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.

Seven Republicans seeking party's three at-large city council nominations

Crawford seeking re-election; Marty Bender isn't

Seven Republicans are seeking the three nominations as at-large members of City Council, which represent and are elected by the entire city. Incumbent Marty Bender is not seeking re-election, but John Crawford is.

Robert A. Armstrong said he's been a fiscal conservative during his seven years on Allen County Council, where the main job is to oversee county spending. As a city councilman, however, Armstrong would promote policies such as continued downtown development, which he believes is both popular and important. A former critic of Parkview Field, he now sees its value.

“But we need to go back and focus on neighborhoods, too,” he said. “Fort Wayne was a “doughnut,” but now the outside is being eaten away. It shouldn't be the city telling neighborhoods what it will do, it should be the neighborhoods telling the city.”

Armstrong said he is concerned about the homeless and is not sure council is giving it the attention it deserves. He also praised Police Chief Garry Hamilton for taking steps to reduce the crime rate in 2014.

But he took exception with fellow Republicans on council, who last year unanimously voted to end collective bargaining for non-public safety city workers. As a former Wayne Township Advisory Board member, Armstrong said, he saw the effects of poverty and understands that “workers need representation. He also served on the Fort Wayne Community Schools Board from 2003 to 2007.

Armstrong has approved plenty of economic development incentives while on County Council, but said government must do a better job of making sure companies produce the promised investment and jobs in exchange for the tax breaks they receive.

“I've watched how money is spent (on County Council),” he said. “I hope to bring more openness and common sense (to City Council). I'm going to tell people to let me know what they think.”

Michael Barranda believes he would bring a unique view to council where economic development and conservative leadership is concerned “because I've done it” through work with the Chamber of Commerce's policy committee and other groups. Barranda wants to base job-creation incentives on “economics and more revenue, not favors,” and wants council to consider whether companies would locate or expand in Fort Wayne with or without abatements or other inducements.

As a member of the Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana, Barranda said he witnessed young people's political complacency and would work to change it. “I try to motivate my generation. They're paying attention but don't see how they can help,” he said.

Barranda said his campaign chairman, former Sheriff Ken Fries, will help him understand what can be done to combat crime. He called the southeast side a “great opportunity for private investment” but said infrastructure improvements or other incentives may be needed to offset perceived risks.

As for proposed riverfront development, Barranda said he will demand more than pretty pictures. “We need to have serious discussion about how it will benefit taxpayers, make an economic case,” he said. Barranda said the city should have sought ideas from developers first, instead of releasing a plan and then seeking developers and funding.

Vietnam veteran Lee Bradley has five chief concerns: economic growth, continued downtown improvement, revitalization of the south side, neighborhood improvement and helping the homeless.

He believes the city should work with private investors to operate a temporary reduced-rate “motel” to provide basic needs, help seeking benefits and mental-health counseling, “We must not put an additional burden on the taxpayer and this should not be a giveaway either,” he said.

Although Bradley is confident that “downtown is on target for growth,” he wants to attract more businesses there in order to attract more people and wants the city to “put the same amount of effort in the south side as we have downtown, and the neighborhoods as well.” Owners should be encouraged and helped if necessary to maintain and improve their properties, he added.

Bradley is concerned about how potential flooding could affect riverfront development, but supports limited use of Legacy funds for that purpose so long as private funds are also used. Bradley also believes council's elimination of collective bargaining last year should be “tweaked” in some way. “People need representation,” he said.

“Many of these areas go hand in hand,” he added. “We cannot have economic development without revitalization, and without neighborhood improvement.”

Crawford is still praised and criticized as the architect of the city's 2007 smoking ban – “it's the strongest in the Midwest, a model” – he said proudly – and more recently took a lead role in council's controversial decision to end collective bargaining for non-public safety city employees. But to Crawford, being unpopular from time to time is part of leadership.

“I'm good at saying 'no,' ” he said while noting that he ultimately said 'yes' to the city's multimillion-dollar Harrison Square project despite public sentiment against it at the time. Crawford also is impressed with initial riverfront plans and said he could support public funding for public spaces, but wants to see financial commitments from the private sector as well. “We need to work on the 'quality of place' for young people,” he said.

The city's Legacy fund could help make that happen, Crawford said, if it is conserved for “one big 'wow' project.” In the past, he has not supported other proposed uses of the money from the sale of the city's electric utility, such as $3 million for the University of Saint Francis' downtown campus.

Although Crawford said the city is in “pretty good shape” financially, he believes the city could cut spending dramatically by competitively bidding professional service contracts.

Crawford served on council from 1995 to 2007, when he was defeated before being re-elected in 2011. As a result, he knows political success is never guaranteed and plans to campaign that way.

“Your friends come and go, but your enemies accumulate,” he said.

Although Tom Freistroffer considers downtown revitalization very important, he calls neighborhoods the backbone of the city. And so he wants to listen to and invest in the people who live in them, reserving some of the city's Legacy fund to improve the places people live.

“I'd be more conservative, and use the money wisely,” he said, adding that he would also like to see the money invested in youth, riverfront development, housing and other “transformational projects that will help us in the future.”

Freistroffer says attracting and keeping good jobs in Fort Wayne is crucial to keeping the city's youth from seeking better opportunities elsewhere. To that end, he believes incentives should be targeted at businesses that pledge to remain here.

Freistroffer couldn't say whether he supports council's elimination of collective bargaining for most city employees, but believes workers' voices should be heard.

“I'm a people person, and I've worked hard for everything I've gotten, and I'm willing to put my nose to the grindstone (for the city),” he said.

When Teresa Sutton talks about the need for women on council, it's more than a campaign point or call for diversity. She insists it would make real difference and produce better results.

“I like to listen; men can shut you off. I'd like to help women- and minority-owned businesses, make council more aware,” she said. Sutton is skeptical of how the city's Legacy fund has been spent to date, believing some decisions have been made too quickly. The fund has gone to riverfront development and the University of Saint Francis, but she would prefer it be used to improve the local schools, believing that education is “our future.”

She also believes the city has spent too much on downtown improvements, neglecting the needs of other areas. “The city is 110 square miles,” she noted. She would conserve Legacy by operating like a foundation, spending the interest but not the principle.

As for council's decision to eliminate collective bargaining for non-public safety employees last year, Sutton said that decision, too, was made too hastily. She believes workers deserve a voice, and is “OK” with binding arbitration – a concept recently rejected by council's Republican majority.

“My campaign message is clear,” she stated “It's time for new views and attitudes.”

Eric Tippmann has no intention of spending a lifetime in politics – “I don't want to be doing this in 20 years,” he says – but he wants to be involved in the process now so he can use his experiences and good judgment to promote the common good.

Keeping young professionals in Fort Wayne requires a “hook,” he said, including projects that would include the area's quality of life. One such project, he said, would be the proposed World Baseball Academy at the Ash Center, which last year was recommended for $800,000 in Legacy funds that still have not been approved. The city's investment, he said, should be used to attract even more private funding for the project, which supporter say would bring tournaments and tourist dollars to town.

“We shouldn't have spent Legacy dollars on snow removal,” he said.

Tippmann said council has not been as diligent a it should be about looking for areas to cut spending but also said he would be open to considering higher taxes if the need could be justified. “It's up to the city to make the case. We're all in this together,” he said.

Tippmann supports the use of abatements and other incentives to create jobs, but also wants to see a mechanism for making sure companies fulfill their promises. “Council can't be a rubber stamp, it has to follow up,” he said. He supports council's elimination of collective bargaining for non-public safety employees.

Nine Democrats seeking three at-large City Council seats

Incumbent John Shoaff not seeking re-election