Now Darryl Neher, 48, stands in front of a crowd of more than 300 supporters to announce his candidacy for mayor of Bloomington.
“I never intended to enter political life,” Neher said in his candidacy announcement speech. “I didn’t grow up in a political family, and I didn’t set myself up down a political path, but I always found myself engaged in the communities I was a part of.”
But by 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Neher filed his paper work and cemented his Democratic candidacy for mayor.
Neher, who currently represents district five on the Bloomington City Council, had spent years in the media, first as the host of Interchange on WFHB and then of the Afternoon Edition on WGCL.
Current Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan, who decided he would not seek a fourth term in November, introduced Neher to the stage at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on Kirkwood Avenue and pledged his support for Neher’s campaign.
As he walked toward center stage, Neher was greeted by a roaring standing ovation, cheers and whistling.
Neher is now the second candidate to enter the 2015 mayoral race after the first candidate, John Hamilton, announced his candidacy Monday.
Neher thanked some of his key supporters who joined him on the stage including Kruzan, Indiana state representative Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, and Monroe County Council member Shelli Yoder.
Neher, who currently works as a senior lecturer at the Kelley School of Business, had many volunteers on hand for the event, some of whom were his students at IU.
Sebastian Wocial, currently a senior majoring in marketing, took Neher’s class in his sophomore year, C205 Honors Business ?Communication.
“Honestly, Darryl Neher is one of the best teachers I ever had in terms of making me a better student and just better person,” said Wocial, a senior at IU and former student of Neher. “He really pushed me to do things for the fun of it and to really research ideas and really be coherent in your ideas and to clearly communicate. No doubt one of the best teachers I ever had.”
Neher’s announcement hardly came as a surprise as volunteers dressed in “Darryl Neher: Mayor” white T-shirts were armed with clipboards and asking the supporters filing into the historical theater on Kirkwood for their name, phone number and email address.
“I’ve been here every day, engaging the issues that impact our community and our lives,” Neher said. “Learning about Bloomington through my experience as a student, a teacher, volunteer, an employee and public servant. I know Bloomington.”
Neher said that after talking to Bloomington residents, he plans to run his race on what he called progressive values of quality of life, economic development and commitment to social services.
“Those are real challenges, those are real issues,” Neher said. “But what was inspiring to me in those conversations was a desire to aspire from so many in our community.”
Neher specifically mentioned issues such as the construction of I-69 and IU Health’s possible movement out of downtown.
Neher praised democratic party leadership in Bloomington over the last four decades and said he hopes to continue the progress his predecessors set forth for him.
“I also understand whoever is the next mayor is a placeholder,” Neher said. “And we have an obligation to respect our history, especially that 40-plus years of strong, progressive democratic leadership that has helped shape who we are.”
Originally from North Manchester, Ind., a rural community located in northern Indiana, Neher was the first member in his family to graduate college.
Neher was reflective in his speech, looking back on his time in Bloomington as a broke graduate student.
“Immediately after graduation I came to Bloomington, and Bloomington became my home,” Neher said. “Now when I first arrived in Bloomington, I was a poor, broke graduate student, and I had to work to supplement my income to get by and to pay my bills — and I know what that struggle is like.”
