Harrison Square by the Numbers

54% of Residents in Recent Poll are Opposed, Nearly 76% Against the Ballpark and Public Financing of Project

Fort Wayne, IN., April 5, 2007 – Conservative Republican mayoral candidate Matt Kelty today released the results of a recent poll showing a majority of Fort Wayne residents are opposed to the Harrison Square project as proposed by City officials. Kelty supports a market-driven approach to downtown redevelopment, his opponent in the May primary, Nelson Peters, supports the city’s government-driven plan for Harrison Square.

"The results of the poll are consistent with, my position on the project, and with what I am hearing from voters at neighborhood association meetings, neighborhood walks, and meetings around the city", said Kelty. "Though I am for redeveloping the downtown, from the information provided so far, I just don’t think the ballpark and public financing parts of the project make economic sense for the citizens of Fort Wayne", remarked the candidate.

The random poll of likely Fort Wayne voters was conducted between 27-29 Mar 07 by Zogby International. The margin of error of the poll is +/-5%. Nearly 9,000 Fort Wayne residents were contacted and participants were asked the following questions:

Q: Do you support or oppose the Harrison Square downtown development as proposed by the City of Fort Wayne?

	Support	Oppose	Not Sure
All	31.6%	54.0%	14.5%
Men	29.8%	56.9%	13.3%
Women	33.2%	51.3%	15.5%
Democrats	49.3%	36.7%	13.9%
Rebublicans	31.3%	53.1%	15.5%
Independents	18.8%	69.4%	11.7%

Q: Whether or not you support or oppose the project as a whole, which one of the following parts of the City’s proposed Harrison Square project are you most opposed to?

	Ballpark	Condos	Hotel	Parking Garage	Public Financing	Retail Space	Not Sure
All	57.3%	4.5%	1.4%	1.5%	18.4%	2.5%	14.4%
Men	53.2%	3.1%	0.7%	0.5%	22.6%	2.3%	17.6%
Women	61.0%	5.8%	2.1%	2.3%	14.6%	2.7%	11.5%
Democrats	58.9%	6.1%	0.0%	1.4%	13.4%	5.2%	15.0%
Rebublicans	55.2%	5.0%	1.7%	1.3%	20.4%	2.3%	14.1%
Independents	62.9%	1.7%	1.7%	2.0%	15.2%	1.2%	15.3%

"The fate of this project is in the hands of City Council, as Mayor I, like everyone else, will have to live with any decision they make, and I won’t be able to undo it", said Kelty. "What I can do though, is make sure the people are heard on this issue, and hope the City Council is listening."
According to City administration officials, the City’s proposal for the Harrison Square project is scheduled to be presented to the Fort Wayne City Council for a vote this month. In the mayor’s own plan (Link), in the Hardball Capital aspect of the Harrison Square deal, the City will be putting up $54M of taxpayer funding to Hardball’s $23M for the Harrison Square development.

"Notwithstanding the fact we already have a publicly funded ballpark, I am having a difficult time understanding how paying Hardball Capital $2.35 of taxpayer dollars for every $1.00 of private investment is a good deal for the City of Fort Wayne", said Kelty. "Proponents of the project will ask me if not this, then what? If given the kind of time the administration and City Council has had to develop this project, I know I could come up with some better alternatives, but I’m not going to make a snap decision now, that’s what’s got us into this mess to begin with. It’s not about taking a risk or making a decision; it’s about taking a manageable risk and making a correct decision. The two choices are not the same; the second choice takes into account the public interest, and requires good judgment."


My own comments on this in a later post