Warming up to Ryan Vaughn as President of the Council?

So in this whole circus of Republican Mayor Greg Ballard saying he'll veto the "guns-in-parks" proposal, we have this comment from newly elected President of the City-County Council, Ryan Vaughn (via The Indianapolis Star):

Ryan Vaughn, the Republican council president, said the mayor's initial opposition to the proposal would not keep it from going through the process.

"The mayor is one of 900,000 residents in Marion County," Vaughn said. "We need to hear from all the parties and do our due diligence, and at the end of that process, if the mayor still feels like he wants to veto the proposal, that's his role in government."

Kudos, Mr. Vaughn. The council has their job, the mayor has his, and they don't always have to agree. I hope we see action behind these words, because it is very promising from a relatively young politician.

Mayor Ballard Will Veto "Guns-In-Parks" Ordinance

From WTHR:

Indianapolis - A move to allow guns in city parks is raising a stir. While proponents see it as a gun rights issue, critics see it as nothing but trouble.

Monday, Libertarian City-County Councilor Ed Coleman introduced a proposal that would let people with gun permits carry firearms in city parks. While Coleman could not be reached Monday, it's a change his party strongly supports.

Chris Spangle is Executive Director of the Libertarian Party of Indiana.

"State law allows [guns] in state parks, federal law in federal parks. We're asking lawmakers to give us the right to protect ourselves in dangerous situations," said Spangle.

Fraternal Order of Police President Bill Owensby said he backs the move.

"People with gun permits are law-abiding citizens. It's the ones without permits that the law doesn't matter to anyway," said Owensby.

...

But perhaps the biggest obstacle is Republican Mayor Greg Ballard who vowed to veto the proposal if it reaches his desk.

"I don't support it. Never hear about this. People were happy where it is. I just don't support it. I think things are fine the way they are," the mayor said.

Now, I don't know if anyone has noticed, but the Republican Party has traditionally been the party of gun owners. They want less regulation so that citizens that own their legal firearm can exercise their inherent right (as specified, but not given by, both the United States and Indiana Constitution) to carry them on their person for protection.

Keep in mind that both national parks and state parks ALREADY allow citizens to carry their firearms. I see this proposal not as some radical idea, but simply lining up with what's happened elsewhere. Usually it's the cities that are ahead of the state and federal governments. A bit strange that it's backwards.

