Scott Fadness (left) joins 3 other Hamilton County mayors at OneZone Chamber event

The mayors of Hamilton County appeared together Wednesday, and largely agreed on everything they discussed.  Fishers Chief Executive Scott Fadness joined Andy Cook of Westfield, John Ditslear from Noblesville and 6-term Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard for the OneZone Chamber luncheon event at Forum Conference Center in Fishers.

All mayors agreed that their local school systems are key to current and future growth. Both HSE Schools in Fishers and Noblesville Schools passed funding referendums in the recent primary election.

Noblesville Mayor Ditslear, when asked about the state legislature, said he would prefer state lawmakers stay home and let the cities take care of themselves (with the proper apologies to State Representative Jerry Torr, who attended the luncheon).

All mayors agreed a gas tax increase, or, better yet, a user fee system tied to the number of miles driven, would be required to fund road construction and maintenance in the future.  Fadness said he believed the Indiana House had the best measure, but it was compromised with the Senate version before final passage this year.

Fadness said creating a sense of place in a city like Fishers is like “trying to build an airplane in flight.”  He described how the area is still in an era of suburban flight just as technological, social and cultural change is moving rapidly.

On the issue of regional cooperation, Fadness sees it working well in Hamilton County, especially among the 4 cities represented at the OneZone event.  However, Fadness was not as complimentary of the regional cooperation in the 9-county Indianapolis Metropolitan area.

All 4 mayors voiced general support of a regional mass transit system.

When asked about threats to the Hamilton County area in the future, Mayor Fadness was ‘unabashedly optimistic.”  He emphasized no one should ever be satisfied with the status quo, but believes Indiana does not “need bad PR” (a veiled reference to last year’s RFRA law controversy).

Each mayor got a few zingers in and there were plenty of laughs along the way.