Dave Heath: ‘A hell of a legacy’

Dave Heath, who spent eight years as Lafayette mayor and eight years as sheriff, died Monday. The stories have been flowing about a decisive mayor whose heart was in law enforcement

Dave Heath, during his time as Lafayette mayor. (Photo: City of Lafayette)

Dave Heath, who spent eight years as Lafayette mayor and eight years as sheriff, died Monday after a bout with cancer. The stories have been flowing about a decisive mayor whose heart was in law enforcement

State Sen. Ron Alting was ticking down a list from memory Tuesday of things that got done during the eight years when Dave Heath was Lafayette’s mayor.

Big renovations at Lafayette’s parks. Moves that set the table for downtown development and downtown living. Annexing land in growing subdivisions to the south and east. New fire stations. Speeding the finish of Lafayette Railroad Relocation, a pet, decades-long project of previous Mayor Jim Riehle, through to a final train cutting through the heart of the city in 2001.

“Dave Heath, he made sure those things got done, there’s no doubt about it,” Alting said.

But nothing was “more Dave Heath” during the Heath years in Lafayette City Hall, Alting said, than the day he heard over the police scanner in the mayor’s city-issued car about a holdup at Heritage Bank & Trust on Creasy Lane.

Heath, who had served two terms as sheriff in a 20-year career with the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office, happened to be nearby. He told J&C reporter Joe Gerrety later that instinct kicked in and he joined the pursuit, long enough that the suspect saw Heath trailing him, stopped in a parking lot, yelled an expletive at him and pointed what turned out to be a .45-caliber lookalike BB gun, before taking off. Heath backed off at that point but was able to share a better description of the suspect, who was arrested within 30 minutes of the robbery.

“Dave Heath was great as a mayor,” Alting, who was a Lafayette City Council member during Heath’s first term, said. “But police work, that was his passion. It was who he was. … He was in hog heaven that day, I’m sure.”

On Monday evening, the day Heath died at age 75 after a bout with cancer, squad cars from agencies across Tippecanoe County slowly paraded past Heath’s home as a tribute.

“His work in law enforcement was a true love of his life, and this is the parade of lights that my mom and his kids and grandkids were welcomed home to,” Kelly McKinney, one of Heath’s daughters, posted along with video of the scene Monday night.

Heath was Tippecanoe County sheriff from 1987 to 1994. Dave Murtaugh was Heath’s chief deputy and succeeded him as sheriff, serving two terms, as well. Murtaugh said Heath loved law enforcement. And he said Heath’s dream was to be sheriff.

“Dave wanted to be in law enforcement from the time he was in high school,” Murtaugh said. “He led by example. He worked for two excellent sheriffs before he was elected. His goal was to learn from them but leave the department better than ever. A job he did very well. He was a true leader in the community he so proudly served.”

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Sheriff Bob Goldsmith wasn’t with the sheriff’s office when Heath was in office. But Goldsmith said Heath was someone he could turn to when he had a question and could count on to check in from time to time. Among those: Heath came to check blueprints for the addition being built on the jail on Duncan Road.

“You could always tell he really wanted the department to be as good as it could be, even after he’d been away,” Goldsmith said. “I know the people who worked for him loved working for him – that he was one of the great sheriffs in the county’s history and instrumental in making sure the sheriff’s office was No. 1.”

Heath, a Republican, ran for mayor against Riehle in 1995, a seemingly tall order against a Democrat who’d served six terms and had cruised to victory in previous re-election bids.

Lisa Decker, who ran with Heath as the ticket’s city clerk candidate, remembers that Tuesday night in November 1995, standing with Heath in the rotunda of the Tippecanoe County Courthouse, where in those days the election board kept a running tally of the day’s votes.

Her race had been called and she was in. Heath and Riehle’s race was tight and eventually decided by less than 200 votes.

“I looked at him and said I wouldn’t go without him,” Decker said. “Thankfully we went together. I think we were all in shock, but we were so excited about the future.”

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That night, Heath promised to “make Lafayette an even better city.”

(Image: J&C cover)

“He was pretty clear that he had a number of important things he wanted to get done,” Liz Solberg, project manager of the Lafayette rail relocation project, said.

The rail project started in the early-1970s, aiming to eliminate 43 at-grade rail crossings in the city by moving much of the train traffic into a dedicated rail corridor. Eventually priced at $186 million over 29 years – with federal sources picking up 82% of the costs – the rail project had been Riehle’s signature and reshaped community bridges, sped commutes, reduced collisions and more. Heath worked with railroad companies and state transportation officials to negotiate a way to get the state's share of federal highway money to Lafayette to speed the final phase and the removal of the final, existing 24 Norfolk Southern crossings in 2001.

“He was committed to finishing rail relocation,” said Solberg, who Heath kept from the Riehle administration through the project. “He just decided, let’s get this done as fast as possible. And we did.”

Eric Burns was Lafayette city attorney during the Heath years. Burns said Heath – who “always looked good, well dressed and clean cut” – had a way of ending sessions when Burns got into more detail than he wanted or needed to make a decision.

“Sitting in his office explaining something, I would know it was time to be done when he took off his shoes and started polishing them,” Burns said. “Mayor Dave Heath was decisive and had the reputation for doing what he said he would do.”

One example: Burns said Heath and city council members had decided that Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc., which had opened for production in 1989 between Lafayette and Interstate 65, needed to be annexed into the city to help pay for water, sewer and other services. Burns said Heath knew that since SIA’s taxes would increase, “they needed convincing.” Burns said Heath told him to meet with the auto plant’s lawyers and tell them two things: One, they would be annexed with or without their agreement. Two, if they agreed, the annexation would be delayed for three years.

“I went solo to the meeting and told the team of SIA lawyers and executives those two things,” Burns said. “One of the out-of-town lawyers asked why they should believe the annexation was going to happen if they did not agree. I said, ‘Ask around and see if the mayor follows through on what he says he will do.’ A day later, they called and agreed to be annexed.”

One other story from Burns: Heath appointed John Dennis as deputy chief of police. (Burns said that was despite the future West Lafayette mayor’s tendency to let his hair grow long by police standards. The well-trimmed Heath told Dennis many times that he was “fired” when he walked into city hall weeks past an appointed haircut.) Burns said Heath called on Dennis to do more than police work.

“When there was a particularly thorny personnel or operational problem, John was often told to ‘go un-mess that,’” Burns said. “He was usually successful. Thanks, Dave – great early training for the mayor-to-be.”

Heath didn’t run for a third term in 2003. Tony Roswarski beat Decker in that election, the start of five consecutive terms that Roswarski is looking to make a record-tying six this year. Heath went on to run Tippecanoe County Community Corrections, after a stint as chairman of the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission. Heath fell in the 2014 Republican primary in a bid for another term as sheriff.

Decker said on Tuesday that she remembered going door-to-door on Heath’s first mayoral run.

“We laughed so much and met so many great people together,” Decker said. “It’s eight years that I cherish. We accomplished so much, but had fun along the way. Dave wanted to make his hometown better, and he did. … He will be missed so much but left a hell of a legacy.”

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