CLINTON VISITS MICHIGAN CITY

Secret Service agentsawait the arrival of President Clinton on the 21st Century Express nearthe city's Amtrak stop Wednesday.

Security tight for visit

Special effort ensures safety of both president, public

By Lee Schelling

News-Dispatch staff writer

It took almost 300 law enforcement and U.S. Secret Service officers tomake President Clinton's visit Wednesday a reality.

The security logistics of such a visit are complicated and tiring toput together, but Michigan City Police Chief Larry Kunkel said he was proudof his officers and thankful for the assistance of other departments formaking the president's visit a security success.

"No one on the (Michigan City Police) department with the rank oflieutenant or above doesn't have a lot of bags under their eyes since hardplanning began last Thursday," Kunkel said shortly after the park wasemptied of an estimated 40,000 visitors Wednesday.

Kunkel said it wasn't until early on the day of the president's visitthat all of the police officers were made aware of the planning their fellowofficers had prepared.

"All of our officers were pressed into service and did magnificently,"Kunkel said. "The city never went unprotected while the president washere."

Kunkel said he was amazed at the resolve of the people who came to thepark to see the president. "It took a lot of resolve to go throughall of that to come to the park and stand around for up to 10 hours."

Kunkel said it was the long hours in the park that might have made somepeople a little feisty to leave the park once the president's speech wasdone.

But no one was allowed to exit the park over the Franklin Street bridgeuntil the president's motorcade was gone.

Planning for the president's visit was one of the most intense thingsKunkel has ever experienced in his police career, he said. "There isso much to do and you really have to be willing to delegate a lot of responsibilitiesand trust in your staff that it will be done."

Kunkel said it was not unusual to have conferences that lasted eightto 12 hours each when it came to meeting the needs of the Secret Service.

Lt. Al Christensen, who helped the Secret Service tour Washington Park,said in all his years as a police officer he never knew the park as wellas he did in the last week. "I now know every blade of grass in thepark and my feet are killing me, but it was for a very honorable cause."

Assistant Chief Mark Harris agreed that the planning had been very tiring,but that it was an honor few cities the size of Michigan City get to see-- a presidential visit.

All three police officers agreed that working with the Secret Servicewas not only a learning experience, but also pleasurable.

"This is a great bunch of people who are very down to earth anda delight to work with," Kunkel said.

Another aspect to having so many people in town, and especially SecretService, is that it means a mini-business boom that doesn't go unnoticed.A billboard sign at the Franklin Street McDonald's Restaurant thanked theSecret Service for their patronage.

Kunkel said he would be spending the next few days resting.

"I'll also be sending out quite a few thank you letters to all thosepolice agencies and city departments which assisted us so much.

Kunkel said the list includes the U.S. Coast Guard, Trail Creek, LongBeach, LaPorte city, LaPorte County, Portage, Porter, Elkhart, NorthernIndiana Commuter Transportation District, Norfolk and Western Railroad,Indiana State Police and Indiana Department of Natural Resources police.

"The Elkhart police volunteered their services when they heard ofthe presidential visit. They had the vice president visit last year andthey knew what we were getting into. They were a great help.

"We also received invaluable assistance from the Michigan City EmergencyManagement Agency (Civil Defense), Street Department, Fire Department, PortAuthority, Park Department and others. If I forgot anybody, I apologize,it's just been a lot to handle."

Kunkel said if anything could have been done differently it would haveconcerned communications. "It all went pretty smooth, but I would haveworked on communications more."

Kunkel said portable radio batteries were wearing out by the end of theday and there was some confusion over radio traffic between departments."It was nothing extremely major, but it did bother me."

Kunkel said the next step is to see just how much overtime Clinton'svisit cost. "We're going to look at the overtime budget. We believewe will be able to get some level of reimbursement from the state for whatwe spent in overtime."

The chief said the city should really be impressed with itself for whatit was able to accomplish during the visit. "I have to say I'm prettyimpressed with ourselves and very proud of everyone who put in the effort."

Clinton points up successes of term

By Dan Rosenberg

News-Dispatch staff writer

President Clinton stood on a platform in front of the Washington Parkbandstand Wednesday, waving to the crowd as cheers washed over him.

The applause went on and on, preventing the president from beginninghis speech. He said "Thank you" over and over again, and addeda couple of "wows" for good measure.

Clinton spoke to a Michigan City audience estimated at 40,000 -- thebiggest crowd he had seen in any city during his four-day campaign swingacross the Midwest.

The president, who has seen his share of large crowds during his longpolitical career, nevertheless was impressed by the number of people hesaw here and the enthusiasm they expressed.

Mayor Sheila Bergerson Brillson, who stood on the platform next to Clinton,exchanged a few words with the president during the introductory speechesby U.S. Rep. Tim Roemer, Lt. Gov. Frank O'Bannon and Gov. Evan Bayh. Hetold her how impressed he was with the Michigan City and LaPorte Countyaudience.

"He said, 'This is unbelievable,' " Bergerson Brillson saidlater.

Once the crowd calmed down enough to let him talk, Clinton told the audiencethat they had helped to restore his faith in the enthusiasm of the Americanpeople.

"I don't think you can imagine what it means to see you out here,"Clinton said. "... You read that people are cynical and don't careabout political leaders anymore. I don't see any cynicism out here."

Upon hearing that, many in the audience struck up a chant of "Fourmore years."

Clinton asked the crowd to help him achieve that goal.

"I want you to support four more years of more opportunity, responsibilityand community," he said. "I want us to go roaring into the 21stcentury with our best years ahead of us. Are you willing to help me forthe next 70 days?" The crowd roared its approval. "Then on toChicago," the president yelled back.

