Good Luck Madame President and Godspeed
Over the weekend it was announced that Democrats had chosen District 7 City-County Councilor Maggie Lewis as President for next year. Brian Mahern was chosen to fill the Vice-President slot and Vernon Brown will be the majority leader. A couple of things. First, if you subscribed to my political cheat sheet you already knew the day after the election that Lewis was going to be named Council President You would have also known about the identity politics that had been going on behind the scenes.
Apparently the contest for President came down to Lewis and Mahern, the Blacks were supporting Lewis, most of the whites supporting Mahern. Marion County Democratic Chairman Ed Treacy was reportedly backing Mahern for the spot, which is interesting since he was quick to call incumbent Mayor Greg Ballard a racist during the last campaign. In addition, Angela Mansfield was not big on Brown being named for Majority Leader. It’s no big secret that those two have hated each other for quite a while.
I was somewhat surprised that Brown was going for Majority Leader because all prior indicators were pointing to him running for Bill Crawford’s seat next year. Something must have happened to change that, because Brown recently told a group of local pastors that he felt “he could best serve his constituents on the Council as opposed to the Statehouse”. That’s political code speak for “this was going to be tougher than I anticipated”.
Back to Lewis.
I think she will be a good pick for the Democrats, not because of “history”, but mostly because she is reasonable. Lewis is not necessarily the most policy-driven member of the Council, but she has a good group of Councilors from whom she can draw some expertise. As I mentioned before, Mary Moriarty Adams is good on budgets and public safety, Vop Osili on economic development and John Barth when it comes to neighborhoods. The exodus of Jackie Nytes and Joanne Sanders is leaving a major policy and intellectual void on the Democrats’ side of the chamber.
One Lewis’ first tasks will be to manage who the Democrats will appoint as Council attorney. Aaron Haith had the job last time and there are some white Democrats who had problems with him and don’t want him back. Haith also burned some bridges when he attacked former Trustee Carl Drummer for taking a picture with Greg Ballard and accusing Drummer of disloyalty. It turned out the photo was a couple years old; remind me to show you the e-mail exchange one day. I would not be surprised if former city-controller and Lt. Governor Kathy Davis is appointed their Chief Fiscal officer. Davis was at the last Council meeting and has resurfaced more frequently at a couple events.
Lewis will have a full plate of issues to address when she takes over in January. Mayoral appointments, such as the Public Safety Director, expansion of charter schools, which many members of her party have opposed on philosophical grounds out of some misplaced support of Indianapolis Public Schools, redistricting (what more needs to be said), and the 800 lb gorilla in the room will be the anticipated $15 million decrease in declining city revenues which is expected to hit next year. During the last budget cycle, Democrats called for cuts in the public safety budget to use for other city departments. Next year there should be plenty of moaning and gnashing of political teeth to go around.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for Lewis will be to hold her caucus together for the next four years. While most Council proposals routinely pass by 20-something votes, there are the occasional party-line measures. Assuming the Republicans stick together on major issues Lewis will need to hold all 16 members of her caucus together. That can be more difficult to do when the other party holds the Mayor’s office and can dangle a carrot or stick in front of one or two members. And with the exception of removal from a committee there is not much a Council President can do to punish that member, when they don’t have the Mayor’s office to back them up.
I think Lewis’ strongest asset will be her demeanor. If she can present herself as a reasonable voice on the Council she should represent her party well. Unlike a Brian Mahern who never met a television camera or political posture he didn’t like or Monroe Gray who never met an ethical lapse he couldn’t avoid, Lewis does provide a fresh face for the Democrats. And who knows, if she does a good enough job managing the Council, maybe she can make history in 4 years after Greg Ballard finishes his second term when other Democrats couldn’t.
Good luck, Madame President.
