Mayor Paul Helmke has a history of ...

Mayor Paul Helmke has a history of reaching on the outside to minorities. He recently appointed an frankly lesbian woman to a city human relations commission. He's a champion of annexation, a well-traveled proponent of cross-cultural understanding.

Ordinarily, this would be no big deal. unless in Fort Wayne, a mid-sized, fairly Republican city in the conservative Midwest, Paul Helmke is an oddity. A Republican who has ruffl the feathers of the Indiana GOP Helmke refuses to be typecast. And while his policies and actions may raise the occasional eyebrow he remains wildly popular with the residents of Fort Wayne.

For despite the brush fires that inevitably break abroad Helmke can boast a solid track record of succes that predicts well for his role as USCM president: Fort Wayne has a rock-bottom unemployment rate (28 percent) reasonable property taxes, innovative policing programs and a governmental estimate that is solidly in