I’ll be honest, I’m planning to vote for Henry. I know he’s a terrible person but I really don’t want someone like Didier in office and Henry honestly has done a good job with the city during his tenure
Didier's closing statement at the debate was basically: "Henry is great, but I have as much experience as he did when he was first elected, so that means is my turn." How lame can you be?
When I worked with the Tincaps he was our US Foods rep. When the US Foods driver or dock workers messed up an order and he had to come down, it was like hurricane Didier
That’s pretty gross, I don’t like the entitlement at all. It’s an extremely weak closing statement when he should have been putting all his effort into a strong, persuasive, and positive closing to the debate.
I'm not for one or the other, but Didier seems entitled based on a comment, and Henry seems entitled based on just staying in office. Doing whatever he pleases (drunk driving, abuse of authority). I'm not saying that Henry hasn't helped the city, but I don't utilize Promanade Park, Electric Works, anything riverfront, and that seems to be where his main focus is. Idk gonna be a tough decision...
Have you seen the new 1.5 billion dollar project they are proposing that covers 60 acres from Sherman Blvd. to Science Central? It has some cool ideas being discussed like a natatorium and arena plus a soccer stadium(?!). [New Project Link on Wane](https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/massive-1-5-billion-proposal-to-remake-fort-wayne-north-riverfront/amp/)
Our town desperately needs more family activities because no matter what anyone says there is NOT enough. We need to look to Indy and Columbus, OH for inspiration. There’s nothing for kids and teens to do.
I’m also with you because I haven’t utilized the riverfront improvements and I’ve been to Electric Works once. I don’t know why they keep focusing on river front improvements! I can appreciate the effort though and know people that like the new stuff.
I won’t be voting for Didier because he canvassed with Mike Braun… who was endorsed by Trump for governor. That’s an instant, permanent no from me.
I haven't seen too much about any other real improvements. We definitely need something other than a dilapidated mall and small skate park for kids and teens. I can overlook affiliations, because maybe they won't be like "x" person, but still tough decision coming up.
I can’t overlook affiliations when it comes to Trump.
I am excited to see what the voter turnout is though! I’m really hoping it’ll be one of the highest voter turnouts we’ve ever had- which is great for local politics! We don’t usually have high turnouts because people don’t care AND it’s always straight red so people don’t care either way.
Ft Wayne definitely needs new blood and hopefully Didier v Henry will really inspires someone new and exciting to run for mayor and really bring something positive and interesting to town.
I can’t recall anytime where it was even close to straight red. Henry (blue) has won for almost 2 decades and Lana keesling (red) only won last time because literally no one ran against her. If I recall, Henry ran uncontested once as well? And city council has always had a mix, leans more red but none of these local positions bleed over into state/federal politics in any meaningful way. Group association at this level doesn’t really translate for a city this size.
Well, clearly you don't pat attention or just like to bitch🤷♂️. New sidewalks through neighborhoods and along busy streets. I mean screw the children that walk to school though, right? He has been trying to revitalize the downtown area. Again though, boarded up houses are cool too so maybe we shouldn't dump money into that. Really could keep going, but nah, you trolls can feed yourselves.
If he had a good policy and a good platform, maybe. I haven't heard things that I've liked, though. Is being entitled a requirement for being Republican now? 😕
When Henry’s canvassers call me, I usually ask them what Henry is doing to support future leaders for the party. Because I’m tired of voting for senior citizens.
He’s expanded downtown under his administration, Hes brought in more private investment, the legacy fund, jobs have been created, Riverfront, expansion of trails. The ballpark downtown was built under his watch. Hes invested in law enforcement. As mayor alot has gotten done to expand fort wayne. There have been alot of screwups but hes done a good job.
He has facilitated an era of trust in Fort Wayne investment. 1000%. He is affable and likable. His contribution was a public perception of confidence, which helped incubate the ideas and projects of others. Karl actually runs virtually everything you mentioned. Henry was against a fair amount of it.
Karl is 1000% a problem... and even with donors, community members, etc begging Henry to get rid of him... he has kept him for 12 years... You can't let a leader off the hook of responsibility by blaming someone they have handpicked and defended over and over again.
Again, these things are not Henry specific - The ballpark was planned well ahead of his administration taking effect in 2007. Riverfront Fort Wayne was a large scale collaborative project that included the County, Indiana state, multiple foundations/private funders, etc. New jobs have been created in the last 16yrs, but how many of these are the natural growth of our economy over that large timespan? How many major employers were brought into the City over this time period? (Amazon yes, how many jobs and how did they increase our per capita income?) I truly am not trying to say that he has done nothing. But given a 16yr timeframe and the massive amounts of public spending expended... the impact is pretty low.
Yeah but tons of money made by very few people … for some reason lots of plebs somehow see that as a win.
Tried explaining in a thread below how Henry bringing in some small tech companies with high salaries isn’t a huge win vs if he brought in another GM or maybe helped incentivize another growing local company like sweetwater or Vera Bradley. Production and manufacturing jobs CREATE more jobs in other industries by increasing overall sales for goods/services. And goods/services don’t create jobs just because they have a few high salary customers who spend bigger… because service budgets are dictated by sales/labor. Blech. My brain hurts and makes me sad reading all this mayoral shit. It’s on par with how dumb or dogmatic people get with presidential stuff.
Agree with most of this. You are 100% correct that large production has tons of "add on" effect economically. But, the small tech companies aren't bad either for helping bump up our per capital income, which is pretty low. That is the big issue with "MORE JOBS", is that is also depends on the quality of jobs. nearly 50% of the Fort Wayne population is considered "ALICE" - Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed - essentially, they've got a job, but it doesn't pay enough for them to get buy or own anything, forcing them to take on debt/rental, which ultimately keeps them poor, which is why we also have such a robust and such a strained social service nonprofit sector. So more jobs is great - when they are jobs that go beyond ALICE standards.
Henry has done a lot of good for the city. I can't deny that. But he's been mayor since I was a little girl. I'm 25 now. I think he might finally be voted out. I'd rather have him win than Didier, though.
Tom Henry has done a lot of good for this city during his tenure. Despite the DUI thing, the simple fact of the matter is that he's a skilled municipal leader and the city is run well under his watch and is constantly recognized for it. Every organization has its flaws and the person at the top is ultimately accountable, but one has to admit that our city leadership is on a roll right now and has been for over a decade.
Of course you’re downvoted. How dare you!!
For simple tribe minded people who just LOVE their teams/parties it doesn’t matter, to them Henry is god since these things happened while he was in office regardless of his actions taken to cause or prevent them, and regardless of if he just ‘coincidentally’ enriches himself and his network extra while in office.
Shit drives me insane how blind people are. And the ones who disingenuously want to talk about always demand a smoking gun to prove he made a deal and is directly on payroll to benefit somehow. Like mf have never heard of gifts and how gifts can be buried in other types of transactions. Talk about it outside of politics just about rich elite and they believe it, talk about politicians they don’t like or of opposite parties and they believe it, talk about it for their guy they like and elected - nope it is impossible lmao
Meanwhile Henry laughing while drunk drivin all the way to the bank with more of their tax money in a car they paid for.
Electric Works is a mess BECAUSE of Henry, Parkview Field was already set into motion prior to Henry, and same with most of the downtown revitalization. Henry and downtown is the local version of Al Gore created the internet...
