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Being a South Bend native, a lot of people have asked me if I personally knew Pete. I did. When I was eighteen I worked at Martin's Supermarket, a local supermarket where Mrs. Buttigieg and Pete used to shop.The Buttigiegs grew up about two blocks away from me in South Bend in a northern downtown neighborhood called The Triangle. I lived on Marquette Ave. and they lived close to where Pete and Chasten live currently now, on North Shore Dr. The neighborhood is made up of winding streets lined with sidewalks and post WWII, two story, full pallet colored cape cods to the west, and larger, historical white-washed pre-war homes to the east. Most homes have garages in the back, and garbage is still collected in the alleyways, not the front of your home. It's a place where kids hung out, played kick the can, and knew all of the shortcuts through unfenced yards. The Triangle is the lowest geographical area of South Bend, sunken deep into the glacial carved St. Joseph valley. It's enclosed by the steep slope of Angela Blvd. to the west, North Shore Dr. winding alongside the low side of the slow moving, muddy St. Joe River to the south, and Michigan Blvd., a major atterery running from the state line of Michigan, across the river, and into downtown South Bend to the east. Hence the name, The Triangle.It's a smaller, mixed demographic neighborhood, made up largely of South Bend Community School teachers, Memorial Hospital staff, and Notre Dame professors. Back then, Notre Dame professors did not make an income nearly what they do now. They typically drove the same old paid off, rust-bucket, one car family cars as the rest of us, parked alongside the street curb. They painted homes in the summertime, as a lot of SBCS teachers did to make ends meet. Pete's parents were professors at Notre Dame, and my dad was an inner-city school teacher; my mom was a nurse.The Triangle was a younger, first time homebuyer, family oriented neighborhood. Most of the young kids like myself walked across either the Michigan Blvd. bridge, through Leeper park, to Madison Elmentary, or over the Angela bridge and neighboring train tressel, past the backside of Martin's Supermarket, to Holy Cross elementary. The Michigan Blvd. bridge is strikingly similar to the Jefferson Blvd. bridge that Pete has strategically placed on his logo. All of the highschool age kids went to St. Joe on the northwest corner of Angela and Michigan. My parents went there, my sister Chrissy and I went there, and Pete went there. The University of Notre Dame was on the northeast corner. It was a safe neighborhood, and most of us were latchkey kids. The key to the house was always in the mailbox, and everybody had a dog.During highschool I worked across the river the Triangle as a bagger at Martin's Supermarket. Every Saturday morning, like clockwork, Mrs. Buttigieg showed up to do her weekly family grocery shopping, with young Pete Buttigieg in tow. Pete's eleven years younger than I am, so he was about seven at the time. Mrs. Buttigieg is a pleasant, friendly, charismatic person and always had a kind word to say. We'd typically talk about who's going to win the Notre Dame football game later that day, and she'd always show up in her blue and gold or green and gold colors on gamedays.Pete was your textbook, unassuming seven year old. Solid pattern I-zod shirt, blue jeans, and bed-head. He'd remind his mom of her promise of letting him pick out a candy bar at the end of their shopping, a daunting task for a child that age, which usually ended with "pick one now, or you're not going to get one".Pete used to follow myself and the cartful of groceries to the storefront walkway, under the long awning, as Mrs. Buttigieg went to retrieve their old white sedan. He was a little gentleman back then, and would always help load the groceries into the trunk of their family car, every Saturday, no matter the weather. Rain. Snow Freezing Indiana winters. After loading the groceries Pete and I would "hive-five", I'd say, "Thanks Little Pete!", and "See you next week, Mrs. B!", and they'd be on their way. It's simply a memory of mine now. Who would have known what the future held for "Little Pete".Later in life, I moved to several different states. Florida, Georgia, Colorado, Wyoming. I always seemed to find my way back to South Bend. When people would ask me why, I'd tell them "It's about the people", most of them could never understand. Nowadays, when I explain to them that the"people" I'm referring to are people like the Buttigiegs, suddenly, it all makes sense.28 years later, here's a few things he's done as mayor.SEVENTY FIVE South Bend citywide accomplishments of Mayor Pete, after inheriting South Bend's 2011 city ranking of Newsweek Magazine's "Top 10 Worst" US Cities to Live". Mayor Pete:[One]Voted mayor at 29 years old with 74% of the vote becomming South Bend's second youngest Mayor in city history, and South Bend's first LGBTQ+ Mayor.