South Bend neighbors weigh-in on Mayor Pete's political goals

SOUTH BEND, Ind –South Bend neighbors weigh in on Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s political past and future. 

Buttigieg appeared on ABC’s The View on Thursday. 

The 37-year-old mayor announced last week that he formed a Presidential exploratory committee called “Pete for America.”

“I think it’s great to have someone so local to be running, Mayor Pete has done a lot of good things for South Bend and he has put us on the map,” Debbie Speth of South Bend said. 

But others question Mayor Pete spending so much time away from the city.

One viewer writing on ABC57’s Facebook page “Please finish the job we pay you for now before you go out trying to pay for the job you don’t have,” and another viewer asking “Who’s watching South Bend while he is doing tv appearances.”

Debbie Speth says she believes he’ll still be able to get the job done even if he isn’t always in the city.

“I think he can be anywhere and still delegate his job because he has selected good people in our city and it doesn’t really take him being here to get a good job done,” Speth said.  

Whether Mayor Pete is in South Bend or eventually in the Oval Office the group including Jennifer Schmitt says they believe in him and his political future. 

"I feel he's set up to be able to make changes here and on a bigger scale and I feel he has the team put together to do so,” Schmitt said.