Leaders from around the country will come to Carmel for 'civility summit.' Why Carmel?

Jake Allen | Indianapolis Star

See original post here. 

Since Carmel’s last city council and mayoral elections in 2023, City Councilor Jeff Worrell has spent a lot of time thinking about civility.

The mayoral race in particular intensified after the local chapter of a conservative group quoted Adolf Hitler in a newsletter, drawing national headlines and forcing the candidates to shift their focus in the city's first general election for mayor in 16years.

"Some of the campaign material was more vitriolic than I was used to," Worrell said. "It was just more intense and seemed like it was a win-at-all-cost election. I just think we can do better."

Amidst heated political and ideological divisions across the country, that have seemed to hit a boiling point with the Sept. 10 assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, the Carmel city councilor still believes there’s room for change. 

Since the election, he's written opinion pieces on the topic, promoted the idea of civility on social media and at the end of September Worrell will share his ideas with leaders from all over the U.S. 

Worrell is planning a civility summit in Carmel and hopes to help give leaders of other communities the tools they need to spread the movement. By cultivating civility in communities across the country, we can rebuild connections and foster mutual understanding, the city councilor says. 

Indiana leaders from Zionsville, Westfield, Bloomington, Warsaw, Valparaiso andFishers are expected to attend as well as leaders from Canada, Arizona, Michigan,Iowa and Ohio.

“We will never eliminate incivility, but I think we can do a better job of how we disagree with each other,” Worrell said. “We're thinking big, and we are trying to carry that message to whoever will grab onto it and walk along with us.” 

Worrell was inspired to take up the issue of civility when he read AlexandraHudson’s “The Soul of Civility,” following the 2023 Carmel mayoral and city council elections. Worrell invited the author to speak at the Carmel library, expecting 30 to 40 residents to attend. 

“About 370 people showed up,” Worrell said. "It was overwhelming and what I discovered was that the concept of trying to do better and trying to be more civil was ready to explode.” 

Worrell started a nonprofit and hopes the civility summit becomes an annual event. He’s also hoping to create a network of civility cities and already has a connection underway, working with residents in Colorado Springs. 

“What I have learned is that if you can get a community to begin speaking and thinking about civility then people want to mimic good behavior,” Worrell said. “If you can describe it for them, people want to be civil. That is what we've experienced.” 

Hudson, the author whose book inspired Worrell to get things started, will be at the summit to provide her definition of civility. 

“Civility doesn't mean perfect agreement,” Hudson said. “In fact, disagreement is a feature of democracy. Sometimes we are going to disagree, and the idea is not to diminish that disagreement. The answer is how can we still like and respect each other after disagreement.” 

Hudson, who lives in Indianapolis, wrote her book after moving out of Washington, D.C. She had worked for the federal government but became disillusioned with dysfunction and divisiveness at her job.

"The easy thing to do is to blame others,” Hudson said. “It's real easy to just point fingers. Healing society starts with healing ourselves. Civility is deeper and richer than just being polite. It's an inner disposition of the heart. It's a way of seeing others with dignity and worth, as our moral equals that are worthy of respect."

The summit will be a two-day event. On Sept. 26, it will be held at the Carmel FireBuffs Museum and will include an awards ceremony and a chance for the attendees to meet each other, and former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is expected to speak at the first day of the summit. The next day, the summit will be held at Carmel ClayPublic Library and will include other speakers, including Hudson, and workshop sessions.

"The goal of the summit is to bring in leaders from across the country and collaborate with them,” Worrell said. “There will be a network of leaders around the country who will fly the project civility flag and begin talking about it and practicing it." 

Bob Andeweg, who has been the mayor of Urbandale, Iowa for 20 years, said he got a card in the mail informing him of the summit and decided to attend. 

"Traditionally, local elections in Iowa are done on a nonpartisan basis and that's how I've always operated," Andeweg said. "We need to work together more. It’s always been important to me to promote civility.” 

The longtime mayor hopes he can teach other leaders what he’s learned about civility in Urbandale and take some lessons back to Iowa from the summit. 

"It all starts with one person,” Andeweg said. “I know there are pessimists out there but if we just continue to practice the basic principals of civility and respect then it's going to carry on further. You have to show your own principles to others before asking them to do the same. You have to start somewhere.” 

For more information on the civility summit or Worrell’s civility nonprofit, go to https://www.projectcivility.com/. 

Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @Jake_Allen19.