With all the attacking ads, defensive statements and outright silliness during this election season, the fact Fort Wayne has two well-tenured public servants running for mayor can be lost.
Neither Democratic Mayor Tom Henry nor Republican challenger Paula Hughes is the caricature painted by the opposition. In fact, each has an extensive track record that includes supporting tax increases when needed, downtown development and financial management.
The campaign features Hughes, who served two four-year terms on the Allen County Council, including two years as president, and Henry, who served 20 years on the City Council before being elected mayor in 2007.
It is the first mayoral race between candidates with elected experience since Paul Helmke defeated township official Tom Essex in 1995.
If township service isn’t included, the last such race was between Democratic Mayor Win Moses and Republican Sheriff Bud Meeks in 1983, according to Andy Downs, director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics.
“It’s very handy for the voters,” Downs said of the candidates’ elected experience. “They have not only speeches, but literally what they did as elected officials.”
Both Henry and Hughes have run aggressive and expensive campaigns – spending more than $500,000 each through mid-October. Downs said voters have a choice this year between two credible candidates with a track record of service.
“They have not only run for office before, but they have won before,” he said.
The winner of the Nov. 8 election receives a four-year term that pays $123,600.
The challenger
Hughes has never been shy about challenging a popular incumbent. Her first foray into elected politics came in 2002, when she challenged well-known incumbent Robert Armstrong in the Republican primary for Allen County Council. Armstrong was a former mayor of Fort Wayne.
She won office alongside Darren Vogt and Cal Miller on a platform of bringing fresh perspective and reform to the council.
During her eight years on the council – two as president – Hughes helped transform how the council dealt with departmental budgets and planned for the future. For example, they assigned a member of the council to be a liaison with each department to give those departments a direct contact with the fiscal body.
Her campaign has repeatedly touted that her council took the county from an $8 million debt to a $22 million surplus. This included repaying the state millions owed for housing juvenile offenders, a debt that went unchecked for years.
Hughes, however, does not tout the fact this accomplishment included several tax increases. The council pushed increases to finance such projects as staffing the Wood Youth Center – increases so large, the county had to ask for permission from the state to enact them.
Such increases are not needed by Fort Wayne, Hughes has said during her campaign. In fact, early this year she signed a pledge to never increase taxes as mayor.
Her campaign has focused on what she believes is fiscal mismanagement of the city, with Fort Wayne’s debt being the prime example. She has hammered home that the city has a half-billion dollars in debt, even though only part of that amount is truly owed by city government. A large portion of the debt is for City Utilities and about $90 million is owed in pensions that are paid by the state.
An analysis by The Journal Gazette of comparable cities showed Fort Wayne has a small debt on a per-capita basis but has a fast-growing debt burden.
Hughes has promised to cut 24 percent of all city debt by the end of her first term.
Getting the money to make those debt payments requires a reprioritization of city money, Hughes has said. She plans to enlist a group of volunteers to conduct service audits of city services to help her get a better handle on where inefficiencies exist.
The city will have about $80 million after 15 years from the lease and sale of its former electric utility. Hughes said she would use that money to reduce the city’s debt burden.
As far as specific spending cuts, Hughes has identified two small ones she hopes are an example of leadership. Hughes said she would reduce the mayor’s salary to $95,000 and she would forgo having a take-home vehicle.
The incumbent
Mayor Henry’s elected service dates back further than his opponent’s. He was elected to the City Council for the first time in 1983 and served until he was defeated by Republican Tom Didier in 2003.
He ran for mayor in 2007 and defeated an indicted Republican, Matt Kelty, in a blowout.
The mayor initially ran on a campaign of inclusiveness. While his office has not always released requested information, he has made a point to have frequent interaction with residents. Henry has held numerous neighborhood and business walks, scheduled time for appointments with any resident who desired and has created numerous committees to help make community decisions.
The mayor’s desire for public opinion didn’t always go smoothly. He spent more than $120,000 on lobbying efforts to get a referendum placed on the ballot to see whether residents wanted a casino in Fort Wayne. The effort failed.
Most recently, he created a 15-member committee to examine how best to use the money from the electric utility settlement. The group recommended using the money for economic development, downtown and youth sports but has yet to present its final report.
Henry ignored concerns the city was wasting money on legal fees in fighting Indiana Michigan Power regarding the settlement, adding that the $39.2 million sale to the private utility justified the costs.
The mayor’s campaign this year has been simple – touting his record of service as mayor and asking people to let him continue his work. He has proposed no new initiatives during the campaign; instead, he lists his accomplishments as mayor.
At the top is Fort Wayne’s ability to keep critical services during a recession. Henry has said other cities have been forced to lay off police officers or turn off every other streetlight to balance a budget.
The mayor’s budgets have all been relatively flat, and the 2012 spending plan is slightly less than the one he inherited in 2008. In a seeming concession to Hughes, Henry has said he will reduce the city’s debt – not counting City Utilities – by 40 percent by 2015.
Henry started a committee to secure a new garbage and recycling contract that has increased recycling participation and reduced monthly fees by $1.29 since last fall. This contract only happened, however, after public outcry forced the city to scrap a contract with a startup business with ties to the mayor’s brother.
During his term, Henry has also led the city through difficult negotiations with Allen County officials.
He won approval for a building-sharing plan that included the purchase and renovation of what is now known as Citizens Square.
The city and the county finally reached an agreement for how to finance bridge repairs, which included a county-approved increase of the wheel taxes and surtaxes on vehicles.
Henry also worked with the Allen County commissioners to complete a decades-long effort to combine the city and county emergency dispatching centers.
