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FACES | ball bearings

MAYOR DENNIS TYLER relaxes in his Delaware County office.

Not even two months into his new term as Muncie mayor, Dennis Tyler finds himself in a state of self-inflicted urgency. The university town has long been on the economic decline,

forcing government officials into unattainable promises and flowery rhetoric that has began to breed skepticism from the city. Despite considerable roadblocks and a limited budget, Tyler seems truthfully optimistic.

His office is what you would expect from a newly appointed mayor: papers strewn about his desk in a surprisingly organized mess, labeled with a rainbow of sticky-notes. The rest of the large, traditionally decorated room is immaculate, seeming almost empty. Besides his laptop, tablet and iPhone, the office is almost devoid of any personal belongings – no family photos, no children’s artwork. The only visible thing is a standing book titled “School Cannot Do It Alone” on his side table, a picture of himself presenting a 101st birthday proclamation to Muncie resident Mary H. Beatty and a stack of tucked-away Chicago Bears mugs.

Due to the paperwork on his main desk, he prefers to type as he faces the window. The back of his leather swivel chair effectively hides Tyler to those entering his office. Despite the eeriness of approaching him by surprise, he quickly spins around and greets people with an almost relaxed demeanor.

Though he’s preparing for a State of the City address in two hours, visitors to his office are never treated as an inconvenience. He calmly quits typing, turns his chair and greets them with his rather infectious smile. As they leave, he apologizes for turning his back to them and continues typing. There’s an impossible amount of work to be done.

Dennis Tyler was born in Muncie in 1943, living with his mother and three brothers in a public housing project

Newly appointed Mayor Dennis Tyler looks back at his path to office

HometownHero

{ photos } Liz McDonald{ story } David Boulton

called Middletown Gardens on the south side. Tyler never met his estranged father and was the product of a single-parent household until his mother met her future husband when Tyler was 12.

“I’ve always considered him my dad, because I never knew my real father,” Tyler says. “Mom was my go-to person, but Dad was the one who got me to quit whining and crying about what was going on around me and get involved in local politics.”

He went on to attend Muncie Central High School in the late ‘50s. Due to his luck as a student, the transition into adulthood was a rather smooth one for Tyler, who opted out of going to college in favor of the instant gratification of paychecks offered by the workforce.

“When I came out of high school, there were so many jobs around here,” Tyler remembers. “I mean, we had more jobs than we had people, seriously. And the beauty of it was, you could graduate from high school and you didn’t need a college education. That’s what most did in our entire community.”

It’s difficult to listen to Tyler without noticing his overwhelming sense of nostalgia. These transitional adult years shaped his ideological foundation as well as his semi-utopian image of the Muncie that should still be. Just mention the late great Jackie Wilson around Tyler and be prepared to hear about the greatest entertainer in the world coming to Muncie and leaving a young man in awe.

March 1965 was perhaps one of the most pivotal and self-realizing moments in Tyler’s life. The mayor at the time had created the Police and Fire Mayor Commission, which was in charge of creating the first hiring school to go into the police and fire programs in Muncie. After finishing near the top of his class, Tyler became a fire fighter, a profession that he would stay with for more than 42 years.

Despite the prominence of the Democratic Party during Tyler’s formative years in the early and mid-‘60s, his interest in politics didn’t come about until later in his career. “At that time, I was still so young,” he says. “I mean, I paid attention. John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. were my idols and I looked up to them, but I honestly had never given a political career a thought at that time. I was much more interested in making sure I had enough money in my pocket so that I could do whatever I wanted to do on Friday and Saturday night.”

It wasn’t until about 1970 when the Muncie Fire Department acquired a new snorkel truck that Tyler started to notice the perks of political involvement. The new truck needed a driver and considering that the job paid a few extra hundred dollars a month, he thought it the perfect opportunity. Despite training on the truck and considering himself a shoo-in for one of the driver spots, it didn’t quite work out.