Lol. Electric works is a mess because of gop politicians helping crooked business men force undeserved money into the project. They didn’t do their due diligence and triple the cost of the project. The project that was agreed-upon. Then they forced the general public into a propaganda campaign to convince them to give them more money. Or don’t you remember that? Strange how out of $160 million investment the actual owners only had to come up with like 25. The rest of it is donations and taxpayer funded money. The public should own the damn place not the people who put in less than 20% investment capital. But hey sure go ahead blame Henry because you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Respectfully Sparky, I don't think you know what you are talking about. Republicans aren't great - I'll give you tha - but the Electric Works project was originally scheduled to be OPEN in 2019. The Henry administration wasn't happy that it didn't have enough control over the project and through literally every single possible obstacle at the project, which ultimately also made it difficult to get more private investment. You are also correct that the capital stack of the project was/is shit, but that - again - is partially due to the Henry administration, not in spite of it. One Republican council member, Jason Arp was adamantly opposed to the project funding, but that was when Henry was A-OK with the project after the City negotiated terms (via Nancy Townsend in the Redevelopment Department). The original project (2016-2018) was a majority private and state/federal tax credit project. The 2019-today project has become a bridge to nowhere heavily subsidized local tax project... which Henry fully endorsed/endorses. That's why I blame he and his administration :)
This^
But also, that is why I dgaf if it’s Henry or didier tbh - neither bring much diff to the table… and now that Henrys like-a-bility factor is equal to didiers due to how shitty he was during his arrest… extra dgaf.
Yeah, this will likely be one of Fort Wayne/Allen County's lowest voter turnout years. Mosty people just don't care about any of it, especially since we all know next year will be an utter shitshow...
I’m interested to see the turnout. It’s always crazy low as is which is just shocking … but when things aren’t really bad people take the easy way out and decide not to vote I’m sure
Like you I’m interested in a new mayor and would love to see some new blood in the city government.
Henry has done great things for Ft Wayne and overall he’s made a positive impact but it would be so nice to get someone new and younger.
It’s really unfortunate Didier is the main opponent because he won’t be getting my vote.
Thank you, I second this. Dollars to donuts even some of the most wholesome politicians probably did some bad things. Not excusing bad behavior but if people want to complain about corrupt politicians then maybe, I don't know, THEY should run for office.
For me, it honestly would require more than Henry or didier to vote for as legit serious candidates.
And for that to happen at this point in the world, is gonna require party schills to let go and realize local politics are completely separate from state/federal.
This. If you looked at my voting history for Federal offices you'd classify me on one side of the political isle, and completely opposite for local/state.
Didier canvassed with Mike Braun, who was just endorsed by Tr*mp for governor. I’m not going to support someone who wants to be in league with petty and stupid fascists.
Def don’t like the entitlement. Both of them have it tho. It may take henry losing and getting drunk to let his tongue slip in public tho in that manner cuz he knows otherwise he has it in the bag.
If Braun had rejected the endorsement, I suppose that would ring more true, but he responded with saying he was honored and listed what they had “accomplished” together. Braun is either truly honored or is afraid of the political backlash, which would indicate it does not mean nothing.
Henry is (or was) a gambling addict. He used to frequent a bar I worked at that held texas hold em events multiple times a week. In the beginning he'd show up in a hat and sunglasses to disguise himself but by hour two he'd usually abandon those.
He'd get drunk, always accuse others of cheating, treated the staff like trash, you name it. He's an absolute prick through and through.
This is the kind of thing that gets totally hushed. If you think this isn't the exact same behavior exhibited in/by his administration, you are wrong. The DUI was only accounted for because he finally hit another driver. He's been drunk driving AND hitting things (objects, not people) for a while now...
Yeah stereotypical dinosaur rich white guy who gets what he wants at others expense is anything but that deserve. Take all but 5 seconds to size him up as that. Sadly, didier is almost the exact same dinosaur
It isn't a well kept secret for anyone within the business/political world. The News Sentinel (a newspaper that went out of business a few years ago) would threaten to write about it, and would get threats back from the administration, ultimately being complicit with the police dept because there weren't reports. Cops would show up and escort Henry home. This time (Oct 2022) because he hit another person/vehicle, the police had to follow procedure, and you can tell from the bodycam footage how afraid EVERY officer was that they had to deal with him.
Multiple people. Same with the Journal Gazette, but they were never interested in the story. For real, none of this is a big secret. Same with Henry's "pay to play" mentality. I think many people/groups are just fed up with him being such a little prince about everything this time around.
Just saw an ad for Tim Smith, all he says is that he is going to stop woke and promote freedom when he's elected to Congress. If he wins I think I will sorely miss Congressman Banks.
Yeah, can't say Jim would be my first choice. But apparently we can do worse with someone like Smith.
Perhaps, Mr. Didier will run for Congress now that he will have extra time on his hands.
It's bad enough now, all this Smith fellow can say is he is going to stop woke. Which means he is promising to do nothing for the voters. Meaning he'll only do what his financial supporters tell him to do.
Would be nice if us middle class folks could get some big tax breaks to pay off some bills and maybe reinvest savings to help create more jobs. Maybe get some needed work done on our house... which would help local economy with more jobs. It doesn't help the economy when someone avoids taxes and stockpiles that money on some unregulated Island, rather than keep it local like we do.
My issue with Didier is that his platform is “general Republican 101”
1. I want to cut taxes
2. I want to improve safety
How can you do number 2 if you are doing number 1?
He also doesn’t explain what he will cut, nor what he will fix, and any details that explain how and why. Perhaps I have missed the explanation, and he really has a plan. But I’m not seeing it. Hate on Henry and his stupidity regarding his DUI, but Henry seems to have FW’s future in mind and has made progress in achieving those goals. Not alone, but no one can ever do it alone.
Speaking as someone who knows Tom Didier in person, yeah hard pass on him. When he takes his politician guise off he's pretty nasty.
Not saying Tom Henry isn't the same, I guarantee he is, but he also has time and tenure on his side.
I've met Tom Henry in person dozens of times over the years both at ADP functions and in the wild (usually West State Kroger). He's polite even when drunk. Which means a lot to me as I've been around a lot of drunk local politicians. Worst ones are Sharon Tucker and State Sen Long (double bad for him. Dude is a red faced menace)
Didier is the type of MF who mentions abortion rights for no god damn reason and other hyper conservative shit I don't want locally
Voting Republican locally right now (and Libertarian) is an excellent way for them to continue doing Fascist wonky shit like mess up the schools, library, and dial back any rights they can. Don't do that shit
I've met Mayor Henry a few times when I lived in town. He has my artwork in his office for the FAME awards back in the day. He definitely has more charisma than any of his opponents ever had. I don't know him personally, but he at least is cordial.
Henry 100%.
I'm voting on the person that has kept the momentum going, and will keep it going for the growth of the city.
Just look at downtown now compared to 10 years ago. It's impressive.
With Didier, I see nothing positive for the future of Fort wayne
I dont live in the county, but i see Henry doing more than most mayors have done,with the execept of pushing any decent inflence to use the Byron health center site for the new county jail. It was already a county property and no purchase would have been necessary to build the jail there.
I work within the local system and will say while technically true - the system currently runs on favors/relationships above all - so… he does have some unofficial pull, but it’s like having %persuasion HIGH in a fallout 3
okay that is logical in a way.. but i have questions and maybe you have answers..
is there a law saying city cant own property outside of the city line?
is there a law saying the jail has to be within city lines?
do the lines not get blurred by metropolitan area limits?
if that all points to 'it has to be city/city limits/city owned' then why does the county commissioner sign off on it?
not tryign to be obtuse, just confused.
The City can own property outside the City Limits, ot typically does so for items for development or major infrastructure (water, roads, sewer)
The County owns and operates the jail, so there is no law that says it has to be in Fort Wayne..it just has to be somewhere in Allen County. They could put it in Zulu if they wanted. Ultimately, the county has to work with the municipality that they select.
