By Dan Domsic
Fishers Town Council President John Weingardt will not be entering the race to be Fishers’ first mayor.
Weingardt was elected president of the council at the group’s Jan. 7 meeting this winter as the first president on what was set to be a rotating system of council presidents until the first mayor was elected and came into office.
He told Current in January that his goals for his one year as Fishers Town Council President were to define a downtown for Fishers as well as create more jobs.
“People wanted a full-time mayor,” Weingardt said, “and I’d have to back away from my CPA firm significantly and there were concerns from my partners that my firm could suffer by me stepping back in that fashion.”
He said he will likely run for city council.
But like most political contests (including last winter’s referenda that decided Fishers’ future as a second class city), endorsements are part of the race.
“There is an individual running for mayor, I think, that I will be endorsing wholeheartedly that will be coming out in the very near future,” he said.
Weingardt said that from a calendar perspective the race will likely start heating up around Labor Day.
“I really see the machine really start to move right about Labor Day,” he said.
Weingardt said he hopes the community “thoroughly vets” the mayoral candidates and that there is high voter turnout.
“We as leaders need to make sure we give them opportunities to meet the candidates and talk to them so they can make a good decision,” he said.
Former Fishers Town Council President and Councilor Walter Kelly is the only candidate to have formally announced his candidacy for mayor of Fishers.