Every now and then my wife Jane & I spend some time along the Florida Gulf Coast, and we just returned from a few days visiting there.  Let’s just say a nearly 40-degree temperature drop takes some getting used-to.

But as I return, let’s review a few local news items happening while I was away.

First, congratulations to all at Noblesville Schools involved in reaching an agreement with the local teachers union, calling for an average 9.7% pay hike for teachers in the first year of the pact and 4.15% in the second year.  The school district says this is the biggest pay hike Noblesville teachers have seen in 40 years.

Second, I was a bit surprised that a local conservative Political Action Committee (PAC) is choosing to endorse a Democrat for an at-large Fishers City Council seat.  The Fiscal Conservatives of Hamilton County announced that the PAC is endorsing Jocelyn Vare.  Based on the group’s statement, the endorsement of Democrat Vare is more about getting different views on the council.  There is no way of knowing what, if any, impact this will have on the November 5th city election.  We won’t know until the votes are counted on election day.

Third, Hamilton Southeastern Schools Superintendent Allen Bourff told the school board Wednesday night that administrators are studying a “3-tier” bus scheduling system.  He emphasized that no decision has been made to recommend such a system to the board, but it is being considered.  The 3 tiers would apparently group grade levels into 3 “tiers” that would determine when students would be picked up and transported home after school.

Fourth, The IHSAA held a drawing Sunday to determine the pairings for the first round of the football playoffs.  In the opening round of 6A state tournament games, the Fishers Tigers will travel to Westfield (Fishers just played at Westfield and won last Friday) and Carmel will travel to Hamilton Southeastern.

Finally, this is fall break week for Hamilton Southeastern Schools.  To staff, students & parents, enjoy the time off!

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern was dealt a tough loss on Friday, as Franklin Central beat the Royals 7-6 in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game at TCU Field.

The Flashes led 7-0 at halftime. Southeastern scored with 9:41 left in the fourth quarter when Ben Boysen made an eight-yard run into the end zone. Franklin Central blocked the extra point attempt. The Royals continued to battle for the remainder of the game, but the Flashes held them off.

“You got to give them all the credit,” said Southeastern coach Adam Morris. “I think they handled the conditions better than we did, I think they handled the emotions of the game better than we did. I think you have to give them credit. We’re going to point the finger at ourselves and the things we didn’t do well, but I think it starts with giving them credit for handling tonight better than we did.”

The Royals are 3-3 in HCC play and 4-4 overall. Southeastern will wrap up conference and regular-season play next Friday at Brownsburg.

Hamilton County Reporter

Fishers scored a comeback victory on Friday, as two fourth-quarter touchdowns from Dylan Scally sent the Tigers to a 19-14 win at Westfield in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game at Riverview Health Field.

Both teams scored a touchdown in the first quarter. Fishers went first, with Marcus Roux streaking 83 yards into the end zone to get the Tigers on the board. Jack Phillips made the extra point kick, and Fishers led 7-0.

Eli Patchett answered for the Shamrocks, as he made a five-yard touchdown run. Sean Sullivan tied it up with his extra point kick. The score was 7-7 after the first quarter, and it would stay there through halftime.

Westfield jumped ahead in the third quarter, thanks to a 25-yard touchdown pass from Camden Simons to Jason Riddle. Sullivan again kicked the extra point, putting the ‘Rocks up 14-7 after three quarter.

But Scally wasted no time getting Fishers back into it, making a 41-yard TD run early in the fourth period. The Tigers went for two, but didn’t get the conversion, keeping them behind 14-13.

Fishers took the lead for good with under four minutes to go in the fourth when Scally ran in five yards for a touchdown. The Tigers then held on for the remainder of the game.

“We felt like we needed to maintain possession of the football,” said Fishers coach Rick Wimmer. “We didn’t score a lot of points, but we did a pretty good job of not having a lot of three-and-outs. We got first downs, we moved the ball. It seemed like they did a good job of keeping us in poor field position most of the night.”

Both teams had good running games, which each one rushing for over 200 yards. Scally gained 180 yards on 25 carries, while Patchett totaled 128 yards on 18 tries.

“I thought we lost some opportunities on offense there to open the second half and I was a little frustrated with our offense, but I thought we came back after that and really showed some toughness,” said Wimmer.

Geoffrey Brown and Collin Shelton both made seven tackles for Fishers, while Micah Hauser had 11 stops for Westfield. Mark McLaurin and Bryson Hoover had eight tackles each for the ‘Rocks.

The Tigers improved to 4-2 in the conference and 6-2 overall, while the Shamrocks are 2-4 in HCC play and 4-4 overall. Both teams finish out conference and regular-season play next Friday: Fishers hosts Zionsville and Noblesville travels to Franklin Central.

There is a busy week ahead with many road closures and lane restrictions planned for the work week starting Monday, October 14th.

Here is the official listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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WEEKEND 5K ROAD CLOSURE
Roads around downtown Fishers will be temporarily closed during the Stride Over Stigma 5K on Saturday, October 12 from 3-4:30 p.m. Closures include the east side of Municipal Drive, Lantern Road between Commercial Drive and 126th Street, 126th Street between Lantern Road and Saksons Boulevard, and North Street.

