At an expanded venue, the Clyde Theater, and in front of a crowd of hundreds, Sharon Tucker was sworn in as Fort Wayne’s first African American and first female elected mayor.
The base level of the theater was packed full of people both in the seats and standing in the rear. The parking lot was almost entirely full. After her speech, the newly inaugurated Mayor Tucker admitted she had a longer speech prepared but cut it down out of respect to those who had been standing since their arrival.
In her speech, Tucker thanked her friends and family for their support before wrapping up by paying homage to the late Mayor Tom Henry.
“I will not pretend that I could ever fit his shoes,” Tucker said. “But I will absolutely take the path that he has laid out and leave my own little footprints in the sand.”
Tucker said her experience succeeding Glynn Hines as the sixth district city council representative qualified her to finish out Henry’s agenda.
“Being able to take the mayor’s blueprints and move forward with that will be very easy,” Tucker said. “Probably easier than I thought, but very easy to go through and just add my flavor on it.”
Tucker said that would come down to listening to the community and addressing their concerns.
Tucker became Fort Wayne’s first African-American mayor and the first woman elected to the position in Fort Wayne’s history. She said making history was not top of mind for her.
“Honestly, I don’t really think much about it,” Tucker said. “The thing that I’m thinking about is how to do exactly what my mom said, and that is do good by our city.”
Then Acting Fort Wayne Mayor Karl Bandemer administered the oath of office to Tucker who then immediately administered the oath of office to Bandemer swearing him back into the position of deputy mayor. Bandemer’s deputy, Garry Morr, was then sworn back in as the city’s controller.
After winning the caucus on Saturday, Tucker said she wanted to establish a mayoral council on mental health. She reiterated that desire after her inauguration on Tuesday, saying mental health concerns have a direct impact on homelessness.
Hours after Tucker’s inauguration, the Henry family released a statement of support for Tucker, saying in part “the Henry family offers our warmest congratulations to Mayor Sharon Tucker as today she was sworn in as Mayor of our beloved City.” The statement went on to say “We know that Tom and Cindy join us in cheering for you, Mayor Tucker, as we keep moving Fort Wayne forward, together.
Tucker said the city council was planning to do something “big” and “fabulous” to honor the late Mayor Tom Henry’s decades of service to Fort Wayne, but she would not go into any further detail on those plans.
The Allen County Democrats will need to fill Tucker’s city council seat. She said she hoped the party would put someone who “has a passion for the community” and “understands what we’ve been through but has a vision that they want to be able to move the community forward.”
The Allen County Democrats have until May 22 to select Tucker’s replacement to represent the city’s southeast side on the Fort Wayne City Council.
