The Fort Wayne City Council took today off as many of its members are out of town for spring break. Their off-time is sure to be short-lived as they could be presented the details of the Harrison Square project next week – see my previous post.
As we head closer to a vote by the council on the financing of the project, I thought it would be good to outline the stance of the members, and some of their comments on the project from last week’s discussion.
Councilman Sam Talarico, R-at-large, has said the community needs to take bold action to attract young professionals.
“What communities need to do to attract people and jobs is drastically different than in the past.”
Councilman Tim Pape, D-5th, said he believes the project will be a boon for people to live in the city’s core and to help prevent urban sprawl. He said the risk is not doing anything.
Councilman Glynn Hines, D-6th, said he is “very pro Harrison Square.” He said the city will see even more benefit from this project than it did by investing in Southtown Mall.
Councilman Tom Hayhurst, D-4th, said the project could help catalyze downtown development. He said it was a little premature to be asking about stances on the issue before the contracts are presented to the council, but he had a gut feeling that the project could be successful.
Councilman Tom Didier, R-3rd, said he has three kids and the project could make it more likely for them to want to stay in Fort Wayne. He said he is feeling comfortable with the project, but pointed out that while many of the businesses he talks to support the project, the vast majority of residents oppose it.
Councilman Don Schmidt, R-2nd, criticized the city for trying to link the stadium to the hotel. He said the hotel can exist without a new ballpark. He also said while the city pushes the idea that most of the financing is project or area specific, he said all tax money eventually comes from the same pocket. For example, he said the tax increment finance district that includes Jefferson Pointe and Harrison Square could be eliminated to allow the shopping center’s property taxes to help reduce residents’ tax burden.
“All of it has to be paid by the taxpayers,” he said.
Councilman John Shoaff, D-at-large, said he was concerned the city makes the best use of its economic development money. He said the millions invested in this project could be used in other areas.
“I think there are other things to look at,” he said.
Councilman Tom Smith, R-1st, said his major opposition for the project is its location. He said he could have supported it if it was located on the riverfront. He questioned why the project couldn’t be moved.
Councilman John Crawford, R-at-large, only said he was “quite undecided” on the issue. While it appears supporters won’t need his vote to approve the financing, Talarico said he is hopeful to get Crawford’s vote. He said that would not only provide a super majority to show unity for the project, but it would also show that one of the council’s most conservative fiscal members sees the benefit of the project.
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