Issues:

Jobs in Fort Wayne are stagnant. When adjusted for inflation, the average wage per job in Allen County is declining. We need to increase our economic development efforts through support for our existing workforce and businesses, helping people start businesses, and aggressively marketing our great community. Karen will use her public and private sector experience in helping businesses and workers to create opportunity in Fort Wayne – opportunities for better jobs and fulfilling the American Dream.

Neighborhoods are the building blocks of our city. Safe neighborhoods are not only free of crime, but where there are places for children to play. Safe neighborhoods have good quality homes and don't have sewer back-ups. Safe neighborhoods have convenient walking or biking routes for pedestrians. Providing safe neighborhoods is the basic purpose of city government and Fort Wayne must continue to involve neighborhoods in community-oriented government. We must continue to strive for ways to improve the safety of our neighborhoods, making them even better places to live.

Taxes are the price we pay for living in a free society, but it is City Council's job to keep the City's share of property and income taxes as low as possible. Tax money is OUR money, and City government needs to constantly see how to do more with less.

Downtown is our community's living room – it's where we entertain ourselves and our guests, where we celebrate our past, and dream about our future. A great downtown says that a community is exciting, vibrant, and fun. A great downtown attracts people to our community. A great downtown also requires a long-term commitment and focused leadership. There is no "silver bullet" for downtown, no "one big project" that we can do and then walk away from. We need to develop downtown housing for retiring baby boomers and young people who want to live within walking distance of all of our downtown's cultural attractions. We need to develop family and recreational facilities that will bring people downtown all year. Like many citizens, Karen has been involved with downtown planning, but the time for studies is over. We need to begin work on the many small projects that, in a few years, will make downtown Fort Wayne an "overnight success story."