When floods, tornadoes or ice storms hit a community, the mayor is essentially held responsible for the acts of nature.

Residents demand that mayors increase government services while cutting taxes and reducing fees. Mayors must toady to state legislators to gain support for local projects. But those legislators are likely to force unfunded mandates onto cities and towns and then blame mayors for high taxes.

Mayors are expected to kiss babies, cut ribbons and throw out first pitches at baseball games – receiving loud boos from the crowd if the pitch is not Major League-worthy. Mayors are also required to give up their personal lives to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week under relentless scrutiny.

This is an election year for mayors. In addition to the heated race in Fort Wayne, eight other northeast Indiana cities have competitive mayoral campaigns under way (see box, Page 19A).

Why would anyone want to be a mayor?

“I slept with my phone by my bed every night,” said former Decatur Mayor Fred Isch.

The five-term mayor fought floods and worked tirelessly to improve infrastructure and lure new employers. But he lost his bid for a sixth term in the 2007 Republican primary. Politicos labeled the upset the biggest election surprise in northeast Indiana – and that was the election that included Matt Kelty’s defeat of Nelson Peters in the Fort Wayne mayoral race.

Isch remains gracious about the loss.

“I predicted that was going to come. It was just time for new blood,” he said. “I had no bitter feelings. Being 75, it was time anyway.”

Why run?

Isch ran for mayor because he loved Decatur and its people. “I still do!” he said.

Former Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard, who served two terms, said: “It’s one of those best and worst jobs. It’s a marvelous opportunity to have an impact in your community. Especially when you compare it to other elected offices. You have the means to make change that’s uncharacteristic in American politics.”

Richard discovered that reality during his time in the state legislature, where the Democrat began his political career.

Some choose to run because they want the chance to lead a large organization and control a significant budget.

“Most mayors choose to run because they think they can make an impact,” Richard said. “They can make a difference.

“I know that’s why I ran. You have the opportunity to make lives better. Whether you’re fixing potholes faster or putting in a 311 system. That’s very tangible and very specific.”

A family expectation of community service prompted Tom Henry to seek elected office. Henry’s father, Jerome Henry Sr., devoted his life to giving back to the community as a social worker.

“Dad always told us growing up that the city of Fort Wayne has been very good to the Henry family and we should take every opportunity we could to give back,” Tom Henry said.

He said all of his 16 siblings work in some way to serve the community. “I chose to give back through politics.”

Paula Hughes, the Republican seeking to unseat Henry, said she wants the job because the mayor has the ability to change the future of not just Fort Wayne but northeast Indiana.

All consuming

Bluffton Mayor Ted Ellis, running unopposed for his fifth term, was encouraged by friends to run for the open mayor’s job in 1995. The Democrat considered maintaining his tax consulting business while serving as mayor but was quickly disabused of that notion.

“Being mayor will eat up as much time as you’re willing to give it. Your work will fill up whatever container you put it in. That’s true for most public servants,” Ellis said.

Isch made the same point: “For 20 years my family put up with my not being able to go to some of the kids’ ball games and different activities that I would have loved to have done but wasn’t able to go to at certain times. Without my family’s support, then and now, my job would have been difficult.”

Henry agreed. “The hardest thing is the price your family pays. You can’t have much of a personal life. But that’s part of the job you signed up for. I think it’s probably a lot more than people think.”

Ellis said, “The toughest days are the times when you’ve got people who are hurting – for whatever reason. As Cokie Roberts said, part of the job of being president is being chaplain to the American people. I think that’s been true as mayor too.”

Worst days in office

Ellis and former mayors Isch and Richard all recalled the flood of 2003 as among their worst days as mayor.

Under Isch’s leadership Decatur was able to buy out more than 60 flood-prone homes.

“So, I went from being called some very vulgar things from those very unfortunate people who were out of their homes – some for two-and-a half to three years – because of flood damage to being called some very nice things. It went from ‘God damn you’ to ‘God bless you,’ ” Isch said (quickly apologizing for the language). “It was a lot of heartache and a lot of happiness.”

It is the most difficult challenges that often lead to mayors’ greatest accomplishments.

In the summer of 1995, when former Fort Wayne Mayor Paul Helmke was running for re-election, the city experienced major flooding that caused sewage to back up into basements in neighborhoods near Franke Park.

“I walked neighborhoods with a lot of angry people and stinky basements,” Helmke said. “But that messy, smelly, angry citizen day for me also led to a great opportunity.”

It prompted Helmke, who served as mayor from 1988 until 1999, to create the Sewer Task Force, a successful community-oriented government effort that began addressing the city’s long-standing and costly sewer problems.

“It’s real hard to change things,” Helmke said. “People resist change even when they are not real thrilled with what they’ve got.”

Even if 90 percent of the people like a proposed change, “it’s the 10 percent that don’t like it who are going to scream the loudest.”

Helmke can take credit for several difficult, and, at the time, unpopular decisions that continue to benefit Fort Wayne, including the massive diking and flood-prevention project along the rivers downtown, annexation and pushing for the County Option Income Tax.

“I discovered you’re not going to make everyone happy, so you can’t just hold your finger up in the wind to see which way it’s blowing,” Helmke said. “You have to do what you think is right.”

Best part of the job

The best days in office are those days “when you have an opportunity to make a better community,” Richard said.

He cites the redevelopment of the former Southtown Mall property, building Parkview Field downtown and improving the Hanna-Creighton Neighborhood as examples of opportunities he took to improve the community.

Henry said many people told him to walk away from the Indiana & Michigan Electric Co. lease. The city negotiated a settlement deal for the sale of the former City Light utility to I&M for $32.9 million, in addition to about $40 million the city has from lease payments. “There were several people who gave me quite a verbal beating, but we had a lot of money on the line and I felt like we had to hang tough,” he said.

Richard, Ellis and Henry all said one of the quickest ways to remind themselves of why they wanted to be mayor was to spend time with children.

Richard liked to visit the Lifetime Sports Academy at McMillen Park. “To see all those kids get an opportunity to participate in sports was one of the best things,” he said

Henry and Ellis like to visit schools. “Some of the very best days are the times you spend in schools,” Ellis said. “They don’t want anything from you. They are just happy to see you. Those are always just real joyous times.

“Those times when you can step back and see what’s happened. Those are good times. Being mayor is still the best job in the world. Ask a dozen mayors and 11 will tell you the same thing,” Ellis said – “though I would not recommend it to anyone in Bluffton.”