116th STREET 
There will be lane restrictions overnight beginning Sunday, Oct. 13 at 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Monday morning at 116th Street and Cumberland Road, along with 116th Street and Commercial Drive, to allow for traffic signal maintenance work.

ALLISONVILLE ROAD 
There will be temporary, single lane restrictions on Allisonville Road between 126th Street and 131st Street for finishing touches to the construction project. Restrictions will be in effect daily from Monday, October 14 through Friday, October 18.

Northbound Allisonville Road will be closed nightly between Eller Road and Hamilton Hills Lane this week. Closures will be in effect from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. Traffic will be detoured north on Eller Road to 106th Street.

106TH STREET
Beginning Saturday, October 12, 106th Street will be closed between Hague Road and Crosspoint Boulevard for grade adjustment work at the railroad tracks. Access will remain open for local traffic. Hague Road will serve as the detour route during the construction. Work is expected to be completed by Saturday, October 19. Check out the detour map here.

LANTERN ROAD 
This month the City of Fishers begins work on a downtown infrastructure improvement project to improve the sanitary sewer underneath Lantern Road. Beginning Monday, October 14, Lantern Road will be closed to through traffic, beginning south of 116th Street to Fishers Pointe Boulevard. Access to Lantern Road will remain open from the north (via 116th Street) for local residential, business, and Fishers Elementary School traffic. Fishers Pointe Boulevard will serve as the official detour route during this closure. The closure for this portion of the project is expected to last approximately 90 days. Check out the project fact sheet to learn more.

HOOSIER ROAD
On or after Tuesday, October 15, Hoosier Road between 116th Street and 121st Street will be closed for small structure and embankment repairs by Hamilton County Highway Department. The road is scheduled to be closed to all thru traffic through the day between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. The closure is expected to last no longer than 3 days. Local traffic should utilize a detour route of 121st Street, Cumberland, and 116th Street.

A local Political Action Committee (PAC), the Fiscal Conservatives of Hamilton County, is endorsing a Democrat in the upcoming Fishers city election.  The group announced Friday that it is supporting Jocelyn Vare in the Fishers City Council At-Large race.

There are four at-large candidates, with the three candidates tallying the most votes winning a seat on the council.  The other three candidates are all Republican incumbents – Rich Block, Cecilia Coble and Todd Zimmerman.  All registered voters in the city of Fishers are eligible to cast ballots in the at-large council election.

“As we have witnessed time and time again within HamCo,” the PAC said in its announcement, “the executives, be it the commissioners at the county level or the mayors at the municipal level, wish to stack their respective councils with rubber stamp supporters.”

“At FCoHC we think this has led to much of the unrestrained spending and uncontrollable debt accrued at the municipal level and feel that cycle must be broken,” the statement went on to say. “We must elect independent minded councilors that put the interests of the citizens ahead of the desires of the mayors and their allies.”

The Fiscal Conservatives of Hamilton County describes the goal of the PAC this way – to help identify, recruit, and offer campaign assistance and funding to fiscal conservatives running in Hamilton County Elections.  The PAC Chairman is Bill Smythe from Fishers.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools are studying a new plan, described as a “3-tier” transportation system.  Superintendent Allen Bourff told board members Wednesday HSE administrators are currently studying the plan.  Bourff said such a system could better service students and possibly eliminate the need for shuttle transportation between buildings.

The “3-tier” system could be used even if school officials decide to “flip” school start times next school year, creating a system where elementary students would begin the school day earlier and secondary students would start the school day later.

The “3-tier” plan could also allow for more transportation available to students in after-school activities, according to Bourff.  There would need to be changes in the length of the school day, but the superintendent said the day would only need to be altered by a few minutes.

One result of the proposed bus schedule would be the elimination of early student release times on Mondays, as has been the case in HSE Schools for the past few years.

Bourff emphasized that both flipping start times and the “3-tier” bus scheduling system are being studied but no decision on a board recommendation has been reached.

Board Member Janet Pritchett asked how Dr. Bourff envisions the transportation tiers being organized, and he said some possibilities include grouping grades 5-8, but it could also mean placing grades 7 & 8 with high school students. But Bourff emphasized the situation is “fluid” and no decisions have been made.

Board member Julie Chambers asked about including outside groups that would be impacted by any bus schedule change, such as the YMCA after-school programs.  Bourff said such groups had been consulted.

Responding to a question from Board Member Sylvia Shepler, the superintendent said he plans on having a community forum on the issue of flipping start times, tentatively planned sometime in November.

(NOTE:  An earlier version of this story indicated the school day could be lengthened by a few minutes under the “3-tier” proposal.  A school spokesman clarified for LarryInFishers that school days would be shortened, not lengthened, under this plan)

Local schools will see an overall 3.18% increase in spending during 2020, compared to 2019, if the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board approves the spending plan presented at Wednesday’s board meeting.

HSE Schools Business Manager Cecilie Nunn told board members that changes in how funds are organized, per changes in state law, will lead to more transfers among and between the various funds.  The Education Fund, which pays for teacher salaries, will increase 8% in 2020, compared to the previous year.  The Referendum Fund also provides for teacher compensation, and it is projected to rise 6.3% in 2020.

