GREENFIELD — When Chuck Fewell took over as mayor of Greenfield in late 2013 after the death of Dick Pasco, the Shelbyville native was relatively unknown.
That’s greatly changed over the past six years.
“My wife and I don’t miss too much that’s happening,” he said. “I think it’s important for the mayor to be seen.”
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Fewell, 76, is seeking his second full term as mayor next month. He’s up against 22-year-old Democrat Zachary LaFavers. If elected, Fewell could become the longest-serving mayor — potentially a total of 10 years in office — since Democrat Keith McClarnon, who served five terms from 1976 to 1995.
Although Fewell’s path to public office has been unconventional, many events and jobs in his life led up to his interest in being mayor. It first began from his past career in public safety.
Fewell served four years with the Shelbyville Police Department and 16 years as an Indiana State Police trooper. He spent seven of those years with the state police at the Indiana Statehouse.
He and five other troopers — who each received Secret Service, hostage negotiation and bomb disposal training to prepare for the job — were assigned to former Indiana Gov. Otis Bowen, who served from 1973 to 1981. The troopers oversaw transportation and security matters for Bowen and attended all of his meetings and events.
“It probably whet my appetite even further to want to be in politics,” Fewell said. “I attended meetings that I probably wouldn’t have been involved in and I had seen how it operated.”
When Fewell left the state police in the early 1980s, he joined the Heritage Group, which represents a few dozen highway construction companies across the country. He worked there for 29 years, focusing on governmental affairs for Milestone Contractors, U.S. Aggregate and Asphalt Materials. He lobbied in Washington, D.C., and at the Statehouse for bills and taxes regarding transportation and safety issues.
During that time working for Heritage and Milestone, Fewell met his wife, Kristin, a longtime elementary school teacher at Harris Elementary School in Greenfield. He then moved to Greenfield from Shelbyville in 1998.
Working in governmental affairs, he said, gave him the foundation to better understand public entities. He spent a lot of his time in small towns and cities, working with elected officials and department heads. In Greenfield, Fewell has also served on the Hancock County Sheriff’s Merit Board, the Greenfield-Area Chamber of Commerce Board and the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority board.
“I feel that local government is our last stronghold — that people have a day-to-day contact with the people they put there,” he said.
Fewell’s father was a Marion County Sheriff’s deputy, and his son works for the Shelbyville Police Department.
Kelly McClarnon, a former city councilman, at the time was serving on the Greenfield Board of Public Works and Safety when Fewell began his first day in office on Dec. 31, 2013. The city needed the mayor to start the first day after the caucus that chose him, Fewell said, because they had a board of works meeting.
McClarnon, the son of former mayor Keith McClarnon, has known Fewell for years; Kristin Fewell is his cousin. After getting to know Fewell more, both personally and professionally, McClarnon said he saw how Fewell would bring great leadership and vision to public office.
“From the get-go, when he expressed interest in running for mayor, I encouraged him as much as I could just because he’s such a great fit for that office,” McClarnon said. “I think Greenfield’s better for him taking an interest in this.”
McClarnon said Fewell delegates tasks well to department heads, but he will also keep them accountable if they make decisions not in line with the city’s vision. The same goes with how Fewell communicates with Hancock County officials, McClarnon said; he’ll stand up for the city’s best interests.
Even though McClarnon comes from a largely a Democratic family and Fewell is a Republican, he said those ideological differences rarely get in the way of conducting city business on the board of works.
“The end goal is good government and a functioning city that’s prospering,” McClarnon said.
Gwen Betor, a member of several local boards and groups in Greenfield and Hancock County, said she’s seen a change in vision of Greenfield since Fewell took office six years ago. Betor also is a docent at the James Whitcomb Riley Boyhood Home and Museum, and she’s met many people who had once moved away from Greenfield but are now coming back to town.
Betor, who’s 82 and has lived in Greenfield for 23 years, said the quality of life in the city has greatly improved over the past several years. She attributes that momentum to city leadership.
“Wherever you go, there’s Chuck Fewell and his wife,” Betor said. “He knows what’s going on.”
Fewell said he’s had to make tough decisions in his time as mayor, some choices that have most likely made people upset.
“There’s reasons for some of the things you make a decision on. But you have to be able to make those decisions and still go to bed at night, lay your head down and sleep,” Fewell said. “I’m glad with what I’ve done for the city — very pleased. We just have to keep going.”
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WHAT: The League of Women Voters of Hancock County and the Daily Reporter are sponsoring a forum for the Greenfield mayoral candidates. The event is free and open to questions from the public.
WHEN: 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15
WHERE: Hancock County Public Library-Greenfield, 900 W. McKenzie Road
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Check out Tuesday’s Daily Reporter for a profile on Fewell’s Democratic opponent in the election, 22-year-old Zachary LaFavers. The Greenfield-Central graduate hopes to be the youngest mayor in the city’s history.
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