.: Helmke Beams : Paul Helmke : Attorneys Serving Fort Wayne since 1945 :.

Paul Helmke

Email Address: paulhelmke@helmkebeams.com
Position: Of Counsel
Joined Firm: 1974
Date of Birth: 00/00/1948
Place of Birth: Fort Wayne, IN
Education:

Indiana University, B.S. (1970)
Yale University, J.D. (1973)

Paul Helmke, served as Mayor of Fort Wayne (Indiana’s second largest city, with a population of over 200,000) for twelve years beginning January 1, 1988. He is "of counsel" with his family law firm, Helmke Beams, LLP and serves as Director of Government Relations of SentryPoints LLC, a provider of homeland security software systems.

Helmke is a Past-President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors; a past Committee Chair and Board member for the NationalLeague of Cities; and a Past-President of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns. Helmke is also a Past-President of the National Conference of Republican Mayors and Local Officials, as well as the Indiana Republican Mayors Association.

In Fort Wayne, Helmke has served as Vice-President of Trinity English Lutheran Church, President of the Allen-Wells Chapter of the American Red Cross; Fort Wayne Future, Inc.; Community Partnership, Inc.; the Quest Club, and as a board member of: Fort Wayne Community Foundation; The Dave Hefner International Exchange Fund, Inc.; Invent Tomorrow, Inc.; the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics; and the Allen County Republican Executive Committee; the Fort Wayne Museum of Art; Allen County Fort Wayne Historical Society.

Helmke has served on the U.S. Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services’ Violence Against Women Advisory Council and on the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education’s Advisory Council for School-to-Work Opportunities and worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on special projects.

Helmke was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Indiana in the November 1998 general election.

After upsetting a two-term incumbent in November 1987 with 52 percent of the vote, Helmke was re-elected Mayor in 1991 and 1995. Helmke is only the second person in Fort Wayne history to be elected to three consecutive four-year mayoral terms. His 64.5 percent of the vote in 1995 tied the largest margin of victory for a Republican in the city of Fort Wayne.

Helmke has received national attention for his program of "Community-Oriented Government," his efforts to fight crime, redevelop brownflelds, and as an advocate for urban interests. During Helmke’s tenure as Mayor, he reduced the city property tax rate and city debt, pursued an aggressive annexation program, strengthened the police department and started community policing (which helped bring the crime rate in 1999 to a 25-year low), helped revitalize the downtown and supported economic development efforts that helped keep the unemployment rate under the state and national averages. Under Mayor Helmke’s leadership, Fort Wayne was named an All-America City by the National Civic League in 1998.

Helmke has appeared on the "ABC Evening News," CNN, C-Span, "McNeil-Lehrer" and the "Cal Thomas" show. He was also a contestant on "Jeopardy" in the early 1970’s.

Following his elementary schooling at St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Fort Wayne, Helmke, graduated third in a class of approximately 700 students at North Side High School. In 1970, Helmke received an honors degree, with highest distinction, in political science from Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana). While at I.U., Helmke, was selected to Phi Beta Kappa scholastic honorary, and was elected student body president. Helmke received his law degree from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut in 1973 (in the same class with Bill and Hillary Clinton).

Helmke practiced law with the Fort Wayne firm of Helmke, Beams, Boyer & Wagner for more than 14 years prior to becoming Mayor. During most of that time period, Helmke served as an Assistant Allen County Attorney. Helmke also taught Communications Law at Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne for a number of years in the mid-1980’s. After leaving the mayor’s office, Helmke was "of counsel" with Barnes & Thomburg, Indiana’s largest law firm, for three years.