“Long story short, when they made those appointments, I didn’t get it,” Tyler says. “I went home and complained to Dad and he told me to get involved or continue to feel like you’re getting the short end of the stick.”

Get involved he did. Over the course of the remainder of his career as a fire fighter, he went on to become president of the union, line captain of the fire department, precinct committeeman and party chairman of the local Democratic Party. Despite his

ambitions, some of his closest colleagues were still skeptical of a political future.

“He served in several capacities, as far as the union goes, but I didn’t ever see him becoming mayor,” says Muncie Fire Chief Eddie Bell with a slight smirk on his face. “Muncie’s definitely lucky to have him though.”

2003 marked a transition towards Tyler’s pursuit of more prominent roles within his community, as he ran for mayor against the heavily favored incumbent mayor, Dan Canan. According to Tyler, Canan’s popularity caused the Democratic Party to consider not contesting his run. Because of the electoral ramifications that may have affected City Council, Tyler decided to run on the Democratic ticket, eventually only losing by some 400 votes.

Opportunity for public office did not rise again until the passing of Tyler’s good friend, Rep. Tiny Adams, in December of 2005. Because of the opening for a new state representative that

MAYOR DENNIS TYLER delivers his first State of the City address.

••POLITICAL ROAD TO MAYOR

Graduates high school with honors, but decides not to

attend college

1961 1963Becomes Muncie firefighter for 42.5

years

Loses the Muncie Mayoral race to then-

mayor Dan Canan

2003

453VOTES

short

2011Wins election for

Muncie Mayor; first Democrat in 20 years

Sworn into Indiana State Legislature

as a House Representative;

serves from 2006-2011

2006

••

FACES | ball bearings

MAYOR DENNIS TYLER spends a few moments to prepare for the State of the City address at the Rotary Club meeting.

6 | BALL BEARINGS SPRING 2012 | 7

Adams left open, Tyler decided to pursue the office, ultimately becoming an Indiana State Representative in 2006.

The experiences campaigning as a state representative for the previous five years had prepared Tyler to try his hand again at the Muncie Mayoral office. Though the state job was a great opportunity for Tyler, personal problems plagued one of the potential candidates for Muncie mayor, so Tyler decided to throw his hat in the ring once again, where he would be facing an incumbent mayor for the second time, Sharon McShurley.

“I tossed it around for a few days and talked about it with the family over the weekend and they encouraged me to do what I thought was best for me and my future,” Tyler says. “I didn’t really think about it in terms of what was best for me, but more as a chance to come home and serve. I wanted to serve again and be a little closer to friends and family.”

When I first met Tyler during the campaigning process, he approached me with a look of cheery fatigue. At his age, the process seemed to be taking its toll on the veteran. He was not only running as an underdog against a young McShurley, but he was also dealing with the Republican criticisms of public safety bias, a lack of education and fleeing his post, in reference to the Democratic walkout

of 2011. Political struggles mixed with less family time, one of his most vocal pleasures, were taking a visible toll on Tyler toward the end of his run.

“When you run for a position as big as mayor, it’s naturally going to take away from the time that you’re accustomed to with family,” Bell said. “As tough as it is, he’s been through the mill before and he knew what to expect.”

Despite his appearance, seen by some as fighting a losing battle, considering the difficulties of challenging an incumbent, as well as McShurley’s support by The Star Press, Tyler won the 2011 mayoral race with a margin of nearly 1,800 votes.

The atmosphere of the banquet room above the Democratic headquarters was electric on the evening the results were tallied. Drinks were being heavily consumed by Tyler’s supporters as he had that permanent smile plastered on his face. He looked ecstatic about the win, but at the same time, his focus didn’t seem to waver. He was officially the mayor of the only town he’s called home and the one town that he wants to devote the rest of his life to rebuilding. This may not be the same industry-driven, Jackie Wilson hosting, mom and pop store dominated Muncie that it once was, but it’s still home.