INDIANAPOLIS -- Former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson said Friday that he's proud of the role he played in negotiating a now controversial deal between the city and the Indianapolis Colts that led to the construction of Lucas Oil Stadium.

Peterson sat down for an interview with 6News' Grace Trahan after Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly tapped him for a managerial role with the company.

Peterson, who was Indianapolis' mayor from 1999 to 2007, has been taking a beating in recent months from those who contend that the Colts got too sweet of a deal and that the current Capital Improvement Board operating budget shortfall of $47 million falls directly on him and former CIB chairman Fred Glass, now athletic director at Indiana University.

While not naming Peterson directly, Gov. Mitch Daniels made a clear inference to the former mayor in a news conference Thursday that detailed a plan he and Mayor Greg Ballard devised to deal with the CIB's funding crunch.

"To tell you the truth, it's a little embarrassing the problem that this mayor inherited," Daniels said. "We've got a facility that's been spending three times as much as the one in Columbus (Ohio) per dollar coming in the door, (and) twice as much or more as several other cities."

Peterson refused to comment directly on the CIB issue.

"I'm not in the job anymore, and I want to leave it to those who have the responsibility these days to talk about that," Peterson said. "I don't want to interfere with them, and I don't think it would be fair to do that."

However, when pressed on the issue, Peterson said that he's pleased with his accomplishments while Indianapolis' mayor.

"You know, the reality is, I'm proud of the job we did in the past," he said, adding that he's now focused on opportunities with Eli Lilly.

In response to the Colts' contention that the team never asked for a new stadium in the first place, Bob Grand, the current president of the CIB, pointed the finger at Peterson and Grand in an April interview.

"It seems to me that Bart Peterson and Fred Glass should answer that question, because we have a huge stadium and we now have a deficit," Grand said. "If we didn't need to build the stadium to keep the Colts, I guess I would ask the question, 'Why did we do that?'"

Rep. Phil Hinkle said in April that he believes Peterson bungled negotiations with the Colts, but that team owner Jim Irsay had to know that he was leaving the city without cash to maintain the stadium.

In a November 2003 interview with 6News, Irsay didn't discuss consequences if a new stadium wasn't built, but did directly say a new stadium was needed. "It's certainly something that's going to have to happen as the decade goes forward," he said. "Ultimately, a new stadium is where we have to go. I think the question, of course, is when. There's no denying saying sooner or later you have to have a new stadium."

Glass, who was also instrumental in developing the deal for the stadium, also declined to comment on the CIB situation in an April interview.

"I don't think the debate will move forward by making any comment. It would just muddy things up," he said."