It's when our most committed and most creative and most energetic citizens are all working together to move the city forward. We never get everyone, but if our most committed and most willing to sacrifice are all pulling together, then I will know success has been achieved.

Q&A WITH THE MAYORS

• What separates good cities from great cities? Mayors of the region's major cities answer Enquirer questions on how to become "great" cities. • How have you defined success for your city? • What does it take to raise a good city into a great city? • Do you try to run your city as a business? What investments are needed in housing, commercial development, industrial development, technological development and tourism to make a great city? • What do you need from partners to make a great city? • How do you reduce city vs. suburban rivalries and build a more united metro area? • Who is your competition for development and tourism? Each other? Out-of-state cities? Who are your benchmarks? • Would additional mayoral powers help you make your city more successful, and if so, what powers? • What action do you need to take if city "product lines" (housing, etc.) don't meet their goals? • What's your impression of Cincinnati, and what advice would you give Cincinnati? • Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken • Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell • Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman • Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson • Louisville Mayor Jerry E. Abramson • Enquirer editorial: Great development strategies

I think we have to create an environment that allows the most committed and creative people to flourish. City leaders need to apply their creativity to administer the city. But city officials can't do it alone. We need everybody pulling in the same direction. Great cities create an environment where people feel their contribution will be valued. That's the best thing to make a city greater, engaging those most creative citizens.

We have to invest in each of those equally. A city can't just focus on its core competency. A mayor doesn't have that luxury. For us in Indianapolis, it's life sciences. But the mayor is responsible for economic development across the board. We can't just invest in housing development and ignore tourism. Cities have to make commitments and aggressively invest. But you can't disinvest elsewhere, or neglect crime-fighting and code enforcement and education. I am very heavily involved in education or this city won't succeed. The investments need to be in balance.

Partnerships are everything in local government. The job description of mayor is broader than just administering the government. There's a much broader leadership responsibility. The key is developing smart partnerships with neighborhood leaders, business leaders, community activists, not-for-profit groups, people interested in city life. If a mayor can't develop good relationships, he's not as effective. Partnerships are everything. They allow us to leverage our relatively limited resources.

It's still a very significant issue for us. Unigov didn't eliminate all suburban vs. city issues. But we're far better off than other cities. Now I'm taking city-county consolidation even further with a second Unigov proposal. The core city - Cincinnati, Columbus, Indianapolis - has to show selflessness. We created a regional economic development agency, an umbrella group for the nine-county metro. We promised we wouldn't steal jobs from each other. It's very hard to stick to it in competitive deals. Under our rules, if a company wants to move, it is fair game.

We are a little different from Cincinnati as the biggest city by far in Indiana and the capital city. Day-to-day, we look to our competition in a friendly way toward Middle America. That includes Cincinnati, Columbus, Louisville and cities west of us such as St. Louis.

Our second Unigov plan includes five key points. Merge the police department and sheriff's office into a single metro police force. That will be a merger of equals. Second, merge the eight suburban and airport fire departments into the city fire department. Third, we still have townships in Indiana. Reduce the number of trustees from nine to two. Fourth, eliminate the townships' property tax assessors. Fifth, do away with separate city and county budgets. Merge them into a single city-county budget.

For us, our demand so outstrips available resources, our challenge is to increase our resources and leverage them. Our focus is on funding and turning it into more product, more housing, more development.

I think Cincinnati is a great city. Our citizens have a good feeling about Cincinnati and go there for private time. We are aware of some of Cincinnati's challenges with the police and African-American community, and I think Cincinnati recognizes and is aggressively tackling those problems.