B. Johnson, along with a collection of politicians and civil rights leaders, on the topic of the King assassination the night before and pending civil unrest. Hatcher's tenure in office was difficult from the start. Although 4 of the 9 city council members were also black, two of these members appeared more loyal to the Democratic machine than to Hatcher. Three of the remaining five white city council members were consistently hostile to Hatcher and his proposals. The reasons for an uncooperative city council ranged from racial animosity to corruption over the patronage system and organized crime, to the personal political ambitions of some council members. However, Hatcher was successful in eliminating a red light district and reducing illegal gambling nearly to zero. However, as the city's steel industry began to collapse as part of the steel crisis of the 1970s and 1980s, unemployment and crime began to rise, and white flight and population decline began to intensify. Governing became easier after 1971, when a number of allies were elected to the city council and took positions in city administration. Hatcher's good government initiatives did help clean up the police department of corruption and reduced patronage, but macroeconomic and societal forces beyond the city's control caused Gary to spiral into severe decline. In his first term, Hatcher expanded the city's police force by 40%. Although Hatcher won the 1967 election, the white-dominated Democratic machine was not about to give up; instead, they changed tactics and supported a middle-class black primary challenger who they felt was a racial moderate and (most importantly) was more cooperative with the machine: Dr. Alexander Williams, a prominent black physician who was elected Lake County coroner with the machine's backing, and who represented Gary's black middle class and criticized Hatcher's tactics and policies. Specifically, Williams criticized the ongoing crime wave and Hatcher's urban renewal policies that saw the demolition of thousands of housing units while only 300 replacement units were built. However, Williams won only 37.5% of the vote in the primary, as black voters remained overwhelmingly loyal to Hatcher. Hatcher then went on to crush the Republican nominee in the November general election by more than 50,000 votes, marking the end to any serious challenges from the Republicans or the Democratic machine. In 1971, Hatcher targeted the neighboring unincorporated area of Merrillville, Indiana for annexation to gain more land for suburban expansion and to recapture