Republican Council Leader Rebukes Scales For Speaking Out Against Ballard's Power Grab Bill

So much for the Marion County Republican Party's view that they are more respectful of their members' ability to hold independent views-a false assertion made when Councilor Jose Evans recently announced his switch from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. Republican Minority Leader Mike McQuillen couldn't wait to rebuke Councilor Christine Scales for speaking out publicly against Mayor Greg Ballard's power grab legislation pending before the Indiana House of Representatives and stating publicly the fact that other caucus members shared her discomfort with SB 621, which among other things, eliminates the four at-large council member positions. The Star's Jon Murray has McQuillen's reaction to Scales' public comments opposing SB 621:

Her email brought a rebuke today from council Minority Leader Michael McQuillen, also a Republican. He told The Indianapolis Star that Scales’ email overstated other GOP council members’ views. She wrote that some in the caucus “do not support major portions” of the bill, but were keeping quiet.

“It irks me to have councilors speaking for anyone other than themselves on the package as a whole,” McQuillen said, referring to Scales’ email.

Still, McQuillen acknowledged that not all council Republicans were in lockstep with Mayor Greg Ballard, a Republican, or GOP lawmakers on the bill.

McQuillen, for his part, says he prefers that a provision in another bill (which would end council review of charter school authorizations) be changed so that there still is some sort of public review when the mayor approves a charter school application.

“There are so many parts of that bill that I would say, if you took all 29 councilors ... you would find 29 different opinions in total,” McQuillen said.

He said his perception was that the bill could be amended in coming weeks to address some concerns.

“We’ve reached out to the (Ballard) administration,” he said. “We have found an administration that is willing to discuss different facets of this legislation to make sure it is the best plan for all involved. It’s not like a line has been drawn in the sand as far as, ‘Senate Bill 621, all or nothing.’ ”

The irony here is that Christine Scales, a real Republican, is held in lower regard by Councilor McQuillen than Jose Evans, a Democrat-turned-Republican of convenience who switched parties for his own personal expediency. When Evans switched parties, McQuillen said, "Jose’s decision to join our caucus shows he values performance over politics.” Yet he rebukes Scales because she practices performance and substance over politics. What is irksome is that McQuillen as an elected city-county council leader would support state legislation that would move in the direction of rendering the legislative body irrelevant vis-a-vis the mayor.