Council Wars; Chapter One
With a week to go before the election, City-County Council Democrats are asking their lawyers to see if sanctions can be filed against elected officials they say either gave false testimony this past summer regarding jail overcrowding or failed to do their jobs regarding the budget.
Democrats have asked their lawyers to see whether they can punish Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi over his statements regarding the early release James Stewart, one of the defendants in the Hamilton Avenue murders. Councilmember Mary Moriarty-Adams says Brizzi wasn’t being truthful when he said a front line deputy prosecutor was there arguing against Stewart’s release. Adams says a review of the transcript shows that was not the case.
A copy of that portion of the transcript had been posted for several days on Taking Down Words, a local blog operated by the spokesperson for the Indiana Democratic Party. The posting was extremely critical of Brizzi’s performance as Prosecutor when it came to Stewart’s release, accusing him of grandstanding regarding jail overcrowding.
In addition to going after Brizzi, the Democrats also accuse the Township Assessors, most of whom are Republicans of failing to provide them with county assessment figures, that they say they needed to compile this year’s budget. Council Vice President Joanne Sanders says some of the assessors committed sins of “omission” by not providing the Council with relevant information.
Sanders denies there is politics taking place, but Lawrence Township Assessor Paul Ricketts disagrees, calling it an election year trick.
That sentiment was shared by Matthew Symons, a spokesman for the Brizzi campaign, saying Democrats are upset over criticism that they cut the public safety budget which led to this past summer’s jail overcrowding problem.
Council Republicans say if Democrats go after Brizzi and the Township Assessors they will open their own investigations into alleged falsehoods and purposeful mistatements by the Mayor’s staff regarding the budget and police consolidation.
