Fred Glass has had an amazing career as a staff person to a governor and Indianapolis mayor, as well as Athletic Director at Indiana University.  He has taken all that experience and written a book, Making Your Own Luck.  For full disclosure, Fred Glass is also my brother-in-law.  Here is my conversation with Fred.

As we move toward the holidays, with Thanksgiving just around the corner, the City of Fishers is full of holiday events.  The city just released a listing.  You can view that listing, as provided by the city, below:

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Fishers approved 2 5G Verizon small cell towers in Fishers neighborhoods and tabled 2 more.

The Board of Public Works and Safety, consisting of the mayor and his 2 appointees, approved a new 5G tower for the Harrison Park subdivision over the objections of a resident that says the tower will be placed in his front yard.  The board said the placement of this tower was within the guidelines of other similar tower placements.

In Morgan Meadows, there was a request to move the tower further north.  Verizon had previously said no to moving the tower south, so the board tabled the request to allow Verizon a chance to consider moving the tower north.

The board approved one permit for a tower in the River Glen subdivision, but tabled an additional tower request.  This will allow the city engineering department to evaluate the light fixtures on the proposed tower location.

In other items before the board Thursday morning:

–The city accepted a $1 million state grant to help pay for resurfacing of Technology Drive in the Northeast Commerce Park.  The entire project to replace the concrete pavement with asphalt will cost a total of just under $3 million.  The bid was awarded to Morphey Construction.  The project is expected to be complete by June of 2022.

–Residents in the neighborhoods of Cottingham Estates and Harrison Green will be allowed more grant money for improvements along the Nickel Plate Trail adjacent to their property.  The additional grants will be financed through the bond money for the trail construction.  City staff says the situation in those 2 neighborhoods justify the need for additional city funds.

–The Wellington Banquet and Conference Center will take over the management of Saxony Hall.

–The Fishers Vaccination Center on 116th Street near Brooks School Road will go to a month-to-month lease beginning in January.  The city is unsure how long the vaccination center will be needed.  The location is a former Marsh grocery store.

–The Fishers Town Hall Building Corporation will work with Hub & Spoke to construct additional parking.  This should allow enough parking space for the businesses located at Hub & Spoke and residents using the Nickel Plate Trail.

–The board approved a project agreement with Rebar to develop and construct office space and renovate existing office space along the Nickel Plate Trail with a $7.2 million investment. Incentives will go through the Fishers Town Hall Building Corporation.

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, the Fishers Health Department says we have seen an increase in COVID cases locally.  The department says after 6 consecutive weeks of decline, the past two weeks have seen an increase.

The Hamilton county unique individual positivity rate went up from 9.9% last week to 13.2% this week.

The case incidence rate, which is a 14-day rolling average of cases per 100,000 population, is up for a second straight week – 21.2% last week to 30.07% this week.  Fishers Health Department Epidemiologist Josh Robinson says over the 2-week period, the case incidence rate is up by a whopping 82%.

According to Robinson, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) availability has been going down in our local arear.  The availability rate is now at about 21%…it had been closer to 30% previously.

There was one piece of good news – the Fishers testing site has seen a decrease in positive cases from 13.38% to 10.23% over the past week.

Among those in Fishers age 18 and older, 85% have at least one COVID vaccine dose.  Even with that high vaccination rate Robinson says “there still remains a large number or residents in our community that have not yet initiated the vaccination process.”

Robinson encourages all eligible Fishers residents to get the vaccine.  “The case rates in unvaccinated residents is five times higher than the case rates in vaccinated residents” said Robinson.

Below is this week’s entire video message from Josh Robinson.

In the 10 years I have covered the Fishers town and city councils, I have witnessed many a debate about taxes, development and other major issues facing the city.  But Monday night I saw something I have never seen before covering news here – a sharp difference of opinion over the meeting minutes – you read that correctly, the meeting minutes.

It all began when Councilor Jocelyn Vare pointed out that the most recent meeting minutes up for approval were not written in the detail that she had seen in previous minutes.  For example, when there was a discussion among council members, the minutes only noted the discussion, not a summary of what was discussed.

Pete Peterson responded that the city provides a live stream and recorded video of each council session for the public.  Vare said residents should not need to sort through a long video to find a particular discussion.

Peterson then referred to Vare’s recent announcement of her intention to run for the District 31 State Senate seat.

“We’re not running a campaign here,” Peterson said.  Vare argued she was pushing for transparency, but Peterson said the city has been very transparent.

“This grandstanding stuff needs to stop with me,” said Councilor Peterson.  “I’m not going to tolerate it, it wastes our time.”

Council President Selina Stoller says she has spoken with City Clerk Jennifer Kehl and sometimes council members forget to turn their microphones on and cannot be heard clearly.  There are also instances, according to Stoller, when councilors lean back in their chairs even when the microphones are working and cannot be clearly heard.  This can also an extra burden on Clerk Kehl’s staff.

Council member Crystal Neuman supported Vare’s position on the minutes as an educator, saying people consume information in different ways and adding discussion summaries should not be “a huge deal.”

Clerk Kehl then said she had asked her employee filling-in for her at council meetings when Kehl must be away to “be a little more thorough in taking the minutes.”

The proposal by Vare was defeated by a vote of 7-2, with Vare and Neumann, the only Democrats on the council, voting to amend the minutes.  Therefore, the meeting minutes remain as originally submitted.

The Fishers City Council gave final approval to a mixed-use residential and commercial development at 106th Street, east of I-69.  The Highline at Delaware Park passed on a 7-2 vote, with new Councilor David Giffel joining Jocelyn Vare in voting no.

Giffel says he knocked on more than 100 doors in the area of the development and says 66% of those he asked opposed the apartment component of this development.

Vare argued that the recently revised Fishers 2040 comprehensive plan envisioned commercial development in that area, but Planning and Zoning Director Megan Vukusich responded that the language in the 2040 Plan does support mixed use development in that area, including commercial on the first floor and apartments in the upper floors.  Vare responded that this is not clear to residents when reading the comprehensive plan.

A majority of the council members voiced support for this project, saying the apartments are needed in Fishers in that particular area of the city.

The Fishers City Council gave its stamp of approval on the economic development deal bringing List Therapeutics, a South Korean firm, to Fishers.  The life sciences firm will develop a $110 million facility in the area near 126th Street and Cumberland Road.  Initially, 200 jobs drawing an average salary of $70,000, with an expansion planned on 4-5 years.

The state and city is offering List a personal property tax abatement, 50% in 15 years, worth $65 million.  If the planned expansion happens, there will be another 15-year abatement applying to additional property added.

Councilman Pete Peterson and other council members praised the mayor and his staff for their efforts in recruiting life science firms from overseas to the city.

Mayor Scott Fadness emphasized that the firms locating in Fishers are not research arms of the companies, but rather the production of already-discovered drugs.

“We are getting a lot of success in the infrastructure that supports drugs that have been discovered and then need to be manufactured,” Fadness told council members.

Another life science company, Genezen Laboratories, had their economic development deal with the city amended after city council approval.

There is a lot happening with the HSE Schools Foundation.  Executive Director Justin Hirnisey joins the podcast to talk about it.

Kyle Walker announced Monday that he plans to run for re-election in the new Indiana Senate District 31, which includes large parts of Fishers and Lawrence.  Walker was first elected to the State Senate by a caucus vote about one year ago, replacing Jim Merritt.  Merritt retired from his seat.

Fishers Democrat Jocelyn Vare has announced her intention to run for the same state senate seat.

Walker has previously served on the Lawrence City Council and owns his own consulting business.

“Senator Walker has proven he’s a tireless and results-driven advocate for Fishers families and businesses,” Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness said in a Walker campaign news release. “In 2021 alone, he helped secure funding for the Fishers-based Internet of Things (IoT) lab to support our growing tech and entrepreneurial community. He also sponsored legislation to expand a pioneering Fishers Police Department and IMPD program that’s helping to reduce violent crime in the region and keep our community safe.”

The Walker campaign says it has already raised more than $305,000.

“The Central Indiana communities I represent, including Fishers, Lawrence and parts of Noblesville, are seeing tremendous growth and momentum, and we can’t let up now,” Walker said. “In the Senate, I will continue to focus on creating the best environment to start and operate a business, grow jobs and bring investment to our region, as well as improve quality of life for our residents. I’m grateful for the support we’ve received and eager to continue working together to ensure our communities, businesses and families in Senate District 31 thrive.”

The Senate District 31 seat will be up for election in 2022.

After moving to Fishers in 1991, I discovered something about our town elections…we didn’t always have them.  Why?  There were election cycles when no Democrat was on the ballot.  The only competition existed in the Republican primary.

There were other years when one, maybe two Democratic candidates were on the general election ballot.  I admired the Democrats stepping forward to run, but there were few of them.

When Fishers became a city following the 2012 referendum, more Democrats ran but none won.  Then came 2019, when two Democrats were elected to the Fishers City Council.

Five years ago, I recorded a podcast with Greg Purvis and Joe Weingarten, two Democrats that had run for office in Fishers.  They both believed at that time Democrats had a bright future in Fishers.  Many people in town did not agree with that assessment.  Turns out they may have been right.

New leadership was elected recently for local Democrats with a new, younger set of leaders emerging.  Whey do I bring all this up?

First, let me explain something.  In Indiana, one must declare a party in order to vote in a primary election (other than school board elections, if held in a primary cycle, because they are non-partisan).  For the most part, in order to vote in an Indiana primary election, you must declare a party.

When my wife & I married, we wanted to vote in primary elections but weren’t happy that a party must be declared.  So, Jane & I made a deal – I would vote in the Democratic Primary, she would vote in the Republican Primary.  That did not necessarily mean we would vote with that party in the general election.  We would talk to each other and decide how we would vote in each primary election.

It appears Hamilton County Democrats are using the primary election data to send out fund raising letters listing those that have voted in recent Democratic primary elections.  I assume that is the case because I received a fund raising letter and Jane did not.

Just so you know, it is not ethical for a journalist, even a volunteer reporter like myself, to make a contribution to any political party.  Sorry, Democrats, you will not receive a donation from me.

What this does tell me is the local Democratic Party leadership appears to be doing something I do not remember happening in the past – fund-raising in a serious way.

I find this a step in the right direction for local Democrats, and in general, is a good thing if you believe in a viable two-party system locally.

Now, don’t misunderstand me.  Although there are two Democrats on the Fishers City Council, the council majority, the mayor’s office, the clerk’s office and the city judge are all Republicans.  The GOP is in firm control of local government.

If local Democrats find candidates in the 2022 county elections, that may be a sign the party is serious about recruiting candidates and raising funds for them.  In recent elections, most Republicans have had no problem raising money for their general election campaigns.  If you don’t believe me, just review the campaign finance reports filed in recent years.

I am not cheerleading for local Democrats, just pointing out that a good, viable opposition party is generally good for the local body politic.  It is good to have a choice in the general election.

Having a Democratic Party in Fishers and Hamilton County that can recruit viable candidates and raise enough money to be competitive are generally good things.  Republicans have been successful locally in raising money and recruiting candidates, with primary contests common.  Let’s see how the political parties fare in the 2022 county and 2023 Fishers city elections.