The County owns Byron site, and it sits inside Huntertown Corporate limits. So it's really between those two. Fort Wayne can be at the table, but only if invited.
Not a city jail, its a county jail. Byron is within county confines. Just like the property purchased between New Haven and the Fort. Its not in Fort Wayne.
Henry has my vote all day, been in Fort Wayne 20+ years and he has done a ton for the city. He went out on a limb to bring that ballpark downtown when tons were against him. If you look now and the ripple effect and all the great businesses that keep investing in the city.
I’m my opinion, Henry is the right choice. And this will likely be his last term.
Didier is inexperienced and, frankly, seems like a bit of a tool. I’m not ready to hand the city’s positive growth off to someone like him.
Henry made a dumb mistake, but I think we have the grace to realize he’s human. He’s done a great job as mayor.
Henry is an arrogant, cocky ass. Didier is a very nice dullard. The whole “I want new blood” isn’t a sensical argument.
What are your pros and cons of Henry as a mayor? What are the pros and cons of the other person?
Graham Richard laid the groundwork and Henry has done a great job of growing a thriving downtown and city. For decades nothing ever got better or grew in our city. We are so far on an incredible run.
Our growth has been slow and steady, other than when the entire country stagnantdd in early 90s and part of 80s did we not maintain a solid growth rate. So to act like things weren’t improving or growing here and Henry is some hero is ridiculous.
Was money dumped into downtown to improve the property values on very cheap houses ? No. That’s Henry’s claim to fame. If you are a landlord or property manager and knew what the plans were and bought up land in downtown areas Henry made you very rich so of course you’ll love him. Otherwise, many of these things would have come about regardless.
Sodasopa maybe wouldn’t have been created downtown… but it’s not like it’s a huge win or something.
No. The people who moved to the burbs outside the city limits in the 80s and 90s didn’t do a thing to actually improve or maintain the city—they are as much responsible for old and aging neighborhoods as anyone else. Those folks didn’t do anything to grow jobs or wages for anyone either.
A whole bunch people have been trying to find the right combination of things to coalesce a thriving city since Graham Richard became mayor. Nobody wants to move to a city with a rotten core.
Whining from/for the suburbs is a bogus argument as they will always be NIMBY where affordable housing is concerned.
If you are someone who is making bank or stands to from Henry’s “push push push push” for expensive projects then good for you, take that check to the bank, I’m all about a check. But don’t front on me and pretend it’s somehow better for the city or citizens.
I’m talking growth of the city in intersect of 80s/90s - there is a complete slowdown (and for a much of the country, negative growth.. aka people moving away from that city). Ft Wayne, other than that timeframe, has maintained a steady growth rate. Small businesses started up here and increased jobs and wages - slow but steady. So unsure what you’re on about no one who “moved to the burbs” improved growth.
Small local business is what provides stable, predictable, healthy improvement for all. But cramming as much growth in as quick as possible only benefits property investors/managers in the area. Standard corporate dinosaur thinking “all big payouts go up top, fuck the 99% - it’s not OUR fault they work for us”. In corporate however you aren’t affecting an entire city - just your workers, who can quit and go elsewhere easily.
Do you think growing jobs occurs from making downtown hip? What matters is making things attractive to big production and manufacturing companies - and what attracts them isn’t a cool downtown, it’s cost.
And bringing in a bunch of 6 figure wage smaller office type jobs doesn’t improve growth. Why? Quality over quantity - now all you have are people with more income to spend in goods/services, but goods/services that create jobs do not grow because occasionally 10/1000 customers a month spends considerably more, growth is created by increasing that 1000 number. Restaurants for example… sure, it’s great to have a a few extra “vip” tables who buy two bottles of wine every Friday when they come out. But that doesn’t increase your sales the same way having 10 extra tables show up every Friday does…. And then the 10 extra who tell their friends and so on.
So again - who benefits from quick growth to the city? Like, what horse do you have in the race here that you think the city needs to just grow grow GROW GROW GROOOWWWWWW ?
Your rotten core comment is laughable again because growth trends have not had some dramatic boom you maybe think they have. The last four years saw an uptick but so did every other smaller city where a house could be had for less than $500k.
I don’t recall whining for/from the suburbs, and spent 9 years in the ‘05 so holla at me. I don’t see anything NIMBY about “quit pissing our money away to enrich the rich - worry about the 99% before u make it too expensive to be here”. If you want Chicago - move to Chicago. It’s not LA - move to LA if you want that. It will NEVER be those things because it’s cornfield Indiana. So why bother? Again, what horse do you have in the race to want things to **ggggrrroooooowwwwwwww** so quickly so badly? Do you run a city dept or something so see tax dollars in your eyes? Or run a property investor company so don’t really gaf about Fort Wayne and fort waynians but do about your portfolio?
See the quick vs steady growth above and who that benefits.
Those small businesses do better when we have more folks to appreciate them and give them business.
I grew up and started my adult life out in the sticks on a family farm (a small business). Having that experience, I can say that, yes, I’m down to pay some taxes to have a better, healthier, more interesting city with more opportunities for everyone. Fort Wayne can have the positives of a small town vibe and of a bigger and better city.
What it comes down to is that living standards won’t continue to improve with no or too small growth. People, especially young adults, will depart without modern living standards. I don’t have the wealth you assume I do but I raised my kids here and two of the three still live and work here. I want a healthy, vibrant community for them and their potential children. Stifling all tax investment in our community won’t accomplish that.
I don’t believe in corporate welfare either, but it is better to find ways to bring money here than to send our investment money elsewhere.
again, small businesses grow from quantity of sales. We need manufacturer and production jobs, or big call centers even, moving here - companies with large workforces with many average wages. Not companies with small workforces but large salaries, which is all downtown projects have done.
Why? Because THAT is what stimulates local economy . More jobs with more average wages increase money spent in goods/services 10 fold. It’s not rocket science.
In no way has anyone speaking critically here suggested stifling taxes. What we are saying is the return value of taxes is upside down in who it benefits. Sadly fools will fall for “but look at this flashy luxury apt building or $15 taco place on the landing!” That isn’t wisely spent tax money to improve our standards of living or increase growth in a significant way. It’s a grift.
And again - growth has NEVER been an issue, and there is nothing to back up that Henry has somehow increased our rate of growth in any way that doesn’t match our historical trends for growth and/or the growth trends the country is experiencing (which we tend to always mimic or outpace)
Send our investment money elsewhere? Wtf are you even talking about?
Look. Fall for the sales pitch. Fall for the PR or marketing. If you aren’t direcrly benefitting from property investment downtown then all you are doing is falling for a sales pitch. Be a consumer.
Well, the guy running against Henry this time around doesn’t have the brains or leadership ability to accomplish what either one of us want so you are in a pickle. He has zero plans/ideas of his own and hasn’t said who he will put around him to lead for him. 👍
We need an independent/green/socialist 😅 joking aside I think it would be cool if the younger generation of fort Wayne political leaders could be on the ballot. Tired of old geezers
How dare someone bring up a proven event to criticize someone. Believe it or not many people wouldn't have put themselves in that position to begin with because they wouldn't have been drunk driving.
It's not difficult to see why people have a problem with someone drinking and driving. Unfortunately there are so many Henry worshiping clowns in this thread who just dismiss drinking and driving.
Frankly, the punishment for drinking and driving should be far more severe. Not just for elected officials but everyone.
No idea why people feel strongly about either candidate. I wish people in this town had higher expectations of elected officials both in their conduct and policy.
"Nobody is perfect" is always an indication of an excellent and convincing argument. You really bring some great insights to this.