The property tax rate for HSE Schools is expected to decrease slightly in 2020, by 0.89%.

Per state law, the board provided an opportunity for the public to comment on the 2020 spending plan, but no one chose to comment.

The board is scheduled to vote on the 2020 budget at the October 23rd meeting.

Also, a public hearing was held on the contract agreement reached with the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association (HSEA) that has been ratified by the teachers.  For more on the contract, use this link. No one chose to speak at the public hearing.  The teacher contract will also be up for a board vote October 23rd.

Board President Michelle Fullhart began the meeting with an apology to the Jewish community in Fishers because the board was holding a meeting on Yom Kippur, the  holiest religious day of the year for those observing the Jewish faith.  She promised the board will do better in the future.

Emplify, a firm hatched in Fishers that has been growing ever since then, has secured $15 million in new capital.  According to a story posted on the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) Web site, the two founders of the firm, Santiago Jaramillo and Adam Weber,  will keep their  ownership in the company and continue Emplify.

To read the IBJ story, use this link.

(NOTE:  You may not be able to access this story online if you are not an IBJ subscriber.  I would urge everyone to subscribe to your local news sources, including IBJ.

I have two basic comments on the upcoming November 5th Fishers City Election.

First, early voting will be getting underway soon, and there is a quirk in the voting procedure all should know.

Normally, when one votes a straight ticket, be it Republican or Democrat, you would expect you are voting for all candidates in that party across the board.  That is true, except for one election, the city council at-large race.  Even if you vote a straight party ticket, you must vote for the at-large candidates separately or you will be skipping that race altogether.

All Fishers voters do not have a contested city council district election, because several incumbents are unopposed.  In the at-large election, there are three Republicans and one Democrat on the ballot.  You may cast your vote for up to three of the four candidates.  All voters in Fishers will be able to vote on the at large council election.

Once again, if you select a straight party vote, you still must cast individual votes in addition to voting straight party for the at-large city council election in Fishers.

Second, I want to comment on what I have observed so far in this Fishers election campaign.

I have a news-gathering partnership with the Hamilton County Reporter newspaper, and under that partnership, placed a Fred Swift commentary in the paper’s Sunday edition on this blog.  In that piece, Fred essentially argues that the county municipal elections “lack excitement.”

Fred has been in the center of Hamilton County politics for a long time and I respect his views.  Frankly, I don’t know much about the other municipal elections, but I have been surprised at the level of attention our Fishers election is receiving.  I realize the lack of a mayor’s race takes a great deal of luster off the campaigns, but there are a few pieces of evidence I have observed that lead me to believe this election could be interesting.

First, The League of Women Voters held a candidate forum recently.  Sadly, past sessions have not been well attended.  This year’s forum did not fill city hall, but a much larger-than-usual audience was on hand.

Secondly, I have recorded and posted podcast interviews with all 6 candidates in district city council contested races.  Looking at my podcast statistics, there have been about 400 instances where someone has accessed one of those podcasts, and listened to most or all of the interview.  That is a fairly high number for this point in the campaign for a city our size.  Local people are interested and listening to what the candidates have to say.

I plan to post podcasts interviews with the four at-large city council candidates in the coming two weeks.

Finally, I am seeing candidates and their campaign workers going door-to-door, talking with voters and listening to them.  This has not happened with all the candidates in past elections.  I know some city council candidates did little or no door-to-door campaigning four years ago.

So, I see some evidence of interest in our local city election.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not arguing that there is a high level of voter engagement, but I see an uptick from four years ago.

Of course, the true test will come when voter turnout is measured.  I have been saying and writing for more than 8 years how important local elections are to everyone in Fishers.  Check out the candidates and vote!

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Municipal elections in Hamilton County are less than five weeks away, and thus far the campaign silence in deafening. There are 11 contested races for city council seats in Noblesville, Carmel and Fishers – where Democrats are challenging Republican candidates, mostly incumbents – and three third party candidates in Westfield and Cicero challenging the GOP.

Republicans seem very willing to run on their record, which they say has provided progress in their communities. Democrats, while claiming to be making their most serious challenge in years, have yet to speak out on issues where they may differ with incumbent administrations.

The only mayoral contest is in Westfield where incumbent Andy Cook is facing Libertarian Donald Rainwater. Incumbent mayors Jim Brainard in Carmel, Scott Fadness in Fishers and GOP nominee Chris Jensen in Noblesville, are unopposed.

With no high-profile races and no burning issues, voter turnout on Nov. 5 is expected to be very light.

Democrats see a small vote as a potential advantage for them. Republicans are warning their supporters against sitting out the election. The GOP usually sweeps the local elections, often without opposition.

The lone Democrat who is certain to win this year is Jody Price, unopposed candidate for Atlanta Town Council.

New residents may register to vote until the close of business on Oct. 7 at the County Government and Judicial Center. Early voting begins Oct. 8 at the Judicial Center. Early voting at satellite locations in Carmel, Fishers and Westfield begins Oct. 23.