“The new mayor of Gary, IN likes to refer to the old proverb, ""Cleanliness is next to godliness.""

Mayor Rudy Clay says he knows improving his city won’t happen overnight. But Clay, who’s been mayor for two weeks, says he wants to start somewhere. That starts with ridding the city of waste, garbage and trash.

""So you must have a clean city before you can attract economic development, before you can attract tourism, before you can attract manufacturing firms, or anybody. You’ve got to have a clean city so we’re going to clean it up,"" he says.

Mayor Clay says public works employees will do the cleanup during working hours. About 200 inmates in a county work-release program will participate to keep costs down.

City Councilwoman Marilyn Krusas says she’s worried about where the money is going to come from.

The mayor says he plans to meet with city leaders soon to discuss a timetable and payment for the clean up. He wants the clean-up to begin before summer.“