‘Totally
inappropriate:’ City Council shoots down Arp
by: Clayton McMahan
Posted: Oct 25, 2022 / 04:53 PM EDT
Updated: Oct 25, 2022 / 11:10 PM EDT
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FORT WAYNE, Ind.
(WANE) — Fort Wayne City Council President Jason Arp announced plans to propose
cuts to Mayor Tom Henry’s operating budget ahead of Tuesday’s City Council
meeting.
Arp’s statement said
under the proposition, the budget would not be restored until “all of the
information requests have been fulfilled.”
Although Mayor Henry
recently answered a list of questions previously posed by Councilman Arp, Arp
and WANE 15 have requested video evidence from the Oct. 8 crash, which still
has not been released.
Mayor Henry responds to
questions posed by Councilman Jason Arp
Here is Councilman
Arp’s full statement regarding the city budget:
“At tonight’s Council
meeting I am putting forth cuts to the
Mayor’s operating budget. As City Council President, I have been working with our attorneys and
staff to ensure questions related to the incident that occurred October 8th
have been answered. Many of the questions we have asked were answered in
a timely manner, however we have asked that the video evidence from the
night of the event be preserved for Council’s review in order to conclude our
inquiry into the matter. We have been told that the video evidence will
not be available until the case is closed upon sentencing. While I have
confidence that our request will be granted in a timely manner, I am requesting
a cut of the Mayor’s Office operating budget. The budget would
then be restored once all of the information requests have been
fulfilled. Budgetary action is one of the Council’s few means of recourse
to ensure accountability. We are hoping we will know the week of November
9th and that we will be able to promptly restore these budget items.”
At the meeting, City
Council voted 8-1 to not move forward with Arp’s proposal to cut Mayor Henry’s
operating budget.
Arp was the only one
who voted in favor of the proposal.
Multiple
councilmembers, including Geoff Paddock and Michelle Chambers, expressed their
feelings on the proposal at the meeting and felt that it was not necessary.
“I will not support
any effort that would hold the Mayor’s office or his staff or his operations
hostage,” Paddock said.
Chambers said she
would not support a proposal that would use the budget as a “weapon.”
“I don’t believe that
it is our place to leverage and weaponize a budget to deal with a situation
that is not related to the budget,” Chambers said.
Mayor Henry released
a statement after the meeting concluded:
Fort Wayne continues to
experience growth and success, and tonight’s passage by City Council of the
budget for 2023 demonstrates we’re positioned for even better days ahead for
our community. Fiscal discipline is critical as we work together to meet the
needs, wants and desires of residents, neighborhoods and businesses. We’re
looking forward to a productive 2023 with initiatives planned for every
quadrant that will make a lasting and meaningful difference. Next year
will bring record investments for neighborhood infrastructure and a continued
commitment to public safety and our parks. By working together, we’ll be able
to continue the positive momentum that we’ve built in Fort Wayne as a point of
destination to live, work and play.
The WPTA ABC21Alive/Fort Wayne's NBC Story:
By Alex
Null
Published: Oct. 25, 2022 at 11:42 PM EDT|Updated: 2 hours ago
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) - Late Tuesday afternoon, City
Council president Jason Arp released a statement saying he proposed budget cuts
for the mayor’s office, because, he says, more evidence from the mayor’s recent
crash and OWI arrest needs to come out. Namely, police body camera video.
Arp recently penned a letter to the city attorney, asking
that several questions be answered that primarily had to do with whether
taxpayers would have to foot the bill for damages caused by the crash.
The mayor later said he would pay for all damages involved.
Read Arp’s statement, in full, below:
“At tonight’s Council meeting I am putting forth cuts to the
Mayor’s operating budget. As City Council President, I have been working with
our attorneys and staff to ensure questions related to the incident that
occurred October 8th have been answered. Many of the questions we have asked
were answered in a timely manner, however we have asked that the video evidence
from the night of the event be preserved for Council’s review in order to
conclude our inquiry into the matter. We have been told that the video evidence
will not be available until the case is closed upon sentencing.
While I have confidence that our request will be granted in
a timely manner, I am requesting a cut of the Mayor’s Office operating budget.
The budget would then be restored once all of the information requests have
been fulfilled. Budgetary action is one of the Council’s few means of recourse
to ensure accountability. We are hoping we will know the week of November 9th
and that we will be able to promptly restore these budget items.”
- Councilman Arp
The mayor’s sentencing date is set for November 7th.
City council discussed and voted on Arp’s proposal Tuesday
evening, with most council members voting against it. They said budget cuts
normally take place while approving budgets, and this move was not necessary.
“For me, the budget cut to cut the mayor’s entire budget was
not appropriate.,” Democratic Councilwoman Michelle Chambers said. “I felt like
that was being used as a weapon to achieve some answers to questions that have
been answered already. I don’t believe it is our place to leverage and
weaponize a budget to deal with a situation that is not related to the budget.”
Chambers also said for any council member to ask for the
police body cam video is inappropriate, because it’s not their responsibility
to do so. Fellow democratic councilman Geoff Paddock said he agreed.
“I did disagree with his cuts tonight. I think obviously a
majority of us did, feeling it was not appropriate to go through line item by
line item on the mayor’s budget, particularly when there is no rhyme or reason
to that,” Paddock said.
Council did approve the overall city budget for next year at
the meeting. Following the vote, a statement from Mayor Tom Henry was released,
and says in full:
“Fort Wayne continues to experience growth and success, and
tonight’s passage by City Council of the budget for 2023 demonstrates we’re
positioned for even better days ahead for our community. Fiscal discipline is
critical as we work together to meet the needs, wants and desires of residents,
neighborhoods and businesses. We’re looking forward to a productive 2023 with
initiatives planned for every quadrant that will make a lasting and meaningful
difference.
Next year will bring record investments for neighborhood
infrastructure and a continued commitment to public safety and our parks. By
working together, we’ll be able to continue the positive momentum that we’ve
built in Fort Wayne as a point of destination to live, work and play.”
- Mayor Tom Henry
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