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Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry has passed away after a brief battle with cancer.

New Fort Wayne Leadership Inaugurated

Zach Bernard/WBOI News

Fort Wayne’s newly elected city government was officially inaugurated into office during a ceremony Wednesday afternoon at the Arts United Center downtown.

Henry’s inauguration begins an unprecedented fourth term as Fort Wayne’s mayor. He won election in November with 61% of the vote over Republican challenger Tim Smith.

The next City Council will be equally historic, adding two women -- Democratic members Michelle Chambers (at-large) and Sharon Tucker (6th) -- to the body for the first time. This also marks the first time Council will have three African American members, represented by the aforementioned women as well as at-large Democratic councilman Glynn Hines.

The newly elected City Council will also change in party dynamics: what was a 7-2 Republican majority now shrinks to 5-4, with departures from Republicans Michael Barranda and John Crawford.

In his remarks, Henry expressed his vision for a bolder Fort Wayne, noting his desire to continue progress downtown and on the trails, as well as climate and energy, and trails.

He wants to see the city to become more progressive in areas of community health.

“Let’s form an aggressive healthcare partnership within our city to attack challenges like Type 2 diabetes, infant mortality, smoking and opioid addiction,” Henry said.

“We have the talent, we have the means, we have the ability; let’s get serious about the health of our community.”

WBOI’s Zach Bernard spoke with Henry in greater detail about some possible ways to achieve this in his next term, as well as what the changes to City Council could mean for his agenda. You can find their conversation here.

In addition to Henry and returning City Clerk Lana Keesling, the following City Council members were sworn into office on Wednesday, January 1.

  • Michelle Chambers (At-Large/D)
  • Tom Freistroffer (At-Large/R)
  • Glynn Hines (At-Large/D)
  • Paul Ensley (1st District/R)
  • Russ Jehl (2nd District/R)
  • Tom Didier (3rd District/R)
  • Jason Arp (4th District/R)
  • Geoff Paddock (5th District/D)
  • Sharon Tucker (6th District/D)
Zach joined 89.1 WBOI as a reporter and local host for All Things Considered, and hosted Morning Edition for the past few years. In 2022, he was promoted to Content Director.
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