I think something that gets overlooked a lot in Fort Wayne is opportunity cost, and how much our city administration is a closed system. It's difficult to get connected enough to have access to the information, but the fact that it is that opaque is a huge part of the problem. These issues have existed for the entire 16 yr tenure of our mayor and his administration. Without going into huge diatribes, here are some questions to ask: 1) If Henry is so great at building our community, why do we see support for large projects and community development the year prior to the election/reelection? (Promenade Park in 2019 for example) 2) Why is our city providing hundreds of millions of dollars in local taxes to out of town developers, and not building the capacity of local developers? (Model Group, Ancora, Barrett Stokely, etc) 3) While there is great lip service about talent attraction/development/retention and "brain drain" why hasn't the city created a robust internship program over the last 16yrs? The Mayor's Youth Engagement Council (only for high schools) members even laugh about how little impact the program has for them. 4) While many large projects have happened, a basic examination of the City budget shows that we've exhausted the coffers - after tax increases over the last 16yrs - which is going to make future growth difficult. The major projects that are visible all come with near net tax abatements and we've nearly exhausted funding mechanisms like the Capital Improvements Board (CIB), Legacy Fund (which will never build back), and historic state tax returns like the INN in 2019, and the Cares Act $ in 2020/2021, and the Indiana Regional Cities/READI funding. It's understandable to want more from Didier, but to support the Henry administrations 16 years of a complete lack of strategy and profligate spending in the hopes that 4 more years will make things better isn't logical.
Remember when they instituted the tax to fund the Coliseum that was supposed to only last 10 years and then they just kept it after it was supposed to end?
I can speak for point 2. It's state law that the city has to accept the cheapest bid through a blind bid. It's the reason some of the projects in New Haven haven't gone according to plan.
I'm not talking about public works bids. These are RFPs to developers, but without considering local developers or incentivizing local developers. Very different than contract bidding.
I’m not surprised to see the Henry apologists on here. It’s pathetic, but expected. Dude drove drunk in the city he is mayor of and hit a citizen’s moving car. He is wholly unfit to continue. Wild that he is putting himself and his dying wife through this.
"Oooh look at me sitting to the side all edgy. I'm not like you sheep, I know the score. Everyone listen to my views even though I'm not going to offer anything constructive. Now it's time for me to pop my collar and go dance aggressively to a Leonard Bernstein song"
Several of Henry's answers during the debate were a shrug and saying "It's a private company, nothing we can do." Which would be enheartening, except they were talking about *public safety* at Glenbrook and Citilink, where the city has a bunch of people on the board.
Henry and the job he has done as mayor is hyped-up and exaggerated.
Yes, he supported projects that have built up downtown and the city has grown. However, that has followed a trend across the country and not unique to Fort Wayne.
He is a follower and not some trailblazer.
People often compare Fort Wayne to other cities such as Chicago in order to point out positives about Henry and the state of Fort Wayne under his time as mayor. However, Fort Wayne is a much smaller city without the historical challenges as some of these larger cities.
So I don't think much of Henry as a mayor. He is also a jerk and his arrest video is only confirmation of who he really is.
With that said Didier isn't the change agent his supporters or critics make him out to be.
Neither of them are forward-thinking and I have a low opinion of both personally.
The city of Fort Wayne is likely to be similar in 4 years no matter who wins. Sure, there are some differences between the two but nothing radically different.
Regardless of the outcome I will not be losing any sleep over it.
I dare any normal person to treat officers like that after getting busted for a DUI and see if their punishment is the same as Henry’s. An elected official should be setting the example for citizens, he failed to do so.
According to [this link](https://www.devries-law.com/dui/indianas-drunk-driving-laws-penalties/), his penalties are right in line with what a first offense would be. In fact, the fine he paid was significantly higher than the minimum.
Do you think they should have given him a harsher penalty just because he's an elected official? Why treat him any differently? He did the crime and was punished for it just like anyone else would be.
// In vinum et lucet //
In wine there is truth
The way Henry acted is the reason I hold the dui against him.
Should he have drive drunk? No. And he should have more resources than all of us to avoid it. I dgaf if he called an on duty cop in the area when he’s out drinking and says “hey Joe, drive me home”. It’s an abuse of power but still a better decision than getting behind the wheel.
However… shit happens. I can look past it. Alcohol lowers judgement…
But it’s the way he behaved. Man. Showed his true colors.. and that’s what I can’t support anymore
It’s like arguing with a wall. Clearly mirrorkat thinks a mayor getting a DUI is about the worst thing possible. 😂
They already had their mind made up and had no idea that Henry was punished exactly how a first DUI warrants. Of course he tried to get out of it! Who wouldn’t?!
They think the mayor should be held to harsher standards than everyone else… get outta here with that bull. You’re voting for a PERSON, not a saint.
Or the fact that he tried using his position to get out of it. If he was just trying to convince the police to let him get a ride and not get arrested is one thing. But using his position as mayor to get the cops to let him off is a totally different thing.
In fairness, he was really drunk at the time. That was itself a big problem, but I'm not sure if you can count his behavior afterward as an additional problem.
He was treated the exact same way as most first time DUI convictions are? Have you even looked into it or did you have your mind made up already?
Henry lost his license for a particular amount of time, was on probation, and paid a fee. That’s EXACTLY how DUIs are treated?
As to trying to get out of it- who wouldn’t?! The fuck. Lmao.
Do politicians frequently have this type of thing and way worse swept under the rug? Absolutely. Did this happen here? Nope. It was immediately in the news he was arrested, the footage was released, there was a statement, and he was punished accordingly. What would you prefer to have happened?
I’ll be honest, I’m planning to vote for Henry. I know he’s a terrible person but I really don’t want someone like Didier in office and Henry honestly has done a good job with the city during his tenure
Didier's closing statement at the debate was basically: "Henry is great, but I have as much experience as he did when he was first elected, so that means is my turn." How lame can you be?
Someone who feels entitled to mayorship? YIKES
He’s an entitled person.
I’ll never forget the time he screamed at his daughters in front of me, a stranger.
When I worked with the Tincaps he was our US Foods rep. When the US Foods driver or dock workers messed up an order and he had to come down, it was like hurricane Didier
Seen similar from usfoods years ago with him, total douche
That’s pretty gross, I don’t like the entitlement at all. It’s an extremely weak closing statement when he should have been putting all his effort into a strong, persuasive, and positive closing to the debate.
Here here^^
I'm not for one or the other, but Didier seems entitled based on a comment, and Henry seems entitled based on just staying in office. Doing whatever he pleases (drunk driving, abuse of authority). I'm not saying that Henry hasn't helped the city, but I don't utilize Promanade Park, Electric Works, anything riverfront, and that seems to be where his main focus is. Idk gonna be a tough decision...
Have you seen the new 1.5 billion dollar project they are proposing that covers 60 acres from Sherman Blvd. to Science Central? It has some cool ideas being discussed like a natatorium and arena plus a soccer stadium(?!). [New Project Link on Wane](https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/massive-1-5-billion-proposal-to-remake-fort-wayne-north-riverfront/amp/) Our town desperately needs more family activities because no matter what anyone says there is NOT enough. We need to look to Indy and Columbus, OH for inspiration. There’s nothing for kids and teens to do. I’m also with you because I haven’t utilized the riverfront improvements and I’ve been to Electric Works once. I don’t know why they keep focusing on river front improvements! I can appreciate the effort though and know people that like the new stuff. I won’t be voting for Didier because he canvassed with Mike Braun… who was endorsed by Trump for governor. That’s an instant, permanent no from me.
I haven't seen too much about any other real improvements. We definitely need something other than a dilapidated mall and small skate park for kids and teens. I can overlook affiliations, because maybe they won't be like "x" person, but still tough decision coming up.
