Vernon Brown Leaving Council Early To Allow Successor's Selection By Party

Long-time City-County Councilor Vernon Brown announced that he will be resigning from the council shortly rather than serving until the end of his term next year. That will pave the way for a handful of party leaders to meet and choose his replacement at a caucus election rather than leaving it to voters to decide. Brown, an Indianapolis Fire Department battalion chief, is one of three current city council members who are barred from seeking re-election because they also hold jobs with the city or county government. Mary Moriarty Adams (D), who has a make-work job in the county assessor's office, and Steve Talley (D), who has a job carved out for him at IMPD, are also barred from seeking re-election unless they agree to give up their government jobs.

The IBJ's Kathleen McLaughlin, who just did a hit piece of Councilor Christine Scales for being an honest public servant who exercises independent judgment rather than voting down the line with the corrupt forces that control local government, used the opportunity to take a swipe at Brown for blocking Mayor Greg Ballard's ReBuild Indy II re-election spending bill in his role as chairman of the Public Works Committee.

Democrat Vernon Brown, a key opponent of Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard’s infrastructure-spending plan, said he plans to resign from the City-County Council this summer . . .

It also means the council Public Works Committee would have a new chairman, though that person would most likely be a Democrat . . .

Ballard, a Republican, last summer proposed a second round of infrastructure funding under a program called Rebuild Indy 2, but Brown has refused to hear it. Republicans recently said they plan to introduce a revised version of Rebuild Indy 2 that would answer many of Democrats’ objections.

“He is chairman of the committee and has put major stops to getting anything done,” said Janice McHenry, a Republican member of the committee. Apart from Rebuild Indy 2, McHenry said a number of minor proposals, such as new stop signs and intersection signals, have been slow to move through the council because of committee meetings Brown canceled.

Whether the parties can reach a compromise on Rebuild Indy 2 will depend on who becomes the new committee chairperson, McHenry said. She said there are other Democrats who would be easier to negotiate with than Brown . . .

There are legitimate reasons for criticizing Brown's service on the council, but his opposition to ReBuild Indy II is not one of them. It's yet another example of biased news reporting by folks masquerading as legitimate news reporters who in fact are doing nothing more than carrying water for the downtown mafia, which continually operates our city-county government for their exclusive profiteering purposes to the detriment of the taxpaying public. Talley is running for election as Lawrence Township Trustee this year, while Adams tells McLaughlin she plans to seek re-election. After all, what would Sheriff John Layton do without her on the council carrying his water for him in exchange for the make-work job he provides to her husband?  She's got to stick around at least long enough to help win approval of the P3 deal for a new criminal justice system that promises all kinds of rewards for members of the downtown mafia. I'm sure one of the local nonprofits operating in Marion County will create a make work job for Adams like they already do for other council members and their spouses.