Clinton remembered to pay his regards to elected officials and otherswho participated in the event.

He thanked the Michigan City High School JROTC Color Guard and the MichiganCity High School marching band for their appearances.

He also complimented Bergerson Brillson, saying: "Anyone who canraise six children can do anything, even be president."

When the president wasn't lauding the people of Michigan City, he waslauding his own accomplishments over the last four years.

In what sounded like a typical campaign "stump" talk, he took21 minutes to glance over a wide variety of topics ranging from Medicareto welfare to the environment, stressing the improvements that have beenmade since he took office in 1993.

"Four years ago we had high unemployment, stagnant wages and growingcynicism," the president told the audience, which waved red, whiteand blue Clinton/Gore signs.

"Four years later, we have 10 million new jobs, a record numberof small businesses opening, and record exports," Clinton continued."America is on the move. Wages are on the rise again for the firsttime in 10 years. The crime rate has been down four years in a row. We'vegiven police officers the tools they need to keep the streets safe."

Bill Clinton acknowledges the chants of the crowd before speakingWednesday at Washington Park.

Photo/Jennifer Flowers

One of the administration's most important achievements, he said, hasbeen its progress in lowering the federal deficit.

Clinton acknowledged that for many Americans, the deficit seems likean uninteresting, "abstract" topic. Many people, he said, areunaware of the vital role the national deficit plays in their own lives.

"The deficit is not abstract," Clinton said. "If you bringit down, it brings interest rates down. House payments, car payments andcredit card payments go down. People can invest money and create new jobs."

Though the president made it clear that the deficit "quadrupled"during the Reagan and Bush administrations, he did not mention that Republicanswere the first to propose balancing the budget by the year 2002, a concepthe eventually agreed to.

He also failed to mention his opponent, former Sen. Bob Dole, even onceduring his speech, his last one before accepting his party's nominationfor a second term Thursday night.

Instead, the president referred vaguely to Dole's proposal for a 15 percentacross-the-board income tax cut, hinting that the country could not affordsuch a move. His own smaller tax cut proposal, he said, would help "workingfamilies" achieve their goals of providing an education for their children.

"We ought to have a family-friendly, targeted tax cut that we canafford," Clinton said, his voice still sounding fresh and clear onthe fourth and final day of his train ride from West Virginia. "Itwill allow working families a tax deduction for college tuition or a taxcredit for a community college education. We can afford that and it willmake us a stronger country."

Twice in his speech, the president mentioned an issue that Dole and otherRepublicans have used during their campaign against the president.

A recent survey showed that drug use among American teenagers has risenduring the last four years, and Republican commercials have used the statisticto discredit the president's record on fighting drugs.

In his speech, Clinton said fighting drug use is one of his top priorities.

"We've got to keep going until every single one of our childrenknows that not only are drugs dangerous, they will kill you," Clintonsaid. The administration, he said, has "fought drug abuse."

Other successful intitiatives of his administration, he said, were thepassage of the Brady Bill, which imposes a waiting period for gun purchases,and progress on environmental cleanup. "We've cleaned more toxic wastedumps during the last three years than we did in the previous 12 years,"said Clinton, who was speaking less than two miles from the ongoing cleanupat the Waste Inc. Superfund site.

About Gov. Bayh, he said, "I wouldn't be surprised at all if someday,Evan Bayh were to come back here as president of the United States."

Son of city family assigned to help protect president

By Stacey Manner

News-Dispatch staff writer

He has protected kings and presidents, prime ministers and first ladies.

His job -- to detect and render safe any type of explosive device foundin conjunction with an event such as President Clinton's visit to MichiganCity Wednesday.

Richard Kessler, 24, is the son of Tom and Susan Smith of Michigan City.

He is a member of the Army's explosives disposal unit that works withthe government and Secret Service to protect American and internationalofficials.

Susan said her son is stationed in New Jersey, and they never know whenor where he has been until after an event or job.

"He can never tell us where he's about to go or who he will meetuntil after he goes," Susan said.

That is why she and Tom were excited when their son called them fromMichigan City Wednesday.

He was in town to protect the president, and would meet with them laterin the night after the event was over.

"It's exciting and frightening all rolled into one," Susansaid of dealing with her son's job.

The 6 foot, 5 inch-tall Kessler looked like all the other Secret Serviceagents at Wednesday's event in Washington Park, Susan said.

"He was working near the metal detectors and scanning devices, andhis job would be to inspect anything that looked questionable," shesaid.

Kessler grew up in Michigan City, and graduated from the Life TrainingCenter in 1990.

The center coordinates home schooling for students through the high schoollevel.

"For all his life, he's wanted to be in some sort of military position,"Tom said.

After graduation, Kessler immediately went into the military, and quicklyfound his niche -- studying and dealing with explosives.

He passed several classes and training sessions, and today is fully qualifiedto dismantle a bomb.

With that come the perks of meeting all types of government officials,even on the international level.

"So far, he's met King Hussein of Jordan, the king (president) ofEgypt and all kinds of VIPs," Tom said.

When international government officials appear on the news, the Smithssay they always look for their son in the background. "We haven't seenhim yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time," Tom said.

Their son doesn't travel much, and usually is assigned to missions alongthe East Coast. He rarely can talk about his work -- even with family --but the Smiths know that comes with the job.

They were delighted their son was randomly assigned to his hometown toprotect President Clinton.

"The president came to town. To be a part of that heritage and thenhave your son along next to the president -- I don't think I'm going tobe able to get any sleep tonight," Susan said