Fort Wayne mayor defends secrecy

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - 2009 was a busy year for Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry.

Recently, NewsChannel 15 sat down with the mayor to look back on the old year and ahead to the new one. Excerpts of that interview are below.
 

Mark Mellinger: Look back at this past year. What has been your administration's biggest accomplishment and what has been the biggest failure; the area where you wish you would have seen more progress?

Tom Henry: The biggest success story, I think, was winning the All America City award [which highlighted the city's expanded trails system, a local court program to help troubled youth, and a center for foreign refugees to help them relocate here].

Mellinger: Where do you wish you would've made more progress? If you had to pick the one issue where you say 'you know what, we didn't get that done'?

Henry: Probably more than anything I don't think I got the message out properly to the citizens of Fort Wayne on the work that we were trying to do.

Mellinger: Give me an example.

Henry: The original concept of opening Calhoun Street...

There were a number of people who felt it was the wrong move to make and fought us aggressively on that and we had people that came to city council and people that sent me e-mails and called me [and were] very, very upset that we were going to make Calhoun Street eventually a two-way street. Now it is two-way and many of those individuals have come back and said to me, 'Oh, that's what you meant.'

Mellinger: [This past year] you were called -by one of the editors of the Journal Gazette- the most secretive administration of the four that he has covered. Respond to that.

Henry: Many of the tasks that a mayor is confronted with are tasks that involve developers [and] that involve legislators who are working on assignments of their own and they ask to confide in you what they're working on...

So we're kind of caught in the middle, wanting to release everything but knowing if we do that it could jeopardize ultimately the bigger project. So I feel bad that there are those out there who feel that they're not being told everything. But unfortunately, sometimes negotiations and the like call for that.

Mellinger: I think one example that people would point to would be the Jose Lemus-Rodriguez police tape; you know, the young man who was shot by one of our officers. Why not release that tape? [The case has] been settled now. Why not release it?

Henry: Well, first of all, it doesn't do anybody any good right now to release the tape. His family obviously... we did not want to hurt them by releasing this tape and let the entire public see their son shot multiple times...

There was a suit filed. We decided to try to work out something with the family financially to make life a little better for them. They were comfortable with the settlement and we moved forward.

The family is not in this country. They do not reside here. I don't think anybody in the family resides here in Fort Wayne or in this country as far as I know.

They've been taken care of financially. Releasing that tape now, Mark, wouldn't do anybody any good.

Mellinger: In 2010, will you decide for sure whether you want to run for re-election?

Henry: Yes.

Mellinger: And what way are you leaning right now?

Henry: I will decide by the fourth quarter of 2010.

Mellinger: Can you give me any sort of feeling beyond that?

Henry: Mark, come on, now. (laughing)
 

In 2010, the mayor also says he's "'cautiously optimistic" the city will work out an agreement with I & M under which the company will remain a significant electric provider in Fort Wayne. Henry says mediation is going well and that both sides are working hard.

Also, he hopes a special task force decides on a recommendation for joint city/county use of the Renaissance Square building -recently purchased by the city- by January 24th.

The mayor also talked in-depth about Fort Wayne pursuing a public vote on bringing a casino to town. That part of the interview will post on wane.com New Year's Day and air on our Saturday evening newscasts on January 2.