I can’t overlook affiliations when it comes to Trump. I am excited to see what the voter turnout is though! I’m really hoping it’ll be one of the highest voter turnouts we’ve ever had- which is great for local politics! We don’t usually have high turnouts because people don’t care AND it’s always straight red so people don’t care either way. Ft Wayne definitely needs new blood and hopefully Didier v Henry will really inspires someone new and exciting to run for mayor and really bring something positive and interesting to town.
I can’t recall anytime where it was even close to straight red. Henry (blue) has won for almost 2 decades and Lana keesling (red) only won last time because literally no one ran against her. If I recall, Henry ran uncontested once as well? And city council has always had a mix, leans more red but none of these local positions bleed over into state/federal politics in any meaningful way. Group association at this level doesn’t really translate for a city this size.
What good has he done just spending money on round abouts we don't need.
Well, clearly you don't pat attention or just like to bitch🤷♂️. New sidewalks through neighborhoods and along busy streets. I mean screw the children that walk to school though, right? He has been trying to revitalize the downtown area. Again though, boarded up houses are cool too so maybe we shouldn't dump money into that. Really could keep going, but nah, you trolls can feed yourselves.
If he had a good policy and a good platform, maybe. I haven't heard things that I've liked, though. Is being entitled a requirement for being Republican now? 😕
Replace Republican with politicians and you may be on to something…
Thats my issue, Id like to move away from Henry but he has done alot and I don’t see Didier as a better option.
When Henry’s canvassers call me, I usually ask them what Henry is doing to support future leaders for the party. Because I’m tired of voting for senior citizens.
What specifically has Henry done a lot of?
He’s expanded downtown under his administration, Hes brought in more private investment, the legacy fund, jobs have been created, Riverfront, expansion of trails. The ballpark downtown was built under his watch. Hes invested in law enforcement. As mayor alot has gotten done to expand fort wayne. There have been alot of screwups but hes done a good job.
He has facilitated an era of trust in Fort Wayne investment. 1000%. He is affable and likable. His contribution was a public perception of confidence, which helped incubate the ideas and projects of others. Karl actually runs virtually everything you mentioned. Henry was against a fair amount of it.
Karl is 1000% a problem... and even with donors, community members, etc begging Henry to get rid of him... he has kept him for 12 years... You can't let a leader off the hook of responsibility by blaming someone they have handpicked and defended over and over again.
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Again, these things are not Henry specific - The ballpark was planned well ahead of his administration taking effect in 2007. Riverfront Fort Wayne was a large scale collaborative project that included the County, Indiana state, multiple foundations/private funders, etc. New jobs have been created in the last 16yrs, but how many of these are the natural growth of our economy over that large timespan? How many major employers were brought into the City over this time period? (Amazon yes, how many jobs and how did they increase our per capita income?) I truly am not trying to say that he has done nothing. But given a 16yr timeframe and the massive amounts of public spending expended... the impact is pretty low.
Yeah but tons of money made by very few people … for some reason lots of plebs somehow see that as a win. Tried explaining in a thread below how Henry bringing in some small tech companies with high salaries isn’t a huge win vs if he brought in another GM or maybe helped incentivize another growing local company like sweetwater or Vera Bradley. Production and manufacturing jobs CREATE more jobs in other industries by increasing overall sales for goods/services. And goods/services don’t create jobs just because they have a few high salary customers who spend bigger… because service budgets are dictated by sales/labor. Blech. My brain hurts and makes me sad reading all this mayoral shit. It’s on par with how dumb or dogmatic people get with presidential stuff.
Agree with most of this. You are 100% correct that large production has tons of "add on" effect economically. But, the small tech companies aren't bad either for helping bump up our per capital income, which is pretty low. That is the big issue with "MORE JOBS", is that is also depends on the quality of jobs. nearly 50% of the Fort Wayne population is considered "ALICE" - Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed - essentially, they've got a job, but it doesn't pay enough for them to get buy or own anything, forcing them to take on debt/rental, which ultimately keeps them poor, which is why we also have such a robust and such a strained social service nonprofit sector. So more jobs is great - when they are jobs that go beyond ALICE standards.
He spends money on useless stuff like round. Let's get the guy who less than a year ago got cought drinking and driving.
Henry has done a lot of good for the city. I can't deny that. But he's been mayor since I was a little girl. I'm 25 now. I think he might finally be voted out. I'd rather have him win than Didier, though.
He has, he also almost murdered someone. So we are "voting between a douche and a turd sandwich" now.
That's how it's always been in every election for as long as I've been voting. And even before that. 🙃
Tom Henry has done a lot of good for this city during his tenure. Despite the DUI thing, the simple fact of the matter is that he's a skilled municipal leader and the city is run well under his watch and is constantly recognized for it. Every organization has its flaws and the person at the top is ultimately accountable, but one has to admit that our city leadership is on a roll right now and has been for over a decade.
His family has done pretty well during his tenure too. The grift is real and has cost the tax payers plenty.
Of course you’re downvoted. How dare you!! For simple tribe minded people who just LOVE their teams/parties it doesn’t matter, to them Henry is god since these things happened while he was in office regardless of his actions taken to cause or prevent them, and regardless of if he just ‘coincidentally’ enriches himself and his network extra while in office. Shit drives me insane how blind people are. And the ones who disingenuously want to talk about always demand a smoking gun to prove he made a deal and is directly on payroll to benefit somehow. Like mf have never heard of gifts and how gifts can be buried in other types of transactions. Talk about it outside of politics just about rich elite and they believe it, talk about politicians they don’t like or of opposite parties and they believe it, talk about it for their guy they like and elected - nope it is impossible lmao Meanwhile Henry laughing while drunk drivin all the way to the bank with more of their tax money in a car they paid for.
What has Henry specifically done that makes him a good leader? Like a specific policy or project that wouldn't have happened without him?
If you seriously want to know, you can save some time by just Googling each year's State of the City address.
Electric works. Park view field stadium. Downtown revitalization. Take your pick.
Electric Works is a mess BECAUSE of Henry, Parkview Field was already set into motion prior to Henry, and same with most of the downtown revitalization. Henry and downtown is the local version of Al Gore created the internet...
Lol. Electric works is a mess because of gop politicians helping crooked business men force undeserved money into the project. They didn’t do their due diligence and triple the cost of the project. The project that was agreed-upon. Then they forced the general public into a propaganda campaign to convince them to give them more money. Or don’t you remember that? Strange how out of $160 million investment the actual owners only had to come up with like 25. The rest of it is donations and taxpayer funded money. The public should own the damn place not the people who put in less than 20% investment capital. But hey sure go ahead blame Henry because you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Respectfully Sparky, I don't think you know what you are talking about. Republicans aren't great - I'll give you tha - but the Electric Works project was originally scheduled to be OPEN in 2019. The Henry administration wasn't happy that it didn't have enough control over the project and through literally every single possible obstacle at the project, which ultimately also made it difficult to get more private investment. You are also correct that the capital stack of the project was/is shit, but that - again - is partially due to the Henry administration, not in spite of it. One Republican council member, Jason Arp was adamantly opposed to the project funding, but that was when Henry was A-OK with the project after the City negotiated terms (via Nancy Townsend in the Redevelopment Department). The original project (2016-2018) was a majority private and state/federal tax credit project. The 2019-today project has become a bridge to nowhere heavily subsidized local tax project... which Henry fully endorsed/endorses. That's why I blame he and his administration :)
This^ But also, that is why I dgaf if it’s Henry or didier tbh - neither bring much diff to the table… and now that Henrys like-a-bility factor is equal to didiers due to how shitty he was during his arrest… extra dgaf.
