The map ordinance—released Friday as part of the City-County Council’s agenda and formally introduced Monday—could also fold four Democratic incumbents into two districts, Democratic leaders confirmed Monday.
Proposal 157 and the accompanying map come after a two-month, 10-part public forum series and a summary report published earlier this month.
Councilor Ethan Evans, who announced this week he was leaving the Democratic Party to become an independent, likely will no longer be allowed to caucus privately with majority Democrats on strategy and priorities.
Two City-County Council members representing areas affected by a proposed wastewater treatment plant at 900 S. Tibbs Ave. say they won’t pull their support for the plant, which is facing opposition from some residents.
Evans says he feels mostly shut out of the Democrat-controlled council despite “speaking for a wide progressive base who wants these very solutions implemented.”
“The report makes clear council leadership’s determination to create space for a wide variety of community voices to be heard at the very outset of the redistricting process,” the council said in written statement.
The panel plans to focus first on urban forests and parklands, then recycling and solid waste, then equitable health and infrastructure investments.
Proposal 58 is a rare Republican-led initiative to gain traction in a legislative body with a 20-5 Democratic supermajority.
The event will be remote. The Zoom meeting is set for Feb. 24 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., and is open to any interested Marion County resident with registration online.
IBJ talked to City-County Council Chief Financial Officer and Policy Director Brandon Herget to learn how council staff chose the forum locations, why it contracted out the hosting work and how feedback will actually get used.
As Indianapolis embarks on the once-a-decade task of redrawing City-County Council districts, officials are soliciting public input at community forums in January and February.
Michael-Paul Hart hopes to represent District 89, which covers part of east Indianapolis and includes about half of Beech Grove.
If implemented, the projects could remove more than 650 parcels from the federal 100-year floodplain, releasing properties in the southwest-side neighborhood from expensive flood insurance requirements.
Marion County’s absentee ballots have always been assembled, sent and processed by hand, requiring an army of temporary workers. Now, election officials want a machine to do it instead.
The report from the Indianapolis Office of Public Health and Safety says the new shelter should offer a high level of access and feature a concentration of services meant to help homeless people get back on their feet.
Democratic City-County Councilor Kristin Jones will run for a seat on the Indiana Senate, her campaign announced Wednesday, in District 46, a new district that covers most of Center Township.
After long-time Republican dominance, Democrats now hold a 20-5 supermajority on the City-County Council under maps drawn by Republicans in 2012. Now, it’s the Democrats’ turn to draw the maps.
The Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday unanimously approved funding of nearly $30 million for new Fort Benjamin Harrison and Glendale library branches.
Councilors adopted the bulk of the budget proposal 23-1, with Democrat Ethan Evans voting against.
The City-County Council on Monday evening approved rezoning for a mixed-use, affordable housing project set for Fall Creek Place, overturning a Metropolitan Development Commission denial and ending months of pushback from some residents.
