With the first whiffs of a bad wind blowing out of Indianapolis on Tuesday, Bloomington City Councilman Andy Ruff is calling upon the Bloomington community leaders to send a message to Gov. Frank O'Bannon that this community does not want Interstate 69.

Ruff says the governor deflected a request from Terre Haute Mayor Judy Anderson on Tuesday for a personal meeting on I-69. Anderson, who along with the Terre Haute City Council are on record in support of the 41-70 route, wanted to make her case personally with the governor.

Ruff said that despite unified opposition to the Bloomington route from all seven elected Democrats on the City Council, O'Bannon told Anderson that people in Bloomington support the highway.

"As hard to believe as it may be, Governor O'Bannon is apparently under the dramatically mistaken impression that Bloomington wants I-69," Ruff said Tuesday evening after meeting with mayoral hopeful Mark Kruzan, who agreed to add his voice to the cause.

"Now is an absolutely critical time for leaders in Bloomington to come together to send another simple, clear message to the Governor that Bloomington does not need or want I-69, and that we will continue to oppose and fight it in the interest of our community."

Ruff hopes that current and former city officials, citizens, legislators, and others will gather en masse and send the governor a clear and unambiguous message that John Fernandez, the Herald-Times editorial board, and the Bloomington business community have misrepresented the community's position on the highway.