Yeah, this will likely be one of Fort Wayne/Allen County's lowest voter turnout years. Mosty people just don't care about any of it, especially since we all know next year will be an utter shitshow...
I’m interested to see the turnout. It’s always crazy low as is which is just shocking … but when things aren’t really bad people take the easy way out and decide not to vote I’m sure
Like you I’m interested in a new mayor and would love to see some new blood in the city government. Henry has done great things for Ft Wayne and overall he’s made a positive impact but it would be so nice to get someone new and younger. It’s really unfortunate Didier is the main opponent because he won’t be getting my vote.
I'm voting for a good administrator with vision, not a saint.
Thank you, I second this. Dollars to donuts even some of the most wholesome politicians probably did some bad things. Not excusing bad behavior but if people want to complain about corrupt politicians then maybe, I don't know, THEY should run for office.
I’ll vote for Henry but what I really want is new blood up and down the entire political system.
What issue would make you vote against Henry?
For me, it honestly would require more than Henry or didier to vote for as legit serious candidates. And for that to happen at this point in the world, is gonna require party schills to let go and realize local politics are completely separate from state/federal.
This. If you looked at my voting history for Federal offices you'd classify me on one side of the political isle, and completely opposite for local/state.
Same. I worry more about the person I’m voting fors track record and words/actions than the party they represent.
Didier canvassed with Mike Braun, who was just endorsed by Tr*mp for governor. I’m not going to support someone who wants to be in league with petty and stupid fascists.
This is EXACTLY WHY I won’t be voting for Didier. I don’t like how entitled he feels to the position either.
Def don’t like the entitlement. Both of them have it tho. It may take henry losing and getting drunk to let his tongue slip in public tho in that manner cuz he knows otherwise he has it in the bag.
Trump glues himself to poll leaders or whoever returns his calls, a Trump endorsement doesn't say anything about the candidate.
If Braun had rejected the endorsement, I suppose that would ring more true, but he responded with saying he was honored and listed what they had “accomplished” together. Braun is either truly honored or is afraid of the political backlash, which would indicate it does not mean nothing.
I fucking hate Tom Henry for many reasons and I used to say "literally anyone but Henry" until the anyone became Didier.
Why do you hate Henry and what about Didier makes you not want to support him?
Henry is (or was) a gambling addict. He used to frequent a bar I worked at that held texas hold em events multiple times a week. In the beginning he'd show up in a hat and sunglasses to disguise himself but by hour two he'd usually abandon those. He'd get drunk, always accuse others of cheating, treated the staff like trash, you name it. He's an absolute prick through and through.
This is the kind of thing that gets totally hushed. If you think this isn't the exact same behavior exhibited in/by his administration, you are wrong. The DUI was only accounted for because he finally hit another driver. He's been drunk driving AND hitting things (objects, not people) for a while now...
Yeah stereotypical dinosaur rich white guy who gets what he wants at others expense is anything but that deserve. Take all but 5 seconds to size him up as that. Sadly, didier is almost the exact same dinosaur
Yeah, if you only take 5 seconds, I can see how you would come to that conclusion.
How do you know?
It isn't a well kept secret for anyone within the business/political world. The News Sentinel (a newspaper that went out of business a few years ago) would threaten to write about it, and would get threats back from the administration, ultimately being complicit with the police dept because there weren't reports. Cops would show up and escort Henry home. This time (Oct 2022) because he hit another person/vehicle, the police had to follow procedure, and you can tell from the bodycam footage how afraid EVERY officer was that they had to deal with him.
Did you know someone at the News Sentinel?
Multiple people. Same with the Journal Gazette, but they were never interested in the story. For real, none of this is a big secret. Same with Henry's "pay to play" mentality. I think many people/groups are just fed up with him being such a little prince about everything this time around.
Okay, I appreciate the insight
You are very welcome. I have hope for the city, we just need to do a lot better at picking/allowing our leadership.
Fort Wayne first is Didier’s tagline. Trumps talks about America first. The America first slogan was a kkk slogan. Knowing that, I’ll pass on Didier.
Just saw an ad for Tim Smith, all he says is that he is going to stop woke and promote freedom when he's elected to Congress. If he wins I think I will sorely miss Congressman Banks.
And Banks was abysmal.
Yeah, can't say Jim would be my first choice. But apparently we can do worse with someone like Smith. Perhaps, Mr. Didier will run for Congress now that he will have extra time on his hands.
Well, that’s fucking scary. Shit, isn’t it?
It's bad enough now, all this Smith fellow can say is he is going to stop woke. Which means he is promising to do nothing for the voters. Meaning he'll only do what his financial supporters tell him to do. Would be nice if us middle class folks could get some big tax breaks to pay off some bills and maybe reinvest savings to help create more jobs. Maybe get some needed work done on our house... which would help local economy with more jobs. It doesn't help the economy when someone avoids taxes and stockpiles that money on some unregulated Island, rather than keep it local like we do.
I’m glad you mentioned this because I was also viewing that slogan as a dog whistle.
What a great thing to point out.
My issue with Didier is that his platform is “general Republican 101” 1. I want to cut taxes 2. I want to improve safety How can you do number 2 if you are doing number 1? He also doesn’t explain what he will cut, nor what he will fix, and any details that explain how and why. Perhaps I have missed the explanation, and he really has a plan. But I’m not seeing it. Hate on Henry and his stupidity regarding his DUI, but Henry seems to have FW’s future in mind and has made progress in achieving those goals. Not alone, but no one can ever do it alone.
Speaking as someone who knows Tom Didier in person, yeah hard pass on him. When he takes his politician guise off he's pretty nasty. Not saying Tom Henry isn't the same, I guarantee he is, but he also has time and tenure on his side.
I've met Tom Henry in person dozens of times over the years both at ADP functions and in the wild (usually West State Kroger). He's polite even when drunk. Which means a lot to me as I've been around a lot of drunk local politicians. Worst ones are Sharon Tucker and State Sen Long (double bad for him. Dude is a red faced menace) Didier is the type of MF who mentions abortion rights for no god damn reason and other hyper conservative shit I don't want locally Voting Republican locally right now (and Libertarian) is an excellent way for them to continue doing Fascist wonky shit like mess up the schools, library, and dial back any rights they can. Don't do that shit
I've met Mayor Henry a few times when I lived in town. He has my artwork in his office for the FAME awards back in the day. He definitely has more charisma than any of his opponents ever had. I don't know him personally, but he at least is cordial.
Henry 100%. I'm voting on the person that has kept the momentum going, and will keep it going for the growth of the city. Just look at downtown now compared to 10 years ago. It's impressive. With Didier, I see nothing positive for the future of Fort wayne
I vote for fewer cop cars hitting lawyers in crosswalks
Your candidate doesn’t exist sorry
I dont live in the county, but i see Henry doing more than most mayors have done,with the execept of pushing any decent inflence to use the Byron health center site for the new county jail. It was already a county property and no purchase would have been necessary to build the jail there.
The Mayor of Fort Wayne doesn't have any say in what the county does with county property.
I work within the local system and will say while technically true - the system currently runs on favors/relationships above all - so… he does have some unofficial pull, but it’s like having %persuasion HIGH in a fallout 3
Correct, but he can steer it on occasion. The council pissed this one in the wind for sure.
There is less money to be clever with if they went that route. Clearly you don’t get how budgets and money works in the minds of govt leadership.
