayor Roger Parent, and served a full term in office.[2]

While in this office, cuts were made in regards to the number of the police and firemen, which he later stated were necessary due to the budget squeze caused by a state tax freeze and cuts in federal aid.[16]

Kernan greeting President Ronald Reagan in 1988

Kernan was elected mayor of South Bend in 1987, 1991, and 1995.[4][15] In 1995, he won 82% of the vote, a record for South Bend mayoral elections.[2]

Kernan was the longest-serving mayor of South Bend,[17] until his tenure was surpassed in length by that of his immediate successor Steve Luecke.[18]

As mayor, Kernan worked on long-term job creation efforts, made efforts to improve public safety, and strengthened the finances of the city.[5][6][14]

Kernan came to office shortly after a number of companies had left the city or closed,[19] such as South Bend Toy in 1985[20] and Wheelbrater-Frye.[19]

As mayor, Kernan worked to create a better working relationship between South Bend and the nearby University of Notre Dame.[21][22]

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.[23] 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.[23] Kernan had been instrumental in getting South Bend selected over 89 other cities as the site for the College Football Hall of Fame.[24] Among the developments of which Kernan was particularly supportive was the Blackthorn development, a multimillion-dollar golf course and office park development.[23] In 1992, he had touted the concept that became Blackthorn as a "pump for future development."[25] Some of the developments that were initially regarded as successes for South Bend when Kernan was mayor ultimately fell short in the long run, however. For instance, the College Football Hall of Fame never met its initial attendance projections.[26] 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.[27] The Hall of Fame would ultimately leave South Bend for the city of Atlanta in the 2010s.[26][28] The Blackthorn, particularly its golf course component, fell short of expectations as well.[25] However, Kernan, as late as 2015, defended the Blackthorn development, having regarded it, personally, to have been a success.[25]

In 1988, taking advantage of a decline in interest rates, Kernan refinanced Coveleski Stadium through the newly created South Bend Redevelopment Authority.[29]

In December 1988, a fire that destroyed the Morningside Club Residence, an apartment hotel, displaced more than a hundred residents.[30][31][32] 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.[21][30]

In 1990, Kernan joined then-lieutenant governor Frank O'Bannon and other Indiana mayors on a trade mission which traveled to Poland, Soviet Union, Ukraine, and Yugoslavia.[2] It was during this trip that Kernan and O'Bannon would develop a camaraderie which would later lead to O'Bannon asking Kernan to be his running mate in the gubernatorial election six years hence.[2][19]

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.[33] 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.[33]

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

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.[34] 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" [34] 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.[35][36][37]

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 transit center for South Bend Transpo.[38][34][39][40][41][42] Efforts planning this station date back to 1992.[43] 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.[38][43][44]

During Kernan's tenure many improvements were made to South Bend's parks. Several new facilities opened, including Blackthorn Golf Course in 1994.[45] In 1993, for the first time, non-reverting funds were established to create money for capitol improvements to the parks.[45] Additionally, a City-County parks merger was studied in 1993, but ultimately not implemented.[45] 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.[46]

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.[47]

In 1995, Kernan took interest in a proposal to build a minor league ice hockey arena in South Bend.[48][49][50] However, this proposal ultimately failed to materialize.

After being reelected to his third term, Kernan stated his priorities were public safety, economic development, and neighborhoods.[48] The reelection made Kernan poised to break the record, at the time, for longest-serving mayor of South Bend.[48]

Kernan was involved in the creation of Indiana's Vietnam and Korean War memorials.[14]

Kernan took credit for stopping companies like Allied Products' South Bend Stamping from leaving the city.[19] 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.[19]

Whilst campaigning for Lieutenant Governor in 1996, Kernan continued to fulfill his duties as mayor. In part to facilitate this, Kernan operated his end of the campaign out of a separate campaign office from O'Bannon, located in South Bend.[51]

Upon being elected Lieutenant Governor, Kernan was involved in the process of helping guide the Common Council in selecting a successor for mayor. He ultimately endorsed Steve Luecke to be his successor, and Luecke was thereafter voted unanimously by the Common Council to serve the rest of Kernan's term.[52] Other candidates that had been reportedly considered included Mike Barnes, John Voorde, Joe Nagy, Sean Coleman, John Hosinski, Carter Wolf, and Kevin Horton.[53][54]

In 1996, Kernan was elected as Indiana's lieutenant governor alongside Frank O'Bannon for governor. Kernan had been reluctant to accept the offer to run for lieutenant governor, desiring to continue to serve as mayor.[2][55] Others who had been rumored to have under consideration by O'Bannon for a running mate included Tom DiGuillio, Mike Gery, Baron Hill, John Walda, and Jill Long Thompson (Pamela Carter had ruled herself out of consideration).[55][56] Despite starting the general election as underdogs,[57] O'Bannon and Kernan's ticket to defeat overcame a deficit to defeat the Republican ticket of Steve Goldsmith and George Witwer.

