Indiana State Senate District 15 is changing quickly. New neighborhoods continue to rise in Huntertown, businesses are expanding across the northeast corridor of Fort Wayne, and families are moving into the area looking for safety, opportunity, and strong schools. But growth has a cost when leadership fails to plan for it. In this episode, I sit down with Julie McGill to talk about what it means to manage that growth responsibly and why she believes District 15 needs leadership that keeps families at the center of the conversation.
Our discussion moves through the issues people in this district are feeling every day. We talk about infrastructure, traffic congestion, school enrollment, and the strain that rapid growth places on roads, utilities, and emergency services. Julie argues that the state must do more than react after the fact. It has to plan ahead, collaborate across county and district lines, and make sure that growing communities are not left scrambling for resources once the pressure is already there.
Healthcare becomes a major focus of the conversation. Julie speaks candidly about what she has seen in the healthcare system, both personally and as a parent navigating care for a child with disabilities. We discuss Medicaid waivers, nonprofit hospital accountability, telehealth, provider shortages, and why she believes the state is making short-sighted decisions that hurt working families instead of supporting them.
We also examine property taxes, school funding, childcare, mental health access, small businesses, and the challenge of passing meaningful legislation in a Republican-dominated Statehouse. What stood out most to me was Julie’s emphasis on analysis, detail, and long-term thinking. She makes the case that Indiana’s current policies are too often reactive and disconnected from how families actually live.
At its core, this episode is about whether growth in District 15 will be managed with foresight or simply endured by the people who live there.
