Fouts, Green confirm mayoral runs

WARREN — As 2022 comes to an end, 2023 will mark the beginning of campaign season for those seeking to become Warren’s next mayor.

Incumbent Warren Mayor Jim Fouts and Warren City Council President Pat Green have confirmed their candidacies in end-of-the-year conversations with the Warren Weekly.

For Fouts, the run, if successful, would mark an unprecedented fifth term.

“My position is I am on the ballot, and I intend to stay on the ballot.  But you never know what the future holds,” Fouts said.

According to Fouts, his team has done extensive polling in which he has received more than a 70% approval rating, while three or four potential opponents, all of whom are on the Warren City Council, received single digit approval ratings.

“I think the people support what I am doing,” Fouts said

Fouts describes himself as a hands-on mayor who is here to serve the residents of Warren.

“My phone is available for citizens to call seven days a week,” Fouts said.  “I am here to serve and protect the citizens of Warren.”

Among Fouts’ top priorities are the neighborhoods and a strong police and fire department.

“My job is to focus on cleaner and safer neighborhoods.  That means top priority is to have the best Police Department in the state, which we have.  And to have the best Fire Department in the state, which we have,” Fouts said.

Green, who is also the city’s mayor pro tem and represents the city at large as the president of the Warren City Council, said his campaign is already underway.

“Yes, I am running.  I am filed for office. I am actively campaigning,” Green said.

When asked what makes him the best mayoral candidate for the residents of Warren, Green said, “Years of actively working in municipal government.  We have assembled the team and tools to cross the finish line.”

According to Green, he, along with other members of the Warren City Council, have accomplished a lot in the last four years.

“We’ve increased police and fire (departments) making Warren a safe place,” he said.

Included in Green’s platform is bringing back robust parks and recreation, culture and keeping Warren financially strong, making it a great place to live, work, go to school and play.

“We just want to make it better,” Green said. “Something better for our residents.”

Green was born in Warren, grew up in Warren and raised his children here.  His parents were teachers in Warren schools.

Fouts has been the mayor of Warren since November 2007 and spent more than 25 years on the Warren City Council prior to that. He retired from the Warren Consolidated Schools district where he taught high school government.

At the end of the current term, Fouts will have completed four terms. Seeing what the future holds for Fouts may include interpreting that he can serve for five terms as the voters approved in August of 2016, or rather, that he has completed his tenure as mayor if the November 2020, voter-approved term limits of three four-year terms apply, making the term limits for the mayor the same as other city elected officials.

When the Warren Weekly checked with the Warren City Clerk’s Office, Green was the only candidate to have officially filed to run for mayor in 2023. At press time, Fouts had not yet officially filed to run for an additional term. The deadline to file is 4 p.m. on April 25, 2023.