Top Six Wish List For Lake County Improvements

Here's my Top Six wish list for Lake County, Indiana:

1. Open up more lake front for public use as proposed by Rep. Pete Visclosky in his Marquette Plan. Lake Michigan is a hidden treasure that has been kept locked away for too long in Lake County. We need to capitalize on this natural resource.

2. Build the Illiana Expressway and have it connect with I-355 to provide an alternative route to Illinois' western suburbs. It's a fact of life that people will continue to drive since public transportation cannot go everywhere. Linking I-65 with I-57 and onward to I-80 and I-355 would open up Lake County to more economic opportunities and provide a nice alternative to traveling on I-294 -- The Tri-State Expressway -- for trips to the quickly growing suburbs along I-355. Having a speedy connection with Illinois would also make Indiana more attractive to businesses and potential residents.

3. Improve the Gary Public School's performance. Education is the key to rebuilding Gary's economic prosperity. Gary has gone so far downhill that it is only a matter of time before it starts to rise again because of its proximity to Chicago. Let's figure out a way to teach our kids so that they won't enter the workforce at a disadvantage.

4. Attract more high tech businesses to Lake County to provide more 21st Century employment opportunities for residents. Along with a better educated population, we need to work to attract businesses that will be the future economic engines for the region. With the global reach of the internet allowing Northwest Indiana to compete with the rest of the world, we need to work to attract high tech businesses to the area. Making the lake front beautiful will be a key factor in attracting workers to high tech industries.

5. Grow Lake County's economy to increase wages. People commute to Chicago and Illinois for higher paying jobs. We're in the same region as Chicago, but Northwest Indiana wages haven't kept up. Cleaning up government -- see item 6 -- and fixing the educational system -- see item 3 -- will be key.

6. Create a new culture in government that rejects corruption. There have been too many public officials who have fallen to the temptation to enrich themselves at the expense of their employers -- the people. Money that should have gone to help people, instead has gone to corrupt officials in a variety of schemes. Bad government scares away legitimate businesses and perpetuates poverty by creating incentives to keep people uneducated and dependent upon their political leaders for welfare, who then skim welfare money from the federal pot. Cleaning up local government and creating an ethical culture within the local governments will be key to any economic growth in Lake County.