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Accomplishments

Mayor Tom Henry has kept Fort Wayne moving forward. Mayor Henry’s key accomplishments include:

Keeping city finances strong and healthy. Since taking office, Mayor Henry has:

Held spending flat;
come in under budget every year;
kept the city’s credit rating strong, and
put us on track to pay down over 40 percent of our debt.

In these tough economic times, Fort Wayne’s strong finances are attracting investors and developers who’ll bring new, good paying jobs to our community.

Creating an environment that attracts new business and promotes job creation. Mayor Henry has worked with Republicans and Democrats to streamline the permitting process, cutting red for companies. Today, Fort Wayne is in a truly unique position – one of the few cities in America able to attract development, jobs, and create a climate of economic opportunity for residents. In fact, our local economy is growing (GDP) is growing at twice the national average, and manufacturing is growing at four times the national rate.
Doing more with less. Over the last decade, largely due to annexation, the population of Fort Wayne has grown by more than 30%. Despite this increase, the number of non-uniform city employees has decreased by nearly 10 percent, all without cutting city services. Mayor Henry has made efficiency a priority in a smaller city government.
Guaranteeing a bright future for Fort Wayne. Mayor Henry fought for residents, and helped secure $39.2 million for the city through the Light- Lease Settlement. Coupled with the $36 million in the Fort Wayne Community trust, Mayor Henry is working to create a lasting legacy for our community, and a bright future for generations to come.
Making local government more accountable and accessible for residents. By introducing SmartGov, Mayor Henry has put the city’s budget, contracts and checkbook online, allowing access 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Additionally, the unification of the county and city in the new Citizens Square facility has made local government easier and simpler for residents – everything you need is now under one roof, on the first two floors. The city of Fort Wayne is more accessible, effective and open to citizens than ever before.
Keeping our streets and neighborhoods safe. Mayor Henry worked with the county to oversee the merger of 911 communication services, allowing our police officers and firefighters to respond faster. The city has deployed new technology, including GPS tracking systems and an Automated Fingerprint ID system to help our public safety officers catch criminals. While other cities are cutting police officers and firefighters, Mayor Henry didn't and today our crime rate is down 14 percent. Mayor Henry's first job is to keep our city safe, and as mayor he's given our police and firefighters the tools and support they need to do just that.

Revitalizing downtown and attracting new investment. Others said it couldn’t be done – but today the revitalization of the Harrison is an unequivocal success story: bringing over a 1,000,000 people downtown for Tin Caps games and events at Parkview Field, stimulating local restaurants and businesses, and attracting the construction of a new Courtyard Marriott Hotel, which has in turn lured five major conventions to our city. Thanks in part to Mayor Henry’s leadership, downtown is becoming an engine of economic growth and a point of pride for the city of Fort Wayne.
Delivering high quality, cost effective city services and enhancing the quality of life for every neighborhood. Over the last three years, the city has constructed and repaired hundreds of streets and trails, gotten the snow cleared fast during one of the worst blizzards in history, created new parks and public spaces, and helped small business owners upgrade their storefronts. Most recently, Mayor Henry's new solid waste and recycling program cut residents' garbage fees by over 1 million dollars. Thanks to Mayor Henry’s leadership, neighborhoods and residents are thriving, and Fort Wayne is moving forward.