FORT WAYNE – Picking up garbage, plowing snow, filling potholes – much of a mayor’s job involves efficiently running city services and properly maintaining city infrastructure.

The mundane, routine activities of government are typically the biggest way residents relate to City Hall. With a struggling national economy and state tax caps limiting local revenue, keeping those activities functioning has become increasingly difficult.

And while paving streets and providing water might not seem overtly political activities, Mayor Tom Henry and Republican challenger Paula Hughes have different strategies for how to deliver the best services.

Maintain, improve

With Henry the incumbent, voters already have a fairly good idea of how he would provide services. Most have not changed substantially since the Graham Richard administration, although the mayor believes he has made some tweaks intended to improve performance or reduce costs.

Henry said his biggest service-related success over his first term was the negotiation and completion of the new garbage and recycling contract.

“We saved $1 million in less than a year,” he said.

The new contracts allowed the city to reduce monthly rates by $1.29 since last fall because of lower costs and additional revenue. The city now gets half the profits from the items its residents recycle.

In addition, the introduction of large recycling carts has doubled participation across the city.

In general, however, Henry said he would not expect many services to change if he is re-elected.

“Right now, we’re trying to hang on to what we have,” he said. “Other cities are laying off public safety personnel, shutting off every other streetlight to save money. Fort Wayne is an anomaly.”

He also said the city’s infrastructure is being well maintained.

He said City Utilities’ infrastructure is “unsurpassed” while also providing good water quality to customers. The city will plan to increase sewer rates on an annual basis to finance a federally mandated $240 million in projects to remove sewage from area rivers.

The city fills potholes within hours of a complaint, Henry said, and the city is doing all it can to keep streets in good shape. He admitted the reduction in revenue dedicated to streets has made this difficult.

Henry said he believes the roads can be maintained without adding new debt – the city has in the past borrowed money on a regular basis for infrastructure improvements.

“Right now, I do not see any bonding necessary in the foreseeable future,” Henry said.

Overhaul needed

Hughes doesn’t share the mayor’s optimism about the state of the city. She said Henry has lacked focus in prioritizing services and infrastructure improvements. Because there will never be an end to needs in a city, it is critical for a mayor to focus limited resources on what is most needed, she said.

The city’s infrastructure is not in good condition, Hughes said, noting the slow decline of street rating as reported by the city in its annual financial report. In addition, the city has experienced numerous water line breaks over the past few years as dry summers have put added pressure on aging pipes.

“What we need is a major overhaul,” she said.

To determine what needs to be changed, Hughes said she will conduct a series of “people’s audits” of departments. This will involve getting volunteers to review the services and expenses of city departments to help determine what works and what doesn’t.

For example, she said a group including homebuilders and neighborhood officials could be used to audit the housing efforts of the community development department.

Hughes said the audits, which would be intense and last several months, are needed to determine how to prioritize city money. She said she isn’t concerned about upsetting city staff because they report to the people.

The Republican candidate hinted she would be willing to examine whether some city services should even continue in an effort to focus more on her top priorities: infrastructure and public safety.

“My perspective on the leaf pickup is it is a luxury as a citizen,” she said. “Do I enjoy it? Yes. Do I think we need to evaluate whether that is a priority? … I think it is up for discussion.”

She also said she supports using the nearly $80 million from the lease and sale of the city’s electric utility to reduce the city’s existing debt. This would free up more cash annually to be spent on infrastructure repairs.

As for City Utilities, Hughes said she believes the city should work to have a more amiable relationship with its neighbors, citing the recent efforts by Huntertown to break away from the city.

If those relationships were built, she said, the city could partner with communities to build another sewer plant in the county, which would not only provide needed service but also reduce the burden on the city’s existing plant.

No time to expand

After aggressive annexation campaigns in recent history, there has been no effort to grow the city’s borders under Henry.

Neither Henry nor Hughes sees that changing.

Hughes said the city has not done a good enough job meeting obligations to recently annexed areas, so it should not be looking to grow even more.

Henry said it takes money to annex new areas – to build fire stations or hire police officers – and the city isn’t flush with cash for such an expense. He added the recent change to property tax caps limits the benefits of annexation because the caps limit homeowners’ tax bill regardless of whether they are in a city.

Both Henry and Hughes said they would continue the practice of requiring annexation waivers for people or businesses outside the city that want to connect with City Utilities.

Aqua in Aboite

While they may agree on annexation, the two candidates offer vastly different philosophies about the role the city should take in dealing with Aqua Indiana in southwest Fort Wayne.

The utility has about 12,000 water customers and 12,000 sewer customers – not all have both utilities – in Allen County and a small portion of Whitley County. Many Aqua Indiana customers live within the city limits.

Those customers have long complained about water quality and have faced large rate increases in the past several years. Many have called for the city to take over the utility so customers could have city water.

Henry said the city has been talking with the private utility in an effort to improve service.

He said there are several options, including Aqua Indiana buying its water from the city and then distributing it to customers, or a more drastic takeover attempt.

He said he is happy with the progress of the talks because it is important for all city residents to have high-quality water.

“All they want is good clean water at a reasonable price,” Henry said of Aqua customers. “They deserve that.”

Hughes, however, expressed caution about intervening with a private company that appears to be making strides in improving water quality on its own. She questioned why the city should pay attorneys to fight a private business that provides a service to residents.

Asked whether the city has a role in ensuring city residents have good water even if they aren’t City Utilities customers, Hughes said, “I think the role is limited.”

Hughes also questioned the city’s purchase of the northern Aqua Indiana utility because its final cost remains unknown. The city paid $16.9 million to Aqua Indiana for the 9,000 water customers and 1,700 sewer customers in northern Fort Wayne in early 2008.

The legal fight over the value of the system remains in court.

City Utilities is a separate business entity under the city, Hughes said, and should not be focused on growth by acquisition. Instead, she would support using utilities as an incentive for new development.

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