Gusan announces mayoral candidacy

John Gusan, a former IU Residential Programs and Services employee, will be the third candidate on the Democratic mayoral primary ballot May 3.

Gusan said there are three main reasons he is running for mayor.

“I think I just want to highlight the homelessness situation in Bloomington,” he said.

He also said IU and the IU Foundation need to become more active off-campus.

“Whoever’s elected mayor needs to prod the Indiana University administration and the IU Foundation into doing more in the Bloomington community,” Gusan said.

Gusan said both should invest more money in certain building projects.

He also said his candidacy was motivated by an incident that occurred several years ago between  and “a notable name.”

He said he was verbally abused and discovered police officers following him several days after the incident occurred.

Gusan will face incumbent Mark Kruzan and John Hamilton in the primary. The winner will have the Democratic nomination for the mayoral race in November.

There are currently no Republican candidates declared in the race, said Nancy Ganka, vice chairwoman of the Monroe County Republican Party.

Ganka said Republicans can nominate candidates via caucus through July.

— Michael Auslen