[Two]Voted 2013 "Best Mayor in the United States", tied only with New York Mayor Bloomberg.[Three]Took a 6 month leave of absence without pay to deploy to Afghanistan, and managed South Bend via satellite internet during this time without pay. Served as a Naval Intelligence Officer in an Afghanistan hot zone.[Four]Fired and replaced South Bend Chief of Police Darryl Boykins as his first notable public act as mayor (only 3 months in office) after a complicated department wide illegal wire tapping scandal that was fueled by racial comments from white officers against the black police chief and was viewed as departmental wide racism. Pete ordered Boykins to cease all illegal wire tapping immediately, because wire tapping someone without their knowledge in Indiana is a felony. Boykins refused. Pete fired him.In Pete's own own words he was given the choice by federal prosecutors to either fire the the police chief or they would arrest, prosecute, and imprison.Pete says he did what he felt was best for the residents and safety of South Bend, Boykins Boykins family, and the SB Police Dept.[Five]Created the "311 Center", a South Bend City resident customer service line.[Six]Partnered "311 Center" with "Veteran's Community Connections" to provide resources for South Bend veterans. Achieved 0% veteran homeless rate in South Bend.[Seven]Approved the construction of two new "State of the Art" South Bend Fire Department fire stations.[Eight]Encouraged "Community Policing" as South Bend Police Department created 7500 new foot patrols for SBPD officers.[Nine]Initiated South Bend Police Department officer body cameras for all South Bend Police Department patrols.[Ten]Created South Bend's "Group Violence Intervention Program".[Eleven]Documented drop in gang related activity.[Twelve]Documented drop in gun related violence.[Thirteen]Created a taskforce to intervene in social media related violent crime proactively before it happens.[Fourteen]Grew South Bend's nationally acclaimed "River Rescue Team" and deployed them to several US national emergency flood disaster areas.[Fifteen]Created a "Paramedicine Community Response Team" to free up and ease the congestion of South Bend St. Joseph and South Bend Memorial Hospital emergency room and bed space.[Sixteen]Conducted city wide South Bend Fire Department "Fire Alarm Blitz", installing free fire, smoke, and CO2 detectors.[Seventeen]Created South Bend "H2O Lead Detection Program".[Eighteen]Initiated "1000 Homes in 1000 Days" program to tear down or revitalize neighborhood blight.Not one person living in their home at the time was evicted.All homes torn down were deemed not only blight but unsafe and were either inherited, abandoned, or were second properties, or investment properties, bought cheap by local entrepreneurs intending to flip them for profits while doing the least amount of work possible.[Nineteen]Created South Bend's "Smart Sewer" program.[Twenty]Created South Bend's "Smart Streets" program.[Twenty One]Created an app for South Bend pothole detection.[Twenty Two]Created traffic roundabouts for downtown South Bend streets.[Twenty Three]Created bicycle lanes for South Bend city streets.[Twenty Four]Partnered with "Bike Michiana Coalition" as South Bend was awarded nationwide silver star "Bike Friendly City".[Twenty Five]Created a "Transparency Hub" for all South Bend public service jobs.[Twenty Six]Raised the South Bend city minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10.[Twenty Seven]Installed robotic arms on all South Bend city trash removal trucks.[Twenty Eight]Created South Bend's city wide ride share program.[Twenty Nine]Installed ports in downtown South Bend for electric cars.[Thirty]Experienced an increase in number of South Bend city residents.[Thirty One]Cut South Bend unemployment rate in half.[Thirty Two]Envisioned and created South Bend's "Silicon Prarie" image, bringing in tech jobs and business to occupy the old and vacant Studebaker plant and corridor.[Thirty Three]Created fiber optics city wide, connecting South Bend with tge University of Notre Dame.[Thirty Four]Established free WIFI downtown.[Thirty Five]Created the South Bend's "Center for Lifelong Learning".[Thirty Six]Created the week long South Bend "Best Week Ever" event.[Thirty Seven]Created "Trails 365" for 24hr South Bend street snow removal.[Thirty Eight]Created "My South Bend Parks and Trails".[Thirty Nine]Created South Bend's "Department of Venues, Parks, and Arts".