FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 4, 2026
Contact: Jorge Fernandez
JORGE FERNANDEZ ANNOUNCES 2026 RUN FOR ALLEN COUNTY COMMISSIONER
FORT WAYNE, IN, January 4, 2026 – Jorge Fernandez is announcing he will be running for County Commissioner this year. All Allen County Commissioners are elected by entire county, but he will be seeking what is called the District 3 seat. Jorge Fernandez is an educator. He has worked as a teacher in several Indiana public school districts. He has experience working in middle school and high school settings and tutoring students of many ages up to the college level. He graduated with a bachelor’s of science degree in Chemistry Education from Taylor University and has lived in Allen County since graduation.
Jorge Fernandez released the following goals if elected:
*Transparency – I want to make sure that county offices do a better job with communicating with what occurs in county government. I want to have more scrutiny with the contracts awarded on the county-level. I want to look into why Quality Correctional Care has been allowed to have a contract roll over year after year that appears to have never been signed by Rich Beck in either of his terms in office or by Ron Turpin either in his current term (based on what I can gather from Indiana Gateway website). I want to look into trying to handle inmate health services in-house or rebidding contract depending on if that makes sense.
*Separate Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, Inc. from specific private entities - I think the joining in 2013 of the seemingly ostensibly public Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance and the private Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce was a mistake. I intend to work to separate the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, Inc. from specific private chambers of commerce. The combination of Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, Inc. with a specific private chamber of commerce to form Greater Fort Wayne, Inc. does not appear to have any noticeable benefit to county as a whole, while at same time seemingly facilitating government corruption. Seeing it in action has only reinforced my opposition to existence of quasi-governmental organizations. (I do realize that many of the media outlets I am emailing this to seem to be members of Greater Fort Wayne, Inc.)
*Support working families – County commissioners should be modeling being a responsible employer. The county commissioners made a good step in 2019 announcing a paid family leave policy. I would go further. I would want to introduce a measure for county employees to be able to collectively bargain if they are not already. I would also like to do work within the confines of state law to create a responsible bidder ordinance encouraging contractors to maintain at least those standards for their work.
*Reduce TIF use – While the Allen County Redevelopment Commission with majority of voting members appointed by the county commissioners seems to have been going the opposite way by seeking to expand Tax Increment Financing (TIF) use, I would encourage the opposite. TIFs have been redirecting property tax funds that would otherwise go to local school districts for years and at the very least if we don’t phase out TIF use, we should at least create pass-throughs so that money that would have otherwise gone to school districts is not redirected.
*Support public health including the Allen County Health department – I want to make sure Allen County Health Department officials feel empowered to support strong public health including when dealing with air pollution and water pollution. I also want to make sure to make clear to county planning staff how to properly execute their duties relating to public health including when evaluating things like whether zoning ordinance should be interpreted as allowing backup generators in a certain zoning designation, and to have zoning polices that minimize things like air pollution impact to county residents.
*Criminal justice reform -- I would want to reduce inmate population in Allen County by redirecting nonviolent criminals away from jail. I want to make sure to limit any potential expansion of jail site under construction and to make sure that the county commissioners do not sign again any optional agreements to house Federal inmates in county-owned facilities regardless of the makeup of Federal government at time. The conundrum continues to be that the amount of people in local prisons is dependent on state legislators (policy), judges (sentencing discretion), and county prosecutor (criminal charging discretion). Somewhat the sheriff and county as well if they are given latitude to divert to alternative programs. The people that would have to decide on jail building will be county commissioners (facilities and other property) and county council (funding). So these are two different sets of people in general.
*Public solid waste collection and disposal – I would want to do a study to see whether having a countywide in-house solid waste collection and disposal would make sense. If it does, I would want to look at trying to partner with the cities and towns of Allen County to replace current services with a countywide public waste collection and disposal service. I would also like to look at an optional fee-based program to extent that is feasible and economical. I would try to make sure this included countywide recycling including businesses that currently are forced to hire they own recycling contractor if they wish to recycle.
*Environmentally conscious planning: I would encourage zoning that focused on urban infill rather than paving over arable land.
Also, for too long the county has failed in its drainage responsibilities. The incumbent’s decision [Edit: to vote for giving] Project Zodiac an easement on Adam’s Ditch without scrutinizing their level of permits and stormwater plan seems to have been a major mistake in that.
At the same time, I do want to facilitate use of existing infrastructure like the Airport and make sure there is enough affordable housing.
Jorge Fernandez will be seeking the Democratic nomination for Allen County Commissioner. Jorge Fernandez if he is teaching as of January 2026 to extent possible, would try to finish the school year doing both positions, and then evaluate whether to continue teaching into the next school depending on how the state has structured Allen County government when that date is reached. Press events are currently to be determined and will be announced later on.
