Recent council actions are raising questions about whether members are becoming more skeptical of Mayor Jim Brainard’s vision for the city and subsequent spending.
Read MoreBrainard believed that making investments in public infrastructure and livable neighborhoods would attract businesses and residents alike, as businesses would want to locate near their workforce or potential workforce.
Council members Bruce Kimball, Kevin Rider and Jeff Worrell have co-sponsored Mayor Jim Brainard’s requests to finance a potential $40 million Carmel Police Department headquarters expansion, a $60 million series of road projects and $25 million for undefined redevelopment projects throughout the city.
The agreement sets restrictions on noise and capacity, based in part on the number of toilets that are available at the tavern.
Republican Jim Brainard said he had a COVID-19 test on Nov. 6, a couple of days after he started having symptoms.
The state health department laid out new orders Wednesday in an effort to protect elderly and confined Hoosiers from contracting the disease, Meanwhile, Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard is coordinating testing for nursing home residents in his city.
Several area mayors say they’ve been meeting to discuss regional cooperation—talks that Hogsett has been a part of—but had not signed off on any plan like the one the Indianapolis Democrat proposed. The Hogsett plan would create winners and losers among counties.
Mayor Jim Brainard received 56% of the GOP primary vote, while his challenger Fred Glynn garnered 44%. The race had turned ugly in recent weeks.
Incumbent Joe Hogsett and Republican Jim Merritt are expected to easily win their primaries in the Indianapolis mayor’s race. In Hamilton County, the races could be more interesting.
In Hamilton County, the increase is likely tied in part to some interesting GOP primary battles. In Marion County, voters could choose to vote early at any of three different polling sites for the first time in a decade. Polls are open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Incumbent Indy Mayor Joe Hogsett and GOP challenger Jim Merritt are expected to win their parties’ nominations easily. Meanwhile in Fishers and Carmel, incumbents are fending off primary challenges.
Clerk-Treasurer Christine Pauley said Mayor Jim Brainard created a difficult work environment by pushing her to go on trips with him. But the mayor said in a statement that the two briefly dated and the timing of the accusations—just two weeks before the primary—is “interesting.”
Republican Fred Glynn, who recently was re-elected to the Hamilton County Council, will run against six-term Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard in May's primary.
The 64-year-old Republican told IBJ that he hasn’t made a formal announcement, but he has been telling anyone who asks him that he will run again.
The council transferred half the money from its own budget instead of from the police department’s budget, as had been originally proposed.
The city of Carmel has been ordered by a Boone County judge to cease any work on its proposed 96th Street roundabout project, which is the subject of an ongoing land dispute with Indianapolis.
Carmel’s total liabilities have swelled to nearly $1.2 billion including principal, interest and other debt payments, according to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.
In all, the city has paid Rob DeRocker $809,900 in base contract fees, plus nearly $40,000 for travel expenses since 2010, for a total near $850,000.
In a lawsuit filed this month in Marion Superior Court, Indianapolis claims its northern neighbor is encroaching on the city’s corporate boundary. The seven-page complaint is seeking a preliminary injunction preventing Carmel from continuing with plans to build four roundabouts.
Municipalities want to attract qualified and knowledgeable candidates to run for office, but communities have to be cautious about how public dollars are spent.
Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard is trying to streamline the city’s debt management with a new Local Public Improvement Bond Bank. But it’s not clear whether his method in creating the bond bank, his choices for key positions, and his proposed combination of smaller bonds follow state guidelines and best practices.
