Westfield, the fastest-growing city in Indiana, is mired in dysfunction.
As the population booms, Westfield Fire Battalion Chief Steve Moore talks about why the department needs more fire and rescue personnel.IndyStar’s Brittany Carloniearlier this year. During a February meeting, Troy Patton of the Westfield City Council and Mayor Andy Cook engaged in a sharp exchange over the state of local government. Patton, as Carloni writes, referred to “dysfunction” gripping the town, prompting Cook to ask whom Patton was referring to.
But Westfield’s growth has been visibly haphazard and confusing even to developers that want to build things. Gilbert and Willis both say they would dust off the city’s 2006 comprehensive plan, which predates the Great Recession and much of Westfield’s boom period, and bring some professionalism to local government while figuring out a clearer path forward.
“Right now, our greatest need is strictly strong leadership that brings people together,” Gilbert said. “That’s what I do best. We can have all kinds of great plans, the best plans in the world, but you can’t execute if you can’t lead.”Perhaps the most important matter facing the city is the mayor’s effort to sell Grand Park, the 400-acre sports campus, with dozens of soccer and baseball fields, which plays host to Indianapolis Colts training camp.but has yet to release details.
Gilbert argues Westfield invested in one of the nation’s most unique and massive sports complexes at just the right moment. It is becoming profitable at a time when other cities would struggle to replicate it because of soaring costs for land and construction. Gilbert concedes that unloading the debt would help the city, but thinks maintaining control of the asset is more important.
Gilbert and Willis each have compelling personal narratives. Willis is a U.S. Marine who retired earlier this year after about 30 years of service. Gilbert is the Westfield High School football coach, which makes him one of the top celebrities in a community that has evolved from a small town in Indianapolis’s shadow to a city with a large school competing for state championships.
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