Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
LINTON – The familiar arch emblazoned with the “You’ll Like Linton” motto has been greeting visitors to the Greene County city for decades.
Linton, population 5,218, is home to Linton-Stockton School Corporation, Greene County General Hospital, Humphrey’s Park, offering 19 acres of outdoor recreation, and the nearby Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area.
Linton was one of four cities in the Radius Indiana region that elected new mayors in 2023. In addition to Linton, the cities of Huntingburg, Loogootee and Mitchell have new leaders in place. Over the coming weeks, Southern Indiana Business Report will hear from these leaders on their priorities and plans for their cities over the next four years.
Linton Mayor John Preble is a lifelong resident of Linton. He served four years in the United States Navy, followed by 27 years as an officer in the US Navy Reserves. He worked 34 years at Naval Surface Warfare Center-Crane. His local involvement includes serving 161/2 years on the Linton-Stockton School Board and he’s president of the nonprofit Veterans Hall of Fame.
He has spent the past month meeting with city employees to understand how the different departments function. To communicate with residents, he’s writing a regular blog in the Greene County Daily World called “Coffee with the Mayor” to convey insights into the responsibilities of the Mayor’s office and issues facing the city. As mayor he serves on several boards/committees/commissions and also appoints citizens to serve on boards.
SIBR sat down with Preble to find out his plans over the next four years.
What’s been your focus since taking office?
I have some ideas but I want to make sure I know what the needs are. We have a lot of quality people working for the city. Before I decided to run for mayor, I saw a stagnation in the community of movement and growth and I felt like this was something I needed to do. It was that observation that made me realize we needed a spark, so I’ve looked at what our quality of life issues are and what can we do to encourage people to stay here. My two daughters moved away after college and you hear about brain drain. What happens when the young people leave is the grandparents soon follow. Grandparents are stable elements of the economy and the community so that second loss is kind of worse than the first and I see that happening. One of my priorities as mayor is what can I do to encourage the young people to come back.
What are some things that are emerging as priorities?
A proposal to build a pedestrian pathway that stretched from Humphreys Park to the hospital was a very positive project from the previous administration that stalled for a number of reasons. I think it’s totally needed and I’d like to see what we can do to re-invigorate it. There are places the city owns that could have trails and hiking paths. We own several hundred acres north of town that would make perfect hiking trails. We don’t have a dog park. Right now people take their dogs to ball diamonds that are fenced in. Those are some of the quality of life issues that we could start now and in time begin to see the city grow again.
Linton has a very active park board and I’d like to challenge them to look at opportunities they see in the conservation area to put in trails.
Another priority is being ready for the eclipse. This will be a challenge for resources and we want to be prepared for a huge influx of observers.
Something else I’m working on is a youth council. I’m meeting with our school superintendent about establishing a youth council. Several communities around the state – Carmel, Noblesville, Lafayette – have youth councils. I want to get engaged with the youth and the high school and hear their ideas for Linton.
Aging infrastructure is a challenge for many communities in Indiana, is that an issue for your city?
We have many water leaks that appear in our system. The water lines are fairly old and have been patched as needed. I’ve tasked the water department to say what is your plan to replace the aging sections because they are the ones that know the system the best.
What would you say are Linton’s strengths?
We have two economic engines and one of them is Greene County General Hospital, which is growing and bringing new physicians in, doing surgeries and that is a huge plus for the community. Linton-Stockton School Corporation is another big plus. The campus is beautiful, it has six new tennis courts, a new football locker facility and track. It’s the biggest school in the county and usually scores higher on standardized tests. The school is a huge plus to attract people coming in. We also have a very good quality of life. The city owns all our utilities so the cost of living is very reasonable. I think the community is very inviting, people-wise, and we have a solid downtown.
Any recent development you’d like to build on further?
The city owns a property called Oak Grove. This would be a perfect place for a dog park and in addition I’d like to put playground equipment and maybe a shelterhouse. In this area there was a ball diamond and in 1996 a 6-year-old was killed when a limb from a tree fell on him during a storm. I want to take Oak Grove and rename it the Evan Witty Memorial Park because his parents and grandparents have been good members of this community for years. I feel that’s something we can do this summer.
Cities and towns across Indiana are seeing the importance of investing in quality of place. Indiana, with programs like READI, are encouraging communities to invest in themselves. What is a quality of place opportunity in Linton you would like to develop?
We have a local hardware store, Shields Hardware, and Jim, the owner, started years ago putting photos of veterans on the wall. I know he plans to retire in the next couple of years and I would like to see the photos displayed in a building uptown. In September I started a Veterans Hall of Honor nonprofit and we’re trying to look at a building uptown to transfer those photos. It wasn’t part of my campaign but with my dad being a World War II veteran and so many residents who have served, it’s a passion of mine to give our veterans that recognition.
Crane has a large and growing presence in Greene County, your thoughts on being close to the naval base, and what level of connection you plan to have with Crane.
I would like the opportunity to come down and promote our city to new employees coming to Crane. Linton is a 35 to 40 minute drive to Crane You don’t have to drive that 69 corridor to Bloomington. In addition to promoting Linton as a place of residence, I would like to see Linton become a location for businesses that can either directly support the Crane mission or the administrative needs as well.