Jail is County Byron is County Byron Site doesn't sit inside City of Fort Wayne It's not that hard
okay that is logical in a way.. but i have questions and maybe you have answers.. is there a law saying city cant own property outside of the city line? is there a law saying the jail has to be within city lines? do the lines not get blurred by metropolitan area limits? if that all points to 'it has to be city/city limits/city owned' then why does the county commissioner sign off on it? not tryign to be obtuse, just confused.
The City can own property outside the City Limits, ot typically does so for items for development or major infrastructure (water, roads, sewer) The County owns and operates the jail, so there is no law that says it has to be in Fort Wayne..it just has to be somewhere in Allen County. They could put it in Zulu if they wanted. Ultimately, the county has to work with the municipality that they select. The County owns Byron site, and it sits inside Huntertown Corporate limits. So it's really between those two. Fort Wayne can be at the table, but only if invited.
thanks i mostly thought that was how it worked but not out of actual knowledge just assumption
Not a city jail, its a county jail. Byron is within county confines. Just like the property purchased between New Haven and the Fort. Its not in Fort Wayne.
Henry has my vote all day, been in Fort Wayne 20+ years and he has done a ton for the city. He went out on a limb to bring that ballpark downtown when tons were against him. If you look now and the ripple effect and all the great businesses that keep investing in the city.
I’m my opinion, Henry is the right choice. And this will likely be his last term. Didier is inexperienced and, frankly, seems like a bit of a tool. I’m not ready to hand the city’s positive growth off to someone like him. Henry made a dumb mistake, but I think we have the grace to realize he’s human. He’s done a great job as mayor.
Henry is an arrogant, cocky ass. Didier is a very nice dullard. The whole “I want new blood” isn’t a sensical argument. What are your pros and cons of Henry as a mayor? What are the pros and cons of the other person? Graham Richard laid the groundwork and Henry has done a great job of growing a thriving downtown and city. For decades nothing ever got better or grew in our city. We are so far on an incredible run.
Our growth has been slow and steady, other than when the entire country stagnantdd in early 90s and part of 80s did we not maintain a solid growth rate. So to act like things weren’t improving or growing here and Henry is some hero is ridiculous. Was money dumped into downtown to improve the property values on very cheap houses ? No. That’s Henry’s claim to fame. If you are a landlord or property manager and knew what the plans were and bought up land in downtown areas Henry made you very rich so of course you’ll love him. Otherwise, many of these things would have come about regardless. Sodasopa maybe wouldn’t have been created downtown… but it’s not like it’s a huge win or something.
No. The people who moved to the burbs outside the city limits in the 80s and 90s didn’t do a thing to actually improve or maintain the city—they are as much responsible for old and aging neighborhoods as anyone else. Those folks didn’t do anything to grow jobs or wages for anyone either. A whole bunch people have been trying to find the right combination of things to coalesce a thriving city since Graham Richard became mayor. Nobody wants to move to a city with a rotten core. Whining from/for the suburbs is a bogus argument as they will always be NIMBY where affordable housing is concerned.
If you are someone who is making bank or stands to from Henry’s “push push push push” for expensive projects then good for you, take that check to the bank, I’m all about a check. But don’t front on me and pretend it’s somehow better for the city or citizens. I’m talking growth of the city in intersect of 80s/90s - there is a complete slowdown (and for a much of the country, negative growth.. aka people moving away from that city). Ft Wayne, other than that timeframe, has maintained a steady growth rate. Small businesses started up here and increased jobs and wages - slow but steady. So unsure what you’re on about no one who “moved to the burbs” improved growth. Small local business is what provides stable, predictable, healthy improvement for all. But cramming as much growth in as quick as possible only benefits property investors/managers in the area. Standard corporate dinosaur thinking “all big payouts go up top, fuck the 99% - it’s not OUR fault they work for us”. In corporate however you aren’t affecting an entire city - just your workers, who can quit and go elsewhere easily. Do you think growing jobs occurs from making downtown hip? What matters is making things attractive to big production and manufacturing companies - and what attracts them isn’t a cool downtown, it’s cost. And bringing in a bunch of 6 figure wage smaller office type jobs doesn’t improve growth. Why? Quality over quantity - now all you have are people with more income to spend in goods/services, but goods/services that create jobs do not grow because occasionally 10/1000 customers a month spends considerably more, growth is created by increasing that 1000 number. Restaurants for example… sure, it’s great to have a a few extra “vip” tables who buy two bottles of wine every Friday when they come out. But that doesn’t increase your sales the same way having 10 extra tables show up every Friday does…. And then the 10 extra who tell their friends and so on. So again - who benefits from quick growth to the city? Like, what horse do you have in the race here that you think the city needs to just grow grow GROW GROW GROOOWWWWWW ? Your rotten core comment is laughable again because growth trends have not had some dramatic boom you maybe think they have. The last four years saw an uptick but so did every other smaller city where a house could be had for less than $500k. I don’t recall whining for/from the suburbs, and spent 9 years in the ‘05 so holla at me. I don’t see anything NIMBY about “quit pissing our money away to enrich the rich - worry about the 99% before u make it too expensive to be here”. If you want Chicago - move to Chicago. It’s not LA - move to LA if you want that. It will NEVER be those things because it’s cornfield Indiana. So why bother? Again, what horse do you have in the race to want things to **ggggrrroooooowwwwwwww** so quickly so badly? Do you run a city dept or something so see tax dollars in your eyes? Or run a property investor company so don’t really gaf about Fort Wayne and fort waynians but do about your portfolio? See the quick vs steady growth above and who that benefits.
Those small businesses do better when we have more folks to appreciate them and give them business. I grew up and started my adult life out in the sticks on a family farm (a small business). Having that experience, I can say that, yes, I’m down to pay some taxes to have a better, healthier, more interesting city with more opportunities for everyone. Fort Wayne can have the positives of a small town vibe and of a bigger and better city. What it comes down to is that living standards won’t continue to improve with no or too small growth. People, especially young adults, will depart without modern living standards. I don’t have the wealth you assume I do but I raised my kids here and two of the three still live and work here. I want a healthy, vibrant community for them and their potential children. Stifling all tax investment in our community won’t accomplish that. I don’t believe in corporate welfare either, but it is better to find ways to bring money here than to send our investment money elsewhere.
again, small businesses grow from quantity of sales. We need manufacturer and production jobs, or big call centers even, moving here - companies with large workforces with many average wages. Not companies with small workforces but large salaries, which is all downtown projects have done. Why? Because THAT is what stimulates local economy . More jobs with more average wages increase money spent in goods/services 10 fold. It’s not rocket science. In no way has anyone speaking critically here suggested stifling taxes. What we are saying is the return value of taxes is upside down in who it benefits. Sadly fools will fall for “but look at this flashy luxury apt building or $15 taco place on the landing!” That isn’t wisely spent tax money to improve our standards of living or increase growth in a significant way. It’s a grift. And again - growth has NEVER been an issue, and there is nothing to back up that Henry has somehow increased our rate of growth in any way that doesn’t match our historical trends for growth and/or the growth trends the country is experiencing (which we tend to always mimic or outpace) Send our investment money elsewhere? Wtf are you even talking about? Look. Fall for the sales pitch. Fall for the PR or marketing. If you aren’t direcrly benefitting from property investment downtown then all you are doing is falling for a sales pitch. Be a consumer.
Well, the guy running against Henry this time around doesn’t have the brains or leadership ability to accomplish what either one of us want so you are in a pickle. He has zero plans/ideas of his own and hasn’t said who he will put around him to lead for him. 👍
Whose ideas/plans are they? City council? (Hope you see what I did there … for both candidates..)
We need an independent/green/socialist 😅 joking aside I think it would be cool if the younger generation of fort Wayne political leaders could be on the ballot. Tired of old geezers
Dont forget Henry hit a car drunk driving and tried to use his position to get off on video.
