Fishers City vs Town -Petition Comments

Fishers Indiana, town or city?

Many of you living in the Geist area will remember when we tried to form our own city only to be stopped by Fishers and the courts. While doing research on becoming a City I also looked into how come Fishers was still listed as a town and I found out any town in Indiana can remain a town forever. No population requirement, no size requirement, etc. Indianapolis could even be a town.

To change from a town to a city it would take a vote by the citizens of the community to convert. But how do I get it on the ballot for people to vote? I found all I needed was so many signatures based on how many people had voted for the Secretary of State and that came to around 1500 voters living in Fishers. So far I alone have collected about 1000 signatures and others are now collecting more. It has been very interesting do this with comments from some people. These are great on both sides of the fence. One of my favorite places to meet with people is the Fishers Farmers Market on Saturday morning. If is not 90 degrees or raining the odds are you can see me getting signatures and talking to people.

Part of the fun is hearing what people say or their questions. So here are some of the statements, questions, and comments:

When I first started to collect signatures I had to explain what was this all about. This past Saturday I had three people just grab my clip board and sign without having to say a word.

Here we go:

I though Fishers was a city.

What’s the difference?

I won’t sign because you will get this on the ballot and the people around here will approve a city.

I would love to sign but I work for the town and they ….

Two Fishers Policemen- “What are you doing?” I said “Getting signatures on a petition that you should sign but won’t to place on the ballot the question of town versus city in accordance with my rights as protected under the Constitution of the United States.” After their surprise look, they just left.

Will this raise my taxes?

Will this lower my taxes?

Will this mean get a real Mayor?

Will we still have a town manager?

Will we get rid of the town council?

Will we keep the town council?

Does this mean we get rid of Mayor Church?

What’s voting at large?

Will we still have our sister city?

Will this change the fire and police?

Will this mean we get smoke free restaurants?

I have watched what the Council is doing and I don’t like the way they are acting. They should have placed this on the ballot when you started instead of telling us everything is perfect.

I live in Geist can I sign? (Yes we will be submitting this after the annexation takes place.)

I live in Geist can I vote on this?

Who is my district representative?

Do we currently have district representatives?

I live in Chicago can I sign? (Sorry but I would consider it if you bring dead relatives and Mayor Daly along.)

Will this change the way we vote for council?

I like the way things are.

What is a storm water fee?

Will a City have trash pick up?

I have lived here over 30 years and …

When will this be on the ballot?

What is the main change this will bring?

Will a City cause even more development?

Will a City mean more controlled development?

I never know whom to complaint to in this town, will that change with a city?

Will this change the Fishers Schools? (Many were surprised to find out Fishers does not have a town school system)

Do you know where the bathroom is?