The Hudnut Years in Indianapolis: 1976-1991.

• Author: Manahan, Jack

Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1995. (321 pp)

Reviewed by Jack Manahan, county administrator of Peoria County, Illinois, and member of GFOA's Committee on Governmental Budgeting and Management.

It is, of course, left to the victors to write history. It is hardly unusual for political readers' memoirs to tell a somewhat different tale than what their critics recall. It is, however, unusual for the victors to allow their critics to offer opposing viewpoints in the victors' own chronicles.

That is precisely what Mayor Hudnut has done in this book. Part one is Hudnut's recollection of events during his 16 years as mayor of Indianapolis. Part two contains commentaries by academic critics of Hudnut's reign. Part three contains similar comments by citizen critics, who were there during his four terms in office.

While Hudnut was mayor, Indianapolis was repackaged, renewed, redeveloped, and repositioned from an ailing rust-belt "Naptown" to a showplace of the Midwest and the country. During the same time period, Hudnut was criticized for poor infant mortality, lack of involvement in education problems critical to the city, police brutality, and focusing his efforts on the downtown area to the detriment of other parts of the city with more pressing needs. This book tells the story from Hudnut's point of view and from the view of his critics of these and other issues involved in governing a community of nearly one million souls.

Hudnut is quick to admit that, to some extent, he happened to be in the right place at the right time. Nevertheless, the record of accomplishment is impressive. During Hudnut's term, the city landed an NFL team and built the Hoosier Dome, hosted the NCAA Final Four college basketball tournament, secured a 6,500-employee United Airlines maintenance facility despite the fact that the city was not even invited to apply, and began a downtown redevelopment that is still continuing.

It would be a mistake to consider this book as simply one politician's efforts to justify his actions while in office. Hudnut provides lessons on the process involved in getting things done in a very public setting with many stakeholders, opposing viewpoints, and factors beyond the local leaders' control. He notes the backdrop of the shifting attitudes and support of the federal...