Council’s lawsuit vote carries no bite

Eight Richmond Common Council members do not approve of taxpayer money paying for a Richmond Police Department assistant chief’s lawsuit against the county prosecutor.

Council member Jerry Purcell said during council’s Jan. 21 meeting that he has received constituent complaints about RPD paying an Indianapolis law firm for Major Adam Blanton’s legal action against Prosecutor Mike Shipman. Blanton is seeking removal of his name from the prosecutor’s Brady-Giglio list of officers with questionable credibility for court testimony, as well as damages.

Purcell said it sets a precedent having taxpayers fund a lawsuit and his constituents do not think it’s proper. He made a motion that council not support the use of taxpayer money to pay for the lawsuit. Council voted 8-0 for the motion, with Anne Taylor, the wife of RPD Chief Kyle Weatherly, abstaining.

Shipman and other members of the prosecutor’s office attended the meeting.

AJ Sickmann, the city’s attorney, said council’s vote is only symbolic because RPD has discretion in how it spends appropriated money from the contractual line item in its budget. According to Richmond’s 2025 budget posted on the state’s Department of Local Government Finance Gateway website, RPD has $35,000 in the contractual line item.

Blanton filed the lawsuit Jan. 8 against Shipman and the prosecutor’s office. On Jan. 21, an amended complaint was filed that now also lists the city of Richmond as a plaintiff. The complaint said the city joined the lawsuit “to protect the integrity and operational effectiveness of its law enforcement agency and to seek redress for the harm caused to its operations” by Shipman listing Blanton on the Brady-Giglio list.

In a letter to Weatherly, Shipman indicated he put Blanton on the list after Blanton, who serves as the department’s public information officer, made statements about two homicide victims and about a YouTube prankster’s incident that Shipman argues are not true.

Transportation plan

Council unanimously passed an ordinance permitting the city to apply for $2.5 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Grant program.

The city plans to use the money to develop a comprehensive transit plan and to select a site, design and engineer a new transportation facility. There is no local match required.

Beth Fields, the city’s director of strategic initiatives, said developing the plan will involve community input and look at land use, traffic flow, infrastructure and safety for all modes of transportation. The plan will aim to increase mobility, reduce congestion and increase safety while making transportation within the city equitable for all residents.

Street projects

Richmond will apply for $1,016,966 from the Indiana Department of Transportation’s Community Crossroads program during the year’s first funding call. Council member Gary Turner said the city’s redevelopment commission approved about $750,000 in match money earlier Jan. 21.

The city is eligible for $1.5 million in Community Crossings funding annually and will request the remaining funds during INDOT’s July project call. 

Council unanimously approved the initial request that covers 13 projects with an expected cost of $1,883,668.90.

The 13 roads scheduled for milling and paving are:

• South A Street between South 18th and South 23rd streets;
• Gaar Jackson Road between Salisbury and Round Barn roads;
• South Fourth Street between South I and South K streets;
• South Fourth Street from the dead end to South Q Street;
• North 16th Street between East Main and North E streets;
• North West L Street between North West Sixth Street and Salisbury Road;
• North West Fifth Street between West Main Street and Progress Drive;
• Sheridan Street between Richmond and Bridge avenues;
• South J Street between South Ninth and South 16th streets;
• South I Street between South 14th and South 16th streets;
• Hodgin Road between South 37th Street and Henley Road;
• Dorothy Lane from Henley Road to the dead end;
• Kensington Drive between South E and South G streets.

Code enforcement

Mayor Ron Oler updated council members on the code enforcement department’s activities during 2024. The question of whether citations were being issued was raised during a previous meeting.

Code enforcement performed 3,156 inspections, issued 482 tickets for code violations and filed 220 liens on neglected properties. It also demolished six abandoned homes. 

The department mowed 354 yards after property owners ignored tickets and removed 101 overgrown trees and other vegetation from streets, alleys and sidewalks. During 3,435 pickups, 171.59 tons of trash were removed. In addition, the department collected 518 abandoned shopping carts and picked up 704 vehicle tires that were illegally dumped.

Other topics

• Council elected Larry Parker as president and Justin Burkhardt as vice president for 2025.
• Oler said O’Rourke Wrecking Company will soon conclude its demolition work on the former Elder-Beerman site and civil work on the 601 E. Main St. site will begin immediately. He said the developer hopes to begin leasing apartments in 2026.
• Brandi Jackson of Ivy Tech Community College Richmond was appointed to the Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County board.
• Parker referred to the finance committee an ordinance that would permit Richmond Fire Department to accept donations throughout 2025 for a variety of programs.