Fort Wayne, Ind. – With a call to all procrastinators, Mayor Tom Henry and the Legacy Fort Wayne Task Force today encouraged residents to take advantage of Legacy Fort Wayne’s final public involvement week to join the conversation about the future of the Fort Wayne Community Trust and City Light Lease Settlement funds.
Mayor Henry has made civic engagement the centerpiece of the initiative. To achieve that goal, the entire month of March has been devoted to gathering the ideas of the people of Fort Wayne.
To date, more than a dozen different methods have been employed to collect thousands of comments. Suggestions are being assembled from personal conversations with Mayor Henry and members of the Task Force and through the seven open community forums, specific audience meetings, group proposals, Meetups, Feedback Fort Wayne, the Legacy Fort Wayne website’s Idea Form, telephone calls, e-mails, U.S. Mail, hand delivery, Facebook, 311 – One Call To City Hall, and Mayor’s Night In.
“If you have a suggestion, Legacy Fort Wayne has a way for you to share it,” said Mayor Henry. “Every idea is important. Our community is in a rare and enviable position. We have the chance to help discover how we should invest over $77 million. This is a real time of opportunity for Fort Wayne. I want every resident to be involved in this vital discussion.”
While time is running short, numerous ways to submit ideas remain, including the following:
1. Idea Form. Part of the Legacy Fort Wayne website, the Idea Form presents a simple
e-method for transmitting concepts to the Task Force. The Idea Form can be accessed
under the Ideas heading at www.LegacyFortWayne.org.
2. Feedback Fort Wayne. Feedback Fort Wayne, at www.FeedbackFortWayne.org, is the hosted, Web-based forum that gives users the opportunity to offer suggestions, discuss them and rank their preferences at any time. It is the easiest and most immediate way for the people of Fort Wayne to provide comment.
3. Group Proposal Option. To capture the enthusiasm of Fort Wayne’s many organizations, a group proposal option has been developed. Submissions are welcomed from area advocacy organizations, nonprofit boards, associations, commissions and other established entities. Recommendations are also encouraged from organizations or groups that want to collaborate. An overview document containing explanatory information and directions is obtainable at www.LegacyFortWayne.org under the Group Proposals’ heading on the navigation bar.
4. Meetup. For those who want to take part in a Legacy Fort Wayne discussion face to face, one Meetup is currently on the calendar, as follows:
April 4 – 6:00 p.m.
J. K. O'Donnell's Irish Ale House
121 West Wayne Street
Interested individuals can sign up to attend this informal event or to set up a new Meetup by going to www.meetup.com/Legacy-Fort-Wayne/. Meetup makes it convenient for residents to coordinate informal, real-world Legacy Fort Wayne events in homes or public places using this online organizational tool. The Meetup input is then collected and transmitted digitally through the Legacy Fort Wayne website.
“The Fort Wayne Community Trust and City Light Lease Settlement funds are a unique legacy for our city,” added Mayor Henry. “Let’s seize this moment to look to the future, to think long term, to be bold. Let’s use this treasure to enhance our community and make it a place of pride and opportunity for generations to come.”
In April, following the conclusion of the community engagement activities, all of the ideas and proposals will be compiled and sorted by impact areas and compared with the guiding principles. The suggestions will also be posted on the Legacy Fort Wayne website. The Task Force will review and analyze all of the data in May and June. Focus groups may be held and research employed during this period to gain additional insight, refine concepts and determine preliminary feasibility. A report from the Task Force is anticipated to be completed by midsummer.
All of the public input assembled during the community involvement piece of Legacy Fort Wayne will be considered by the Task Force as the members formulate the recommendations they will make to the Mayor and share with Fort Wayne City Council.
Formed by Mayor Henry, Legacy Fort Wayne is the community initiative to guide decision making about the Fort Wayne Community Trust and City Light Lease Settlement funds.
While Legacy Fort Wayne will unfold over the next several months, the two funds will not become available until the settlement agreement has received the approval of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.