Have concerns about your city? Just call your mayor
My personal cell phone number is 317-509-3134.
I share this because, as the Mayor of Noblesville, I give my number to city residents daily as we work together to answer questions or solve problems. I may not always know the answer, but I can find out who does. It is one of the ways I stay connected to the people I serve.
I actually get fewer calls than you may think from making my number so readily available. But when residents call, I often hear that my approach demonstrates a refreshing level of accountability in a world where it seems to be in short supply, especially as we look at the job performance of our federal government.
Mayors have the privilege and responsibility of presiding over the level of government closest to the people. While it is crucial that we make sure neighborhoods are safe, potholes are filled and parks are clean, we are also accountable to our neighbors to ensure that our cities continue to flourish and enhance quality of life that our residents expect and deserve.
The contrast with Washington is stark.
Despite all the challenges facing our country at home and abroad, our federal government remains functionally paralyzed and unable to get much done. This may be unsurprising or tolerated at the Capitol or on K Street, but things look and feel different here on our historic downtown square in Noblesville or in cities and towns across the country.
The federal government has mishandled the economy and invited outof-control inflation, costing our families as they work to put food on the table. Their solution of higher interest rates is impacting our neighbors’ ability to buy a new home or remodel their current home, not to mention our city’s ability to make vital infrastructure investments. Some federal officials lead honorably and earnestly seek to produce impactful results, but the major federal institutions have largely been ineffective, disappointing and uninspiring at a momentous time in our nation’s history.
Furthermore, the federal government’s
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unwillingness to agree upon solutions to seriously address our lessthan-secure southern border has turned virtually every city in our country into a border town. It is not surprising that cities are bearing the brunt of this inaction, faced not only with unprecedented pressure on social services that are already stretched thin but also with the influx of drugs and associated mental health challenges.
In the face of these challenges and more, mayors and local partners must work to come up with creative solutions to propel our communities forward. After all, we do not have the option of printing more money — or simply shutting down.
In Noblesville, for instance, we realized that our first responders were spending an increasing amount of time addressing mental health challenges — impacting public safety. That’s why we created NobleAct, a proactive mental health crisis and substance abuse response program in collaboration with our police and fire departments. This unique program allows police officers, community paramedics and mental health clinicians to provide linkage to community services and divert those in crisis away from the criminal justice system.
The approach has worked, and we are now working with state lawmakers to create legislation that will empower more cities to use this proactive NobleAct model to address challenges in their communities.
I don’t expect the President or members of Congress to hand out their cell numbers online or in the newspaper, but I think that if more of them tried to model the accountability and accessibility of a mayor, we would likely see better results and enhanced connections. I hope they will remember that what they do is not just a benign exercise in partisan scorekeeping.
Their action, or in most cases inaction, has a real impact on our communities, and if I know our Hoosier mayors, we will take it in stride with creative solutions and accessible approaches that produce results.
If we’re not doing a good enough job, call me. I’ll look forward to hearing your perspective.
Chris Jensen is the mayor of Noblesville.