No Joke: Ex-Mayor's Name Too Funny For Building

And now for something completely different.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- A former Indiana mayor who won over voters in the 1930s is proving less popular with modern city leaders trying to choose a name for a new government center.

Harry Baals is the runaway favorite in online voting to name the new building in Fort Wayne.

The name had received more than 1,200 votes on the city’s website as of Tuesday afternoon -- more than triple that of its nearest competitor, the Eugene Johnson Memorial Center.

Supporters say it's unfair that the former mayor can't be recognized simply because his name makes some people snicker. But others say they don't want the city to become the target of jokes.

"We realize that while Harry Baals was a respected mayor, not everyone outside of Fort Wayne will know that," Malloy said Tuesday in a statement to The Associated Press. "We wanted to pick something that would reflect our pride in our community beyond the boundaries of Fort Wayne."