INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (April 20, 2015) – In a vote that seemed surprising even to some members, the city-county council voted to override Mayor Greg Ballard’s veto of $4.7 million in additional IMPD funding.
“I was wrong,” councillor Aaron Freeman, R-25th district, said.
That’s something you don’t hear often from a public official, but Freeman said Monday that it was an IMPD officer’s wife who helped change his mind.
“She wrote me a very thoughtful letter and talked to me about the morale of IMPD and how it breaks her heart to see her husband have such a low morale because of the equipment,” Freeman said.
IMPD wanted to replace aging equipment, namely officers’ police cars, using the $4.7M funding from public safety tax money. The initial proposal passed out of council with a vote of 24 to 4.
Mayor Ballard has said he vetoed the proposal because the money was to be used to pay back a loan from IMPD.
Councillors saw it differently, though, even Republicans who had never overturned a veto during Ballard’s time in office.
“It just seems that our priorities are skewed,” councillor Christina Scales, R-4th district, said.
“Based on the things that I’ve heard tonight and particularly Councillor Freeman’s testimony about the policeman’s wife, I am going to be voting to override the veto,” Marilyn Pfisterer, R-14th district, said.
Only one councillor, Republican minority leader Michael McQuillen, voted to not override the veto.
“We’re hopeful that the veto will be overridden tonight. We’re hopeful that the votes will be there tonight,” said Rick Snyder before the vote.
Snyder is President of Indianapolis’ Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). He had his fingers crossed that the City County Council would overturn the veto.
Speaking to FOX59 after the vote, Snyder was overjoyed, even choking up when speaking about the officer’s wife whose story touched Freeman.
“I think it just symbolizes the issues that have been occurring here in our city relating to the lack of funding for our police officers and tonight was the first step in making that right,” Snyder said.
