Some Indy councilors choose to make government their sole jobs

From left, Indianapolis City-County Councilors Andy Nielsen, Jesse Brown and Brienne Delaney

Three newly-elected city-county councilors plan to make what is usually a part-time role their full-time jobs, at least for now.

Democrats Andy Nielsen, Brienne Delaney and Jesse Brown left their respective jobs in tech, advocacy and elections with no plans to replace those roles on the horizon. The new Indianapolis councilors are instead focused on finding stable ground in their new roles.

The trio are taking an unusual approach on a council that is widely considered to be part-time and still has meager pay when compared to peer cities. While some Indianapolis councilors who were retirees have made the council their sole jobs, it’s not typical for people of working age to do so.

Their decisions could be in part influenced by a recent increase in council pay.

Since at least 2015, councilors had brought forth proposals to increase the pay for Indianapolis’ legislative body leaders from a base of $11,400, which was set in 2002. In 2022, a pay hike proposed by former council vice president Zach Adamson and former councilor Monroe Gray passed.

That ordinance increased the pay to $31,075, with per-diem pay increasing from $112 to $150 for each full council meeting and from $62 to $75 for committee meetings. It also ditched the long-held meeting pay cap of 40 meetings annually.

Delaney, formerly director of elections at the Marion County Election Board, first left her previous role out of necessity. She held it for eight years, but couldn’t oversee Marion County’s elections while running for office.

After a very competitive primary and general election, the attorney has decided at least for now to focus on public service and raising her three-year-old son. Delaney’s husband, Tim Moriarty, is an attorney with Faegre Drinker and formerly served as special counsel to Mayor Joe Hogsett.

Delaney said her focus on government has paid off. She said she recently had to navigate a complex fight between a developer and local residents over a proposed development on the site of the former Willows Event Center. That feud ended at last Monday’s council meeting with a compromise solution that Delaney said required all-consuming hours of negotiation.

“I can’t imagine going through that situation if I had had a full time job,” Delaney told IBJ. She said the efforts it took to communicate with concerned neighbors, the developer and her colleagues and reach a resolution took evenings and weekends.

“There is sort of this feeling, at least in my first month, that you need to be available all the time,” she added.

Often, it’s just to follow up on a constituent concern about a frequent issue like potholes or missed trash pickup. But focusing solely on the council allows her to “really get into the weeds of things” to better give the job the time and energy she says it deserves.

For Nielsen, that meant recently amplifying to the Department of Public Works that potholes near Community Hospital East were creating issues for ambulances trying to quickly and safely transport patients to the emergency room.

But it’s also enabled him to dive deeper into more complex issues his constituents face. He recently visited the Warren Township Small Claims Court to get a better understanding of the city’s high rate of evictions and potential solutions.

“Being able to think broader and have bigger conversations on, ‘what are some of our larger priorities’, I think that’s what I’m already appreciating a lot,” he told IBJ.

Nielsen also said he recognizes that the raise still isn’t enough for most councilors to rely on it as their only income.

“I have to recognize the privilege that, my wife and I, our family dynamic, we’re able to make it work and I know that is absolutely not the reality for everyone,” Nielsen told IBJ. 

The $31,075 annually still lags behind some peer cities. According to a 2019 IBJ analysis, part-time councilors in Louisville earn $48,791; in Columbus, Ohio, $57,738; in Jacksonville, Florida, $49,974; and in Charlotte, North Carolina, $19,809 plus allowances of $12,900. Both Louisville and Jacksonville have consolidated government structures like Indianapolis.

Indianapolis councilors also get per-diem pay for each meeting they attend at a rate of $150 for full council meetings and $75 for committee meetings. Typically, a quarter of councilors’ earnings come from per-diem pay.

Adamson, a former councilor and one of the architects of the pay increase, told IBJ in December that the salary is still “woefully low.” Since most people may not be able to afford to live solely off that salary, he said the pay contributes to a lack of representation of everyday residents.

“I’ve always felt like the only people who were really able to participate fully are the independently wealthy, retired people, or people whose day jobs have intertwined with government,” Adamson, who owned and operated a hair salon during his time on the council, told IBJ.

But he said the shift was a positive one, even though it came about slowly and still has a way to go.

“I think the compensation being raised will allow people to focus more on the job of meeting the day-to-day needs of the people they represent, so I think that’s a good thing,” he said.

It’s difficult to compare the Indianapolis council jobs to similar roles in other Indiana cities because Indy is so much larger, Association of Indiana Municipalities Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Simmons wrote in an email.

“Their committee structure [in Indianapolis] is extensive and due to size, their district work and required events are immense,” she wrote.

For those reasons, Simmons said, it makes some sense that Indianapolis’ councilors are choosing when possible to focus entirely on their roles in government.