[Forty]Created South Bend's "Rental Safety Verification Program" or "RSVP".[Forty One]Created the "South Bend Home Repair Program".[Forty Two]Created the South Bend's "Office of Engagement and Economic Empowerment".[Forty Three]Created the "Light up South Bend" program using solar power lights city wide.[Forty Four]Revitalized Howard Park and reopened the classic and nostalgic Howard Park ice rink.[Forty Five]Helped to add 32 homeless shelter units in a refit of the old Oliver Apartments, downtown South Bend.[Forty Six]Helped to create an additional 28 units for the homeless scattered throughout South Bend, citywide.[Forty Seven]Loosened citywide homeless intake standards, as other privately funded centers had a zero tolerance drug and alcohol policy with frequent drug and alcohol screening. The reason behind this was Pete's idea of finding shelter first, with substance abuse programs to follow as opposed to being a disqualifier.[Forty Eight]Would personally meet with South Bend's homeless under a notorious downtown viaduct makshift camp to see that every single one of them had shelter before authorities removed the camp.[Forty Nine]Became the voice of reason and an advocate for the homeless as many city business owners wanted the South Bend homeless camp to be torn down (as it was several times only to be rebuilt). Was a liason between business owners, the South Bend Police Department, South Bend residents, the homeless shelters, and the homeless themselves throughout this homeless crisis.[Fifty]Approved a 1M dollar "State of the Art" intake facility for the South Bend homeless.[Fifty One]Is part of a Nation wide Mayor's Task Force on addressing homelessness.[Fifty Two]Worked with the NAACP in creation of a "Diversity & Inclusion Department", which is working to increase contracting with minority-owned businesses. Helped with the city’s $4 million renovation of the Charles Black Center.[Fifty Three]15,000 new South Bend jobs.[Fifty Four]South Bend Unemployment fell by an overall 7%, from 11.8% unemployment to 4.1%.[Fifty Five]Created South Bend's "West Side Small Business Resource Center".[Fifty Six]Took a moment out of his busy day to preside over and marry a couple who requested to be wed at the hospital just hours before the birth of their newborn baby.Fifty Seven]Started the downtown South Bend to downtown Chicago connection initiative by revitalizing the South Shore Rail Road.[Fifty Eight]Supported and welcomed new Minor League Baseball team, the South Bend Cubs, to downtown Four Winds Ballpark.[Fifty Nine]Facilitated $22M "Ivy at Berlin Place" project, adjacent to Four Winds Ball Park, noted to be South Bend's own little Chicago style "Wrigleyville".[Sixty]Renovation of South Bend's Chase Tower.[Sixty One]Brought in an Embassy Suites to South Bend.[Sixty Two]Revitalized South Bend's downtown, river front, city parks, bike trails.[Sixty Three]Endorsed Garth Brooks concert at Notre Dame thereby having a positive economic impact to the city in which historically would have been a low economically trending week.[Sixty Four]Supported bringing the NHL Classic to Notre Dame. Same economic impact as above.[Sixty Five]Rushed to the emergency room to translate for an Arabic speaking patient that doctors couldn't understand. (Arabic is one of 8 languages that Mayor Pete speaks. He's beginning to learn sign language as well).[Sixty Six]Played concert piano with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra.[Sixty Seven]Sat in as a guest piano player for popular artist Ben Folds.[Sixty Eight]Advocate of rescuing shelter dogs from the South Bend Humane Society. A lover of two rescues himself, Buddy and Truman.[Sixty Nine]Implemented the "Municipal ID Program", allowing undocumented residents of South Bend to access public services like libraries, etc. Pete intentionally made life easier for immigrants by his own singlehanded initiative.[Seventy]Approved major renovation, remodeling, and additional space to the South Bend downtown public library main branch.[Seventy One]Honored civil rights hero and the South Bend black community by renaming a major city thoroughfare to Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd.[Seventy Two]Hosted the South Bend 150 Year Anniversary Celebration with 40,000+ people downtown, making it the largest city sanctioned event in South Bend history.[Seventy Three]Remains a South Bend city downtown resident, lives in the same neighborhood he grew up, often seen riding his mountain bike to and from work.[Seventy Four]Won his second term as South Bend mayor with 80% of the popular vote.[Seventy Five]First resident in South Bend history to run for President of the United States.