Hey Locals, 

Although Electric Works received $65M in public funding, it's been unclear exactly how much accountability the public-private project owes taxpayers. On Thursday, campus leadership is meeting with the largest contributor to its public funds: the Allen County Fort Wayne Capital Improvement Board (CIB). So just how much accountability will we see from this oversight body, and what's next for Electric Works? We'll report back in a special edition of Above the Fold on Friday this week (instead of Thursday), and fill you in.

In Briefs today, we share updates on several stories, including the city’s proposed Downtown homeless services center, Chuck Surack’s Auburn racetrack, and Parkview Health’s growth and prices. Plus, a significant local film project underway.

In our To Do List, we have a little bit of everything this week, from "Love Island" watch parties to build-your-own bouquet events and a history lesson on “The Five Forts That Make Up Fort Wayne.”

Don’t forget: In June, we’re partnering with Club Soda to offer a special deal for all paid subscribers to The Local: Order two entrees, and get one free dessert to share. 

Now, let’s get started.

NOTE: Links to Journal Gazette articles are marked(*) and may be behind a paywall.

Accountability for Electric Works?

We recap a significant meeting this week.

What’s happening?

On Thursday morning, the Capital Improvement Board (CIB) will meet to discuss several issues, including Electric Works and its Public Market Trust. To fill you in on what happens, we’ll be moving our usual Thursday morning Above the Fold newsletter to Friday this week.

For a quick refresher:

• The CIB meets monthly and primarily manages the Grand Wayne Convention Center as well as Allen County’s 1% food and beverage tax. This allows it to disburse significant funding to projects in Allen County, including everything from Bombardier’s operations near the airport to Downtown developments, like the Downtown Performing Arts Center and the North River District. 
• To date, Electric Works has been its largest investment. The CIB gave $45M to the project as part of the city’s 2020 contract, making up the lion’s share of the city’s $65M total contribution.
• The CIB is also the primary party responsible for managing the city’s stake in Union Street Market via its appointments on the Public Market Trust nonprofit board. One of the primary stipulations of the city's 2020 contract with Electric Works was the creation and operation of the market. The contract assigned the CIB to appoint six representatives to the market’s oversight body (the Public Market Trust), which also has two members appointed by the developers and two members by the Trust itself.
• The Public Market Trust has been notoriously not-very-public about its activities since its creation, and former market vendors are speaking out. Last month, we interviewed a former vendor at Union Street Market who says the Trust has “failed” at its duties, and Electric Works has been “extractive and predatory to local entrepreneurs instead of ‘supporting’ them as the city’s contract required.”

On Thursday morning at 9 a.m., members of the Public Market Trust will present updates to the CIB at the Grand Wayne Center. 

Stay tuned for this week’s special edition of Above the Fold on Friday, where we’ll provide a quick overview on how the CIB works and share insights from Thursday’s meeting – for paid subscribers only.

• City Council agreed to revisit funding* for the city’s proposed homeless services center Downtown in August – instead of September – after a letter from Mayor Sharon Tucker last week. At their June 18 meeting, council delayed action (5-3) until Sept. 1 on Tucker’s request to use $2.75M to buy a building at 333 E. Washington Blvd. for the city to lease to the new nonprofit Anchor Resource Center. Tucker responded with a letter, asking council to move the date to August 11 and answering several requests voiced by Councilman Nathan Hartman (R-3), including hosting a public forum, assessing additional locations with a real estate professional, and providing a public operating plan, security plan, and good neighbor plan, as well as allowing council to revisit the center after three years if it isn’t meeting standards. Tucker said the need for a public forum has already been fulfilled by two previous council meetings (June 2 and June 9) – though some council members say these meetings don’t count as the mayor’s administrative outreach. Tucker also clarified that because the city would be the landlord of the property, they can’t make the nonprofit Anchor’s operational and good neighbor plans public themselves. However, Anchor has agreed to provide drafts of these plans later this month.
• Chuck Surack says his plans to bring a racetrack to Auburn have been co-opted by fellow investor Daryle Doden. Surack sought to develop the racetrack – a nearly $250M investment – on 300 acres of land currently owned by Doden at the former Kruse auction park near I-69 and County Road 11A. He was working in partnership with local entrepreneurs Bill Bean and Tom Kelley of Summit Motorsports Club. However, Surack tells Inside INdiana Business: Doden essentially decided he wanted to build the track himself. He says: “We negotiated in good faith, had an understanding and a contract (that in fairness had recently expired), but when we tried to finalize it, he changed his mind and is basically taking our idea.” Doden is the Founder of Ambassador Enterprises in Fort Wayne and has declined to comment, WPTA 21 reports.
• Parkview Health has grown to 15 hospitals and counting,* according to a new report by The JG,* detailing hospital competition across the region. In just the past 18 months, Parkview has either affiliated or merged with four smaller hospitals. It also recently reached an affiliation agreement with Goshen Health, and two new hospitals are joining its “family” of providers, including a $200M, 30-bed hospital in West Lafayette and a $150M facility in Marion. While Parkview’s monopolistic practices as a nonprofit have drawn national criticism, Indiana Hospital Association attributes the growth to Allen County’s population increase. The JG also examines growth by IU Health, which is building a new hospital in Southwest Allen County as part of its own large network of 17 affiliated hospitals. Healthcare Economist Seth Freedman at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IU Bloomington warns that while larger hospitals claim to deliver services at lower prices, little research supports this. Instead, competition among healthcare systems is most likely to reduce costs for patients, and with more consolidation, comes less competition.
• Related: The JG* also asked Parkview Health to explain how it is reducing costs for local patients. Parkview’s vice president for government relations Ellen Cutter (formerly of Greater Fort Wayne Inc.) outlined several cost-cutting measures the hospital network has taken in the past 10 years, including partnering with “Undue Medical Debt” to abolish more than $64 million in medical debt for more than 34,000 patients, introducing an ER/urgent care clinic hybrid model in Fort Wayne and working with employers through on-site clinics, shared clinic models, and data analytics to improve workforce health. Cutter noted that Parkview is “moving toward the middle of the pack” with improved scores on legislative cost control reporting, and that “Indiana is one of the lowest among states investing in public health.” “If we are underfunded in one area, it influences costs in other areas,” she says. In a separate story, The JG* also highlighted how the cost of care and insurance premiums are “unaffordable and rising” across the country.

• Visit: The Allen County Fair now-June 28 for carnival rides, hot air balloons, and fair food. Stop by June 24 at 7:30 p.m. for the “Full Throttle Monster Truck Show,” and check out their website to find out how you can get free admission to the fairgrounds. ($10) 
• Watch: the latest episode of “Love Island” at The Fairfield, with a watch party tonight at 8 p.m., featuring themed drinks and "pint and patty" burger specials. Reserve your free spot.
• Learn: about Fort Wayne’s history and namesake with "The Five Forts That Make Up Fort Wayne," a special “America 250” virtual program hosted by the Allen County Public Library, today at 2:30 p.m.
• Shop: for a stunning floral bouquet from Simply Charming at Crescendo Coffee on June 27, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Indulge: in an upscale five-course tasting menu at Proximo with Executive Chef Alejandro, featuring locally raised duck – with custom drink pairings for each course – on June 29 at 6 p.m. ($140)

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Have a great week, Locals!

-Your Editor, Kara Hackett

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