Duties: Council's nine members pass ordinances, resolutions, orders and motions. They also control city property, approves the budget and can award economic development incentives.
Annual salary: $22,279
Term: Four years, beginning Jan. 1.
The Candidates
Republican
Jason Arp
Age: 41
Occupation: private investor
Education: Pine Forest High School, Fayetteville, N.C.; East Carolina University
Family: married, two children
Contact: jasonarp99@gmail.com
Why am I running for council: The 4th District has had good representation for eight years, and I want to keep that same kind of representation.
Why vote for me: I care about individual and property rights and due process, and I'm not a city or county employee. I've been in private business my entire career.
Ryan Keuneke
Age: 31
Occupation: Allen County Chief Deputy Assessor
Education: Bishop Luers High School; Indiana University
Family: married, one child
Contact: rjkeuneke@yahoo.com
Why am I running for council: This is an exciting time for the city, and I've been thinking about it for a couple of years. Local government is closest to the people.
Why vote for me: I've lived in the district most of my life, and I'm one of the area's top experts on property tax caps and have expertise in decision-making. And council needs younger people and a fresh perspective.
Matt Sorg
Age: 32
Occupation: designer, Fort Wayne Wire Die
Education: Homestead High School, IPFW
Family: single
Contact: sorgmd01@gmail.com
Why am I running for council: I've always had a fascination with making the world a better place.
Why vote for me: I care for working-class families, I know their strength. My focus is on the average person.
Democrat
Rusty York
Age: 63
Occupation: City of Fort Wayne Public Safety Director
Education: Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Indiana University, Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy 153rd Session
Family: Married to Judy York for 45 years with two adult children.
Contact: rustyyork@comcast.net, Facebook Rusty York for City Council
Why am I running for council: I have dedicated 37 years of my life to public safety in Fort Wayne - 14 of those years as Chief of Police - and I still have the desire to continue my service as a City Councilperson in my home district.
Why vote for me: I have proven leadership, budgetary, and negotiation skills, paired with a solid working relationship with both City and County elected officials of both parties which makes most knowledgeable and experienced candidate.
Three-way race in 4th District to challenge York, succeed Harper
Arp, Keuneke and Sorg seek GOP nod
When incumbent Mitch Harper decided to forego a re-election campaign to seek the Republican mayoral nomination, it created a vacuum three Republicans and one prominent Democrat want to fill. Safety Director Rusty York is unopposed on the Democrat Party's May 5 ballot, with Jason Arp, Ryan Keuneke and Matthew Sorg battling for the chance to oppose him in November.
“I chose to live in Fort Wayne in 2006, and I love it,” Arp said, citing the city's low cost of living and relative safety. But to keep it that way, he said, its political leaders must be careful with taxpayers' money.
“I want to make sure the city does what it should do: provide infrastructure and a level playing field for business,” he said. “But at times we've bent over backwards to do certain projects that benefit only one or two companies.”
Arp questioned the city's use of paid outside lobbyists and said the city should concentrate on attracting business by improving roads, utilities and other infrastructure instead of granting tax breaks, which he believes favor large companies over small ones.
Arp insists the neighborhoods have been shortchanged in the rush to redevelop downtown, and want the city's Legacy fund to be conserved indefinitely by spending only the interest, not the principle. Downtown improvement, often cited as a chief beneficiary of the fund, is not truly “transformational, he added” – one of the criteria for Legacy projects.
Arp pledged to oppose any plan to increase taxes because to do so would “reduce the value of homes. He also supports council's decision last year to eliminate collective bargaining for non-public safety employees, saying “it took courage.”
Keuneke, meanwhile, believes the knowledge he's gained about property taxes while serving in the county assessor's office or the past eight years would serve council and the taxpayers well when it comes time to prepare the annual budget and when pursuing new jobs.
For one thing, he would explore whether council should have more options to deal with companies that receive tax breaks but fail to deliver the promised jobs. “Some cities have call-back provisions,” he noted.
Keuneke wants to preserve more of the Legacy fund for use by future generations and criticized council's decision last September to spend $1.7 million to offset higher-than-expected snow-removal costs (Mayor Tom Henry had asked for $2.2 million). “I'd like it to be more like a grant with a match (from the recipient),” he said. “You don't borrow from your retirement account to pay for a snow blower.”
He believes the council should be more diligent about looking for savings in the city budget and said he would investigate whether the city could improve its finances by investing its assets more effectively.
As for collective bargaining, Keuneke doesn't want to revisit its elimination last year, but said he would want to investigate whether the change saved money while protecting workers' rights.
He support downtown development but wants to “find a balance” to assure neighborhoods get better, too.
Sorg says he is dissatisfied with the way city government deals with the people it supposedly represents, too often letting bureaucracy get in the way of prompt and effective service.
He supports downtown development, but wants the city “to be careful not to go overboard.” Sorg said he was skeptical of the value of Parkview Field, but has since seen its worth, even though he is concerned that tax breaks for some projects mean the city won't see a return on its investment for many years.
Sorg admits southwest Allen County has received “quite a bit” of attention and investment from the city but believes other parts of the district still need work. More should be done to promote business and jobs in the Waynedale area, for example.
Some uses of the Legacy fund have been “iffy,” he said, and Sorg would prefer that much of the money be reserved for riverfront development or other projects with the potential to spur additional investment and jobs.
Sorg said he believes city workers deserve some sort of protection, since the public sector lacks the counterbalance between management and labor that exists in the private sector.
“I've been thinking about this since high school,” he said, believing government “should benefit everyone, not only me. I have to show the voters I can relate to them.”
