Over 300 people had lunch together Tuesday at the Noblesville Embassy Suites Conference Center, bringing together those involved with the Hamilton County Leadership Academy (HCLA), past and present.  Andrea Davis of HAND Inc. received the Distinguished Alumni Award.  Brenda Myers of Hamilton County Tourism was the recipient of the Honorary Alumni Award.

However, the main draw for this event was a panel of 4 Hamilton County mayors:  Scott Fadness of Fishers, Chris Jensen of Noblesville, Sue Finkam of Carmel and Scott Willis from Westfield.  Fadness joked that when he began going to events such as this, he was the young, less experienced mayor…Tuesday, he had the most experience of anyone on that panel.  Terry Anker, HCLA Dean of the 2014 class, moderated the discussion.

Much of the back-and-forth centered on economic development and the contours of rules over competition.  The Central Indiana Regional Development Authority (CIRDA) is led by Scott Fadness, and the other mayors admitted there was some suspicion Fadness would favor Fishers in any CIRDA endeavors.  Those fears are long gone.  The mayors realize Central Indiana is competing among areas around the nation and the world to land economic development projects.  Once a prospect has selected Central Indiana as a destination, then there is competition among the many communities in the area.  All the mayors want more flexibility and more funding from the state.

There was also talk about management styles, work-life balance,  along with listening to the voices of their own staff and their local communities.

If there was anything negative about the event, many told me they expected more humor, but there were a few guffaws during the panel discussion.