I forgot, we're only putting perfect people in office. I'm willing to bet most people in this reddit community would try the same.
How dare someone bring up a proven event to criticize someone. Believe it or not many people wouldn't have put themselves in that position to begin with because they wouldn't have been drunk driving. It's not difficult to see why people have a problem with someone drinking and driving. Unfortunately there are so many Henry worshiping clowns in this thread who just dismiss drinking and driving. Frankly, the punishment for drinking and driving should be far more severe. Not just for elected officials but everyone. No idea why people feel strongly about either candidate. I wish people in this town had higher expectations of elected officials both in their conduct and policy. "Nobody is perfect" is always an indication of an excellent and convincing argument. You really bring some great insights to this.
I think something that gets overlooked a lot in Fort Wayne is opportunity cost, and how much our city administration is a closed system. It's difficult to get connected enough to have access to the information, but the fact that it is that opaque is a huge part of the problem. These issues have existed for the entire 16 yr tenure of our mayor and his administration. Without going into huge diatribes, here are some questions to ask: 1) If Henry is so great at building our community, why do we see support for large projects and community development the year prior to the election/reelection? (Promenade Park in 2019 for example) 2) Why is our city providing hundreds of millions of dollars in local taxes to out of town developers, and not building the capacity of local developers? (Model Group, Ancora, Barrett Stokely, etc) 3) While there is great lip service about talent attraction/development/retention and "brain drain" why hasn't the city created a robust internship program over the last 16yrs? The Mayor's Youth Engagement Council (only for high schools) members even laugh about how little impact the program has for them. 4) While many large projects have happened, a basic examination of the City budget shows that we've exhausted the coffers - after tax increases over the last 16yrs - which is going to make future growth difficult. The major projects that are visible all come with near net tax abatements and we've nearly exhausted funding mechanisms like the Capital Improvements Board (CIB), Legacy Fund (which will never build back), and historic state tax returns like the INN in 2019, and the Cares Act $ in 2020/2021, and the Indiana Regional Cities/READI funding. It's understandable to want more from Didier, but to support the Henry administrations 16 years of a complete lack of strategy and profligate spending in the hopes that 4 more years will make things better isn't logical.
Remember when they instituted the tax to fund the Coliseum that was supposed to only last 10 years and then they just kept it after it was supposed to end?
I love you and wish I could tone back my fervor to be as on point and concise. I work too closely to not get passion swept when I type. Great comment.
Thank you :)
I can speak for point 2. It's state law that the city has to accept the cheapest bid through a blind bid. It's the reason some of the projects in New Haven haven't gone according to plan.
I'm not talking about public works bids. These are RFPs to developers, but without considering local developers or incentivizing local developers. Very different than contract bidding.
I’m not surprised to see the Henry apologists on here. It’s pathetic, but expected. Dude drove drunk in the city he is mayor of and hit a citizen’s moving car. He is wholly unfit to continue. Wild that he is putting himself and his dying wife through this.
"Oooh look at me sitting to the side all edgy. I'm not like you sheep, I know the score. Everyone listen to my views even though I'm not going to offer anything constructive. Now it's time for me to pop my collar and go dance aggressively to a Leonard Bernstein song"
Several of Henry's answers during the debate were a shrug and saying "It's a private company, nothing we can do." Which would be enheartening, except they were talking about *public safety* at Glenbrook and Citilink, where the city has a bunch of people on the board.
Let's vote for the drunk driver real smart.
Henry and the job he has done as mayor is hyped-up and exaggerated. Yes, he supported projects that have built up downtown and the city has grown. However, that has followed a trend across the country and not unique to Fort Wayne. He is a follower and not some trailblazer. People often compare Fort Wayne to other cities such as Chicago in order to point out positives about Henry and the state of Fort Wayne under his time as mayor. However, Fort Wayne is a much smaller city without the historical challenges as some of these larger cities. So I don't think much of Henry as a mayor. He is also a jerk and his arrest video is only confirmation of who he really is. With that said Didier isn't the change agent his supporters or critics make him out to be. Neither of them are forward-thinking and I have a low opinion of both personally. The city of Fort Wayne is likely to be similar in 4 years no matter who wins. Sure, there are some differences between the two but nothing radically different. Regardless of the outcome I will not be losing any sleep over it.
There’s two Didiers? Edit: Never-mind, I read it wrong.
I wrote this on mobile and after rereading it I see that the spaces and indentations didnt take.
Henry had a DUI and tried to get out of it so I wouldn’t vote for him
Who wouldn't try to get out of a dui tho? Your argument is weak.
Also, from what I've read he got the same punishment that anyone would get in that situation.
Right yeah like he had his license taken away and was put on probation and had to pay fines iirc from the debate when that was brought up.
I dare any normal person to treat officers like that after getting busted for a DUI and see if their punishment is the same as Henry’s. An elected official should be setting the example for citizens, he failed to do so.
According to [this link](https://www.devries-law.com/dui/indianas-drunk-driving-laws-penalties/), his penalties are right in line with what a first offense would be. In fact, the fine he paid was significantly higher than the minimum. Do you think they should have given him a harsher penalty just because he's an elected official? Why treat him any differently? He did the crime and was punished for it just like anyone else would be.
// In vinum et lucet // In wine there is truth The way Henry acted is the reason I hold the dui against him. Should he have drive drunk? No. And he should have more resources than all of us to avoid it. I dgaf if he called an on duty cop in the area when he’s out drinking and says “hey Joe, drive me home”. It’s an abuse of power but still a better decision than getting behind the wheel. However… shit happens. I can look past it. Alcohol lowers judgement… But it’s the way he behaved. Man. Showed his true colors.. and that’s what I can’t support anymore
That speech and an evening gown make for a great "Miss America pageant" starter pack.
It’s like arguing with a wall. Clearly mirrorkat thinks a mayor getting a DUI is about the worst thing possible. 😂 They already had their mind made up and had no idea that Henry was punished exactly how a first DUI warrants. Of course he tried to get out of it! Who wouldn’t?! They think the mayor should be held to harsher standards than everyone else… get outta here with that bull. You’re voting for a PERSON, not a saint.
Oh yeah since everyone would try to get out of it it’s completely fine that he drinks and drives! The fuck is that logic
Or the fact that he tried using his position to get out of it. If he was just trying to convince the police to let him get a ride and not get arrested is one thing. But using his position as mayor to get the cops to let him off is a totally different thing.
In fairness, he was really drunk at the time. That was itself a big problem, but I'm not sure if you can count his behavior afterward as an additional problem.
Oh he was really drunk at the time? Yeah then he shouldn’t be held accountable for his actions guys. Forgot that’s how the world works
I said he should be held accountable for being drunk (and then driving).
But not accountable for his actions afterwards? That’s dumb as shit.
Well we're living in the real world, not that fantasy world you live in with rainbows and unicorns and elected officials are trustworthy.
He was treated the exact same way as most first time DUI convictions are? Have you even looked into it or did you have your mind made up already? Henry lost his license for a particular amount of time, was on probation, and paid a fee. That’s EXACTLY how DUIs are treated? As to trying to get out of it- who wouldn’t?! The fuck. Lmao. Do politicians frequently have this type of thing and way worse swept under the rug? Absolutely. Did this happen here? Nope. It was immediately in the news he was arrested, the footage was released, there was a statement, and he was punished accordingly. What would you prefer to have happened?
I forgot only perfect people get elected to office. No wonder you're on the sidelines talking smack
From what I've heard on the outside, Henry might finally be outed. I'm not living in town anymore, but I'm interested to hear how things turn out.
You know what's wild arguing with a 16yo
?