Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry talked about projects he thinks will attract and retain a young, talented workforce during his State of the City address Wednesday.
Mayor Henry announced he will send City Council a maternity leave proposal for city employees. It would cover 100 percent of a woman’s salary for up to eight weeks after having a baby.
Currently, new mothers can use their accrued time off plus disability leave, which covers 60 percent of a person’s salary. In Henry’s proposal, the city would make up the difference.
“We want to make sure our benefits are as good as they can possibly be, as good as we can possibly afford,” he said.
The parental leave--as Henry called it in his speech-- does not include fathers.
Henry also proposed evaluating employee salaries and ensuring all jobs are paid equal to their job descriptions.
Republican City Council President Russ Jehl did not comment on the mayor’s proposals.
“Fort Wayne’s going to be better off if we let politics rest for the day, and we’ll go ahead and we’ll join the mayor in saluting the city,” Jehl said.
Henry’s speech included praise of the city’s downtown development, job growth, small businesses and tourism.
Henry also plans for infrastructure improvements like more ADA ramps, construction on a 5-mile-long tunnel designed to keep sewage overflows out of the rivers, and research into a possible downtown arena.