Jorge Fernandez
January 4, 2026
Contact: Jorge Fernandez
JORGE FERNANDEZ ANNOUNCES 2026 RUN FOR ALLEN COUNTY COMMISSIONER
FORT WAYNE, IN, January 4, 2026 – Jorge Fernandez is announcing he will be running for County Commissioner this year. All Allen County Commissioners are elected by entire county, but he will be seeking what is called the District 3 seat. Jorge Fernandez is an educator. He has worked as a teacher in several Indiana public school districts. He has experience working in middle school and high school settings and tutoring students of many ages up to the college level. He graduated with a bachelor’s of science degree in Chemistry Education from Taylor University and has lived in Allen County since graduation.
Jorge Fernandez released the following goals if elected:
*Transparency – I want to make sure that county offices do a better job with communicating with what occurs in county government. I want to have more scrutiny with the contracts awarded on the county-level. I want to look into why Quality Correctional Care has been allowed to have a contract roll over year after year that appears to have never been signed by Rich Beck in either of his terms in office or by Ron Turpin either in his current term (based on what I can gather from Indiana Gateway website). I want to look into trying to handle inmate health services in-house or rebidding contract depending on if that makes sense.
*Separate Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, Inc. from specific private entities - I think the joining in 2013 of the seemingly ostensibly public Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance and the private Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce was a mistake. I intend to work to separate the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, Inc. from specific private chambers of commerce. The combination of Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, Inc. with a specific private chamber of commerce to form Greater Fort Wayne, Inc. does not appear to have any noticeable benefit to county as a whole, while at same time seemingly facilitating government corruption. Seeing it in action has only reinforced my opposition to existence of quasi-governmental organizations. (I do realize that many of the media outlets I am emailing this to seem to be members of Greater Fort Wayne, Inc.)
*Support working families – County commissioners should be modeling being a responsible employer. The county commissioners made a good step in 2019 announcing a paid family leave policy. I would go further. I would want to introduce a measure for county employees to be able to collectively bargain if they are not already. I would also like to do work within the confines of state law to create a responsible bidder ordinance encouraging contractors to maintain at least those standards for their work.
*Reduce TIF use – While the Allen County Redevelopment Commission with majority of voting members appointed by the county commissioners seems to have been going the opposite way by seeking to expand Tax Increment Financing (TIF) use, I would encourage the opposite. TIFs have been redirecting property tax funds that would otherwise go to local school districts for years and at the very least if we don’t phase out TIF use, we should at least create pass-throughs so that money that would have otherwise gone to school districts is not redirected.
*Support public health including the Allen County Health department – I want to make sure Allen County Health Department officials feel empowered to support strong public health including when dealing with air pollution and water pollution. I also want to make sure to make clear to county planning staff how to properly execute their duties relating to public health including when evaluating things like whether zoning ordinance should be interpreted as allowing backup generators in a certain zoning designation, and to have zoning polices that minimize things like air pollution impact to county residents.
*Criminal justice reform -- I would want to reduce inmate population in Allen County by redirecting nonviolent criminals away from jail. I want to make sure to limit any potential expansion of jail site under construction and to make sure that the county commissioners do not sign again any optional agreements to house Federal inmates in county-owned facilities regardless of the makeup of Federal government at time. The conundrum continues to be that the amount of people in local prisons is dependent on state legislators (policy), judges (sentencing discretion), and county prosecutor (criminal charging discretion). Somewhat the sheriff and county as well if they are given latitude to divert to alternative programs. The people that would have to decide on jail building will be county commissioners (facilities and other property) and county council (funding). So these are two different sets of people in general.
*Public solid waste collection and disposal – I would want to do a study to see whether having a countywide in-house solid waste collection and disposal would make sense. If it does, I would want to look at trying to partner with the cities and towns of Allen County to replace current services with a countywide public waste collection and disposal service. I would also like to look at an optional fee-based program to extent that is feasible and economical. I would try to make sure this included countywide recycling including businesses that currently are forced to hire they own recycling contractor if they wish to recycle.
*Environmentally conscious planning: I would encourage zoning that focused on urban infill rather than paving over arable land.
Also, for too long the county has failed in its drainage responsibilities. The incumbent’s decision [Edit: to vote for giving] Project Zodiac an easement on Adam’s Ditch without scrutinizing their level of permits and stormwater plan seems to have been a major mistake in that.
At the same time, I do want to facilitate use of existing infrastructure like the Airport and make sure there is enough affordable housing.
Jorge Fernandez will be seeking the Democratic nomination for Allen County Commissioner. Jorge Fernandez if he is teaching as of January 2026 to extent possible, would try to finish the school year doing both positions, and then evaluate whether to continue teaching into the next school depending on how the state has structured Allen County government when that date is reached. Press events are currently to be determined and will be announced later on.
Jorge Fernandez