South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is
back in the office after nearly two weeks of Navy Reserve Duty. He was stationed at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. The Mayor joined the service in 2009.
He said he is with a joint unit that
does analysis to support efforts to combat terrorism
Every year he owes the service a two
week period and every month he owes them one weekend.
So each year he's in office he will
be gone for almost two weeks to serve his country. But Buttigieg said being a good officer helps
him be a better mayor. "Being part of an organization not as the leader I
think helps me think about a large organization like the city of South Bend
government from the perspective not of a leader and just remember what it's
like to be a little bit deeper with in a fairly bureaucratic organization
trying to get something done," said Buttigieg.
Buttigieg said his staff handled his
absence very well and he was on the phone with them daily while he was gone. He said he returned to a large stack of
papers on his desk and a very full email inbox.
He won't have much of a break as he gets right back into work and
preparing for the South Bend
economic summit that will be held on Thursday June 21st.