Kernan was sworn-in as lieutenant governor by his own father.[58]

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.[4][17]

In 1998, Kernan headed the Insurance Industry Working Group, a group aiming to boost the economic fortunes of the state's insurance industry.[4][17] 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.[17]

In 1998, Kernan was involved in the formation of the Pork Crisis Working Group, which later became Agricultural Crisis Working Group.[17] Kernan chaired this group.[4]

In 1998, Kernan was made chair of the new Hoosier Farmland Preservation Task Force.[59] 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.[59]

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.[4][60]

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.[4][17]

Kernan was the chairman of the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, which was formed in 1999.[4]

As lieutenant governor, Kernan built a reputation as a skilled orator.[61]

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.[17][4][62] The plan was entitled the 21st Century Tax Plan.[62] Kernan had developed this plan alongside a bipartisan group of tax experts.[17] A tax reform plan based upon this proposal was passed in the Indiana General Assembly in June 2002.[17]

In 2002, O'Bannon and Kernan proposed a broad job-creation plan entitled "Energize Indiana".[4][63]

In 2002, a rift arose between Kernan and Governor O'Bannon over O'Bannon's selection of Peter Manous as Democratic State Chairman.[64]

Kernan was regarded to be a popular lieutenant governor.[65]

Kernan assumed the governorship in September 2003 following the death of Frank O'Bannon.

Kernan would receive praise for his smooth transition into the office.[66]

For his lieutenant governor, Kernan appointed Kathy Davis, making her the first female lieutenant governor in Indiana's history.[14]

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.[67]

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.[63] 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.[63]

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.[67]

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.[63] It would also create pilot programs for early learning opportunities for at-risk children.[63]

In his 2004 State of the State address, Kernan announced several programs. One was the Peak Performance Project, in which he delegated lieutenant governor Davis with overseeing a review of state government performance.[63] The Peak Performance Project would ultimately result in the creation of a broad plan for overhauling the state's government.[68] Another program outlined in his State of the State address was Indiana@Work, an expansion of the state's new jobs initiative.[63] By the end of 2004, 30,000 Hoosiers would receive skills assessments through this program.[68]

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.[69]

Kernan supported a controversial project extending Interstate 69 from Indianapolis to Evansville, which had earlier received O'Bannon's support.[70]

As governor, Kernan took actions regarding education. 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.[68] 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,[68][71] which would mean that every state resident would live within a 30-mile radius of a community college's campus.[68] Through executive order, Kernan created the Early Learning and School Readiness Commission.[68] As co-chair of the Indiana Education Roundtable, Kernan took charge in work to adopt the P-16 Plan for Improving Student Achievement.[68]

Kernan took actions as governor to address rising healthcare costs.[68] 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.[68] Kernan pushed forward with the Hoosier Health Plan.[68] On December 1, 2004, Kernan convened a prescription drug summit aiming to develop an "Indiana solution" to drug affordability concerns.[68]

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.[66]

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.[66]

Originally, whilst lieutenant governor, Kernan had declined to seek the governorship during the 2004 election. However, two months after assuming the governorship, he reversed this decision.[72] 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".[73] 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.[66] The Republicans have controlled Indiana's governor's mansion since Kernan's departure.

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 stopped the Silver Hawks from being purchased and moved out of South Bend to another city.

Kernan's tenure with the South Bend Silver Hawks team ended in 2011.[14] 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.[75] The team has subsequently been the renamed the South Bend Cubs.

In July 2007, Kernan and Indiana Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard were appointed by Daniels to co-chair the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform.[76] The commission published its report in December 2007.[77]

In 2008, he and his wife Maggie were Indiana co-chairs of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign[78] and actively campaigned for Clinton leading up to the state's May primary.[79]

In April 2008, Kernan endorsed Jim Schellinger's gubernatorial campaign.[80][81][82]

Kernan endorsed Pete Buttigieg during the 2011 South Bend mayoral election.[83][84]

In 2014, he and several other city leaders, including his mayoral successor Steve Luekce 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.[85] Kernan also cited lewd social media posts by then-5th district council member Henry Davis, Jr. to have been an embarrassment to the city.[85] 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.[85] 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".[85] 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".[85] Kernan's harsh rebuke of the council earned support from council member Fred Ferlic.[85]

In 2015, Kernan served as campaign manager and treasurer for Kareemah Fowler's campaign for South Bend City Clerk.[86][87][88] Fowler had a landslide victory in capturing Democratic nomination in a competitive primary, defeating veteran Common Council member Derek Dieter,[88] and was elected clerk in the general election.[89]

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.”[90] 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".[91] The ad was run in nine swing states.[91]

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.[92][93]

Kernan endorsed Tim Corbett in his unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination in the 2018 St. Joseph County Sheriff election.[94][95]

Kernan supported Jason Critchlow in his unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination in the 2019 South Bend mayoral election.[96]

Kernan died on July 29, 2020, from complications of Alzheimer's disease at a care facility in South Bend.[101][102][103]