My take on the claim is that somehow they could lose a truck or some other piece of equipment for whatever reason. Maybe they don't have loss insurance? Who knows? But $800k is a lot of "what if" in my book.
But I love all this money being jettisoned out the hatch to net just over $1,500 for the air shows, presuming those are reliable figures of course. Now I will grant you that of itself the air show "could" at least be a magnet to the city. Except what Gary hotels do the visitors stay at? None. What hotels does Gary even have period? Just the one by the casino I think. What Gary shopping do the visitors patronize? Do they patronize restaurants? Probably none of those businesses benefit either. Of course I have said since long ago they should have made a safe shopping & attraction zone around the airport. BTW that old Shoppers World Plaza practically next door to the airport was one of the last places we used to frequent until the cops were given other priorities and it was no longer safe even to park.
So what did Rudy do with money that was essentially borrowed from the city workers' insurance plan? After cutting fire protection in half, that is. Why he bought up more property along Broadway, mostly.
If anybody ever needed to run a campaign on city priorities it outta be the next mayor of Gary, Indiana. For all kinds of reasons I think you can count Rudy Clay out for re-election.