Carmel City Council votes to investigate Christkindlmarkt situation

The Carmel City Council on Monday night voted unanimously to launch an investigation into the circumstances that have resulted in recent turmoil surrounding the Carmel Christkindlmarkt.

Additionally, councilors proposed an ordinance to give the legislative body more say in the appointments of people to the boards of nonprofit organizations tied to the city, such as the Christkindlmarkt. And Mayor Sue Finkam introduced her plan for a new nonprofit organization that would serve as an umbrella for all of the city’s events and philanthropic efforts.

Following more than an hour of discussion, councilors voted 8-0 to examine what led to the replacement of the Carmel Christkindlmarkt Inc. board of directors last October and the series of events since last fall that culminated in last week’s resignation of Christkindlmarkt CEO Maria Adele Rosenfeld.

Councilor Jeff Worrell proposed the investigation at Monday night’s meeting, which lasted nearly four hours and included spirited discussion about the Christkindlmarkt. Last fall, Worrell considered launching an investigation after Finkam removed two board members, Brenda Myers and Sven Schumacher. Board Chair Susan McDermott also resigned. (Last week, McDermott filed a defamation lawsuit against Finkam and the city of Carmel.)

Instead, Worrell worked with Finkam to form the Carmel Affiliate Review Committee, which has been reviewing four nonprofit organizations with ties to the city, including Carmel Christkindlmarkt Inc. However, he said he believes the committee’s work has resulted in more questions than answers.

The committee that will work on the investigation will include all nine members of the Carmel City Council. Council members on Monday night suggested that Councilor Ryan Locke should lead the investigation, but a vote to confirm Locke is expected to occur at a future meeting. The council will select a law firm that has not previously worked for the city to aid in the investigation. (Councilor Rich Taylor did not attend Monday’s meeting.)

“I believe this is the only way that we are going to get everyone to get on the same page and start moving forward,” Worrell said.

Rosenfeld, who led the Christkindlmarkt since its inception since 2017, resigned April 30. In a letter of resignation, she wrote that she had been “excluded from key decisions” and “undermined” since changes were made last fall to the market’s board of directors. She spoke at Monday night’s meeting during a public comment period and read from her resignation letter.

Rosenfeld said in a statement that she is “grateful” to City Council members for Monday night’s discussion.

“I’m hopeful that this investigation will provide an opportunity for many important questions to be answered and for meaningful changes to be implemented,” Rosenfeld said in a statement.

The current board consists of Chair Maddie Augustus, a registered lobbyist with law firm Faegre Drinker; Vice Chair Abhi Reddy, chief of staff and legislative counsel for the Indiana treasurer of state; and Secretary-Treasurer Zac Jackson, who serves as the city of Carmel’s chief financial officer.

During discussion about the investigation, Councilor Matthew Snyder said he is “ashamed and embarrassed” about how the situation surrounding the Christkindlmarkt has unfolded in recent months.

“We have embarrassed ourselves by making this such a priority when we have so many other things we could be focusing our energy on,” he said. “And the most damning thing of all is we have negatively impacted people’s lives.”

The investigation will be the third launched by the City Council in the past five years. In 2020, councilors investigated the Hotel Carmichael’s $18.5 million in overruns. The next year, they investigated a complaint of harassment against former city attorney Doug Haney.

New proposals

Also on Monday, City Council members heard an introduction of a new ordinance that would give the council more influence over the boards of directors of affiliate organizations, such as the four that are under review by the Affiliate Review Committee—Carmel Christkindlmarkt Inc., Promote Carmel Inc., the Carmel Midtown Community Development Corp. and the Carmel City Center Community Development Corp.

The ordinance, which was sponsored by Councilors Adam Aasen, Teresa Ayers, Shannon Minnaar, Snyder and Worrell, was added to the council’s agenda on Monday. The current language of the ordinance says as of July 1, at least one member of an affiliated entity’s board must be appointed by the City Council and that the remaining board members must be approved by the City Council.

Currently, board members of affiliated nonprofit organizations are selected by the city’s mayor and not subject to review by the City Council.

City attorney Samantha Karn told members of the council that “at first blush” she believes the ordinance represents “significant overreach.” She said the city’s legal team did not have a chance to fully review the ordinance before Monday’s meeting.

“I’m not saying this is my firm legal opinion, and I am well aware that my duty is to the city, and I will certainly view this through that lens, but I think I would be remiss if I didn’t say I have concerns about the way it’s written,” Karn said.

Council members pushed back on the notion that the ordinance represents overreach.

“This shows kind of the tenor and process for how we should start looking at and thinking about the shared, collaborative oversight that this body and the executive branch need to have,” Locke said.

Early in Monday’s meeting, Finkam proposed forming an umbrella nonprofit organization called Experience Carmel that would “align our not nonprofit, philanthropic and events efforts.”

She said Experience Carmel would manage all city public spaces and events and be a clearing house for arts grants and other philanthropic giving.

“I suggest we stop the madness by working together to define an entirely new strategy and structure to manage our nonprofit relationships, public spaces and events,” Finkam told council members. “The political system and processes we inherited are not working, and our taxpayers deserve our very best efforts to collectively improve them.”