A proposal, which will be voted on in committee Thursday with the intention of sending it to the full council on March 12, calls for spending $13 million remaining in the city’s rainy day.
Vop Osili replaced the Republicans who had been appointed by Stephen Clay during his brief tenure as president.
Hogsett called the condition of local roads “deplorable” and vowed to “return our streets to safe, passable condition.” Since Jan. 1., the city has received more than 12,000 repair requests for potholes.
The lawyer for the plaintiffs said the lawsuit was no longer necessary since new President Vop Osili has given the fired staff members at issue their jobs back.
Osili said his first task as president is to rebuild trust. He said the leadership controversy had “shaken the confidence of our constituents.”
If elected, Vop Osili said, his first order of business would be to “rebuild the public’s trust in the council” after a chaotic start to 2018. It started with the surprise ouster of the council’s longtime president Maggie Lewis in favor of fellow Democrat Stephen Clay.
On Jan. 29, the majority of council members took procedural steps to put the question of Clay’s removal as president on the next council meeting’s agenda. That meeting is scheduled for Monday.
Eight council Democrats and a clerk that Clay fired sought from Judge Thomas Carroll a temporary restraining order, alleging that council president Stephen Clay’s move to fire two key staff members was illegal and in retaliation for moves that could put his presidency in jeopardy.
Eight members of the Indianapolis City-County Council and fired council clerk NaTrina DeBow on Thursday sued embattled council President Stephen Clay and asked the court to grant a temporary restraining order.
Former Indianapolis City-County Council Clerk NaTrina DeBow defended herself and other council staffers against allegations from President Stephen Clay that employees had acted improperly, causing him to call for an audit of the office.
In the midst of a civil war with fellow Democrats on the City-County Council, Stephen Clay is calling for an operational and fiscal audit “as a result of these findings and other questionable practices.”
City officials are considering an ordinance to crack down on hotels and motels they say are a magnet for crime, pose a danger to area residents, and drain city police and fire resources.
Vice President Zach Adamson said he believed the firing of City-County Council lawyer Fred Biesecker by new president Stephen Clay was in retaliation for Biesecker’s procedural moves against him that could put Clay’s new presidency in jeopardy.
The unanimous vote also gave approval for the city to spend $4.2 million to acquire 140 acres of land from Citizens Energy Group as the site for the new jail, courthouses and mental health center.
Democrats acted to put the question of Stephen Clay’s removal as president to a vote at the next council meeting, in mid-February.
Is the Marion County Democratic Party broken?
The same proposal also authorizes the city to spend $4.2 million for the acquisition of 140 acres of land from Citizens Energy Group as the site for the new jail, courthouses and mental health center.
Republican Minority Leader Mike McQuillen said the decision by the council’s president, Stephen Clay, showed “we’ve basically seen the Democratic caucus fall apart in some regards.”
The Republican council member had requested a special prosecutor because Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry, a Democrat, had donated to Miller’s political opponent, Emily Shrock, in the last election. Shrock also formerly worked in the prosecutor’s office.
Five Democrats joined nine Republicans on the council to propel Stephen Clay over the finish line for the body’s top leadership post.
