INDIANAPOLIS–Homelessness. Crime. Roads. Those are the three issues that mean the most to John Schmitz, a candidate running for Mayor of Indianapolis as an Independent.
“In my administration, we’d be working on the roads. I’d start tomorrow if I could. We’d be out fixing some stuff,” Schmitz said to 93 WIBC’s Tony Katz in an interview Friday.
John Schmitz is an Indianapolis businessman and developer.
“I’ve done quite a few construction activities. I’ve built a sewer utility from scratch. I’ve built a subdivision. I have projects all over the city,” Schmitz said.
He said running as an Independent is his only pathway to getting elected, but he believes the party label shouldn’t determine who would be the best mayor.
“I just think our city can do better. We need some solid leadership that has experience in both building, management, planning, and vision. I feel like I can bring that for this city,” Schmitz said.
He claims there are many things that can be fixed in Indianapolis.
“We have to have better practices. We have to have better policies. I think the city pays too much for asphalt because of their contracts. It’s just across the board on all of the things that are done,” Schmitz said.
It takes money to campaign for any election, and Schmitz is working to try and get more of it.
“We have about $5,000 in the bank, which is pretty much what I started with. I loaned the campaign $5,000 and then we’ve raised the money to get us to this point,” Schmitz said.
He’s already spent some money on advertising. He acknowledges that current mayor Democrat Joe Hogsett has millions of dollars as he runs for re-election.
“The question I would pose to Joe Hogsett is ‘Why don’t we take your campaign money and put it into this homeless initiative your wanting to fund and go mono e mono, see about the issues, and who can get this done right?’ Let’s see who the people really trust without money,” Schmitz said.
Senator Jim Merritt, former chair of the Marion County GOP, is running for mayor as a Republican.
(PHOTO: Schmitz for Mayor Facebook Page)
