Wonder what the flap over an e-mail sent by four Zionsville town council members to the Boone County Commissioners is all about?
Maybe nothing, but again maybe there's smoke, and where there's smoke there's fire.
At the June 6 council meeting when it came time to allow the public an opportunity to address the council, Wendy Brant came forward and claimed the four councilors had violated the Indiana Open Door law.
Ms. Brant, a former Boone County commissioner, is no stranger to the issue of transparency in government. She was president of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government, and testified at the state legislature for the Public Access Counselor.
Basically, the Open Door Law forbids appointed or elected members of municipalities from conducting business privately, outside of the public view.
The e-mail Brant questioned was sent by Tim Haak, council vice-president, to the Boone County Commissioners on Friday, June 3.
It stated: As members of the Zionsville Town Council we are formerly requesting that you table the Ford Road bridge agenda item from your meeting Monday, June 6th. Zionsville is currently updating our Transportation Plan and the proposed bridge replacement plays an integral role in this update. We feel that the item warrants more discussion between the Zionsville Town Council and the Boone County Commissioners and we would like to formally meet to discuss further.
It was signed by Haak, Steve Mundy, Jeff Papa, and Candace Ulmer.
Zionsville Town Council
Ironically, it was Ulmer who on June 1 asked the commissioners to be on the June 6 meeting agenda to express her opinion about the Ford Road bridge, and request that the commissioners delay signing an agreement to proceed with construction of a new structure.
As reported in the Zionsville Star June 9 edition of the Indianapolis Star, "Brant said the four council members made a decision as a majority of the seven-member council outside the public view, challenging them otherwise to identify what public meeting or where in meeting records the issue was discussed and decided. Official action, under the law, includes to 'make decisions or take final action.' ''
Council president Matt Price, and council members Art Harris and Valerie Swack were not copied on the e-mail. Harris and Swack said they were unaware of the correspondence. Unlike the other four councilors, Price, Harris and Swack are not seeking election in November.
Haak, Mundy and Papa defended their action, Papa the most testily during an exchange with Brant. Papa argued that because the county commissioners did not take any action concerning the bridge there was no violation of the law.
But, the commissioners did take an action about the bridge, delaying further discussion until the July meeting. That action came about when Jeff Wolfe, president of the Board of Commissioners, asked for the delay.
What the four councilors seem to avoid here, is that the four of them formally requested the commissioners to take an action, and the violation is because they did not decide this in a public forum, and consequently there was no record of what they did.
Papa can huff and puff all he wants about the timing of the e-mail, and the urgency of contacting the commissioners, but Ulmer was already on the commissioners' agenda, so why didn't the four amigos let her carry the message from Garcia?
