For nearly 15 years, I have covered local news in Fishers. Even after all that time, this work can still surprise me.
It happened again on July 15.
A member of Mayor Scott Fadness’ staff contacted me to say the mayor was prepared to comment on the Save Heritage Indiana rally scheduled for August 1 in Fishers.
The invitation-only event, whose location has not been publicly disclosed, will focus on immigration and mass deportation. The featured speaker is Greg Bovino, a former commander-at-large of the U.S. Border Patrol. Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith is expected to appear through prerecorded remarks.
A separate event, the Hoosier Hospitality March, is planned for earlier that day at Holland Park. Its organizers describe it as a demonstration of support for immigrants and opposition to the message of the Save Heritage Indiana rally.
Mayor Fadness had generally declined to comment publicly on controversies such as this one. I had stopped asking his office for statements on these kinds of issues because I had come to expect that he would not weigh in.
That made the July 15 message unexpected.
The mayor wanted to record the interview as soon as possible. I already had events scheduled to cover later that day, so we arranged to meet on the morning of July 16.
That gave me very little time to prepare, and I knew I had a challenging assignment ahead of me. I would have an opportunity to question Mayor Fadness about issues on which he had not spoken publicly for some time. Deciding what to ask—and how to phrase those questions—mattered greatly to me.
Let’s just say it was a late night on July 15.
Whenever I have an opportunity like this, I approach it with two responsibilities in mind.
First, I must ask questions that are timely, newsworthy and important. Sometimes that means asking tough questions.
At the same time, I believe I have a responsibility to be respectful—not only to Scott Fadness as a person, but to the office of mayor. Respect does not mean avoiding difficult questions. It means asking them fairly, listening carefully to the answers and allowing readers and listeners to reach their own conclusions.
Preparing for this interview caused me to reflect on everything I have learned through many years of practicing journalism.
The mayor’s answers did not surprise me. He did not condemn the Save Heritage Indiana event. Instead, he emphasized the constitutional limits on the city’s authority, particularly when an event is held on private property, and spoke about his responsibility to protect free expression while keeping everyone safe.
He also stressed his desire to make Fishers a safe and welcoming community for all residents throughout the year—not merely in response to one controversial event.
You can listen to the full interview here.
His answers did not sit well with some listeners. Others responded more favorably. I suspect the mayor understood that would happen when he agreed to speak with me on the record.
That led me to another question: Why did Mayor Fadness choose me as the person through whom he would make his views known?
Reporters and editors with other news organizations told me the mayor did not provide them with separate comments. Instead, they were referred to my podcast as his comments of record.
I obviously cannot get inside the mayor’s head, but I can offer two possible explanations.
First, Scott Fadness has known me for more than 14 years. He has read my website, listened to my podcasts and appeared as a guest many times. He knows how I approach an interview and how I handle the answers I receive.
In other words, I am a known quantity. Had another local news organization developed the same history with him, perhaps he would have made a different choice.
Second, I believe he knows that I work hard to be fair while remaining willing to ask a difficult question when one needs to be asked. He may have preferred a genuine interview—with questions he did not control—to recording a statement by himself or being questioned by a member of his own staff.
If that is true, I consider it a sign of trust. It is also a responsibility I do not take lightly.
My larger takeaway is that people in Fishers sincerely care about this community. Those who criticized the mayor’s comments and those who supported them may strongly disagree about what he should have said. But most begin from the same basic place: They want Fishers to remain a good and safe place to live, where every resident feels that he or she belongs.
The disagreement is over how we live up to that ideal.
I will turn 75 in a few weeks. I do not know how much longer I will be able to do this work, but my health remains relatively good, and I plan to continue for as long as I can.
When I started this local news website in January 2012, I thought perhaps a few hundred people might read my stories and follow my coverage.
I was wrong.
LarryInFishers.com has already recorded more than 140,000 unique visitors in 2026. That is well above the total for all of last year, and we are only a little past the halfway point.
I mention those numbers not to boast, but to make a point.
This began as a volunteer activity—my way of giving something back to a community that has treated my family so well. I suspect there are retirees, and others with time and experience to offer, who could find their own ways to serve their communities.
Perhaps some of them could even do what I have done.
All I can say is this: You never know until you try.
God bless you all, and thank you for reading.
