College Republicans say Sabbagh will create jobs

As students filed into the State Room East at the Indiana Memorial Union for last week’s IU College Republicans meeting, the first person stood up to speak: mayoral candidate David Sabbagh.\nSabbagh attended the Oct. 29 meeting to ask the students for their support and energy as his campaign entered its final days.\nDavid White, chairman of the College Republicans, said Sabbagh has been extremely supportive of the group, attending a handful of meetings since last semester.\n“He’s actually done more for us than we’ve done for him in some ways,” White said.\nWhite and other members went door-to-door over the weekend \ntrying to rally support for Sabbagh in Tuesday’s mayoral election, saying that current mayor Mark Kruzan needs to be ousted.\n“(Kruzan) is not the dictator of Bloomington,” White said. “David Sabbagh can win if enough people want different leadership.”\nSabbagh has worked as one of few Republicans on the Bloomington City Council. White pointed to this as proof of his determination.\nBut White said he’s skeptical of straight ticket voters.\n“(If) it comes down to voting by party lines, he will lose every time,” White said. “He does what he believes in even though he knows he’s not going to win in a room full of Democrats.”\nWhite said he respects Sabbagh’s won’t-back-down stance.\nSophomore and events coordinator J.T. Mackey said he believes Sabbagh will provide growth for Bloomington’s economy.\n“The job growth in Bloomington is poor and student graduates can’t find jobs in Bloomington,” Mackey said. “Bloomington needs to work to offer incentives to larger sized businesses to employ the population. If the leadership for the past three years hasn’t done it, we need to look to the other side of the aisle.”\nSophomore and press secretary Chelsea Kane agreed that Sabbagh would help increase the number of available jobs for graduates.\n“There needs to be an impetus for staying here, but the job opportunities are pretty limited for those with a degree,” Kane said.\nWhoever the next mayor is, White said, will need to work on making IU more accessible and attractive to outsiders, in part, by utilizing the future expansion of Interstate-69.\nThe College Republicans identified other key issues not being talked about in the elections.\nWhite, a second year law student, said he would like to see the city take students into concern with its policies, specifically taxes on alcohol.\n“We are not an economic resource for the city – we are partners,” White said. “We need to see that the taxes we pay benefit us too.”\nSophomore and group secretary Cassie Alderson said she would like to see the lighting in the city improved to increase safety for female students.\n“What has Mark Kruzan done for us?” Alderson said. “I’ve been here for over three years and the city hasn’t done anything to help students.”