Sunday, May 6, 2007

Sit-Down With The Mayor

A DFWB Exclusive


We recently had the chance to sit down with Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard in his office on the 9th floor of the City-County building to discuss Harrison Square, North River development, and the Mayor's plans for the future. Questions are in text below and the Mayor's responses are provided as audio. Enjoy!

DFWB: What is your vision for Harrison Square once it is built and complete? What do you see if someone's walking down there, what is their experience? (2:24)



DFWB: Looking back, what, if anything, should have been done differently throughout the Harrison Square process? (2:14)




DFWB: At the Killer App Conference, you mentioned some smart features of the ballpark. Could you elaborate on those? (3:24)



DFWB: Is wireless Internet access being considered, at a minimum, then? (0:15)



DFWB: What actions will the city undertake leading up to Harrison Square's opening? Things like streetscape improvements, liquor licenses, riverfront development... (3:26)



DFWB: What is the city doing, or planning on doing, to encourage more investment in the core as opposed to allowing development on the fringes? (2:19)



DFWB: What would be your best and worst case scenarios for Harrison Square from a high-level standpoint? (1:56)



DFWB: What do you expect to see come out of the North River development? What kind of a project? (6:27)



DFWB: Will there be a strong emphasis on an RFP process or is that just one option? (1:50)



DFWB: Is the North River project something that the next administration will be inheriting or will the table be set before that time? (2:29)



DFWB: Besides North River and Harrison Square, are there any other projects or opportunities that the city is currently looking into that might be coming down the pipe? (3:12)



DFWB: So Harrison Square, North River, airport, consolidation - what else do you want to get done before your term is up? (4:14)



DFWB: 2008 and beyond - what are your plans? (2:19)



DFWB: Can we expect to see you at Harrison Square on opening day? (0:26)

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Scott, Brian and Graham - You guys sure sound like some in DC two years ago with their "slam-dunk" talk. Pretty sure of yourselves, are you? We shall see. John B. Kalb

Anonymous said...

Read this interesting article:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/06/REDDING.TMP

My ONLY WISH is that the academic research would have been read before the vote!

Jodi Dean

Anonymous said...

sounds like something for north river jodi, just like the blueprintplus says for that area

Brian Kelly said...

odeo, my friends .. http://odeo.com/

save your bandwidth

Anonymous said...

Jodi - Thanks for posting this lead. See my response on Mike Sylvester's blog under your comment there. John B. Kalb

Anonymous said...

Graham put on another self-serving interview, something he's so damn good at. Next him and Al Gore will reinvent the Internet.

Anonymous said...

Jodi you and John K are now on the same page. This is a scary place to be.

Chris W.

Anonymous said...

John, I am a little concerned about all of your posts. I thought that you were single handidly going to assure the losses of Pape, Crawford and Didier on Tuesday?? Shouldnt you be out pounding the pavement instead of blogging. Come on John B. you only have one more full day. Put your running shoes on and start hitting the precincts!!! Come on John dont give up now fight fight fight for the status quo!

Jeff Pruitt said...

Assuring a Didier loss would be quite impressive seeing how he doesn't have an opponent...

Anonymous said...

Chris W. Hey, join the majority - we have room for lots more. And for the unsigned post, where did you get the "single-handed" comment - we are a majority!! John B. Kalb

Anonymous said...

it isn't really surprising that the majority is afraid of change

Anonymous said...

John K. Where was your "majority" at the public hearings? I hope they are more energized to get to the voting booth than they were to get to the public hearings?

Crawford wins big. Pape wins big. Didier wins big in the Fall.

Anonymous said...

Great work. I wish he would stay for another 4 years

Anonymous said...

Graham is a true leader. He has pushed this city into the 21st century and soldiered on despite of the negativity and resistance he has encountered along the way.

I hate to imagine what the decrepit Southtown Mall site would look like had Graham not agressively pursued its transformation. Not to mention, all of the money he has saved taxpayers by implementing Lean Six Sigma.

For the city's sake, I hope we can continue this momentum forward, regardless of who comes out on top tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

John B. Kalb, in the words of Teddy Roosevelt. It is not the critic who counts.

Anonymous said...

The anonymous who choses not to identify themself is being critical of me with their post so I guess the old rough rider is talking to them. John B. Kalb

barranda said...

Are you sure about that Jodi? As a Kelty supporter, you should know that Matt points to Indianapolis as an example of a city that has spent too much money on such things as the attractions described in your article.

The point is, no matter what project is proposed, you will have naysayers point to a "better" project; or how certain projects have failed in the past with other cities. Meanwhile, everyone loses as opportunity slips by.

If we are afraid to try because we are too afraid to fail, then the true losers are the citizens of Fort Wayne.

Anonymous said...

John Kalb,

Pape won huge.
The Three Harrison Square Supporters won huge in the atlarge race.
Your boy Kelty won, but you fell a little short in your efforts.