Angry, yet determined, leaders of the Indianapolis City-County Council blasted Mayor Greg Ballard’s recent criticism of the Council. During a wide ranging interview on Afternoons with Amos, Council Majority Leader Vernon Brown and Councillors Monroe Gray and Pam Hickman, all Democrats, characterized as “false” and “not true” the Mayor saying that the Council had overspent their 2012 budget while the Mayor had underspent his. Councilman Brown said through the first half of the year the Council had spent just 46.8% of its budget. All three Councillors slammed the Mayor’s attacks on Council Democrats’ opposition to extending the downtown TIF District to fund development on Massachusetts Avenue. They told Amos that they might OK the project if it doesn’t depend on reducing badly needed tax dollars and does provide jobs for Marion County residents, especially from neighborhoods within five miles of the development area. Finally, Councilors Brown, Gray and Hickman were stunned when Afternoons with Amos revealed that the Mayor’s office had refused to provide information on how much City dollars had been spent since 2008 with Black-owned businesses. The City refused to provide that data saying “they did not track” that information, even though the data is required for all certified Black-owned vendors.
Click Arrow To Hear Council Leaders On Truth Behind Mayor’s Attacks. Runs 44 Minutes ©2012 WTLC/Radio One
Click Arrow To Hear Council Leaders React To City’s Refusal To Release Data On Black Business Spending. Runs 45 Minutes ©2012 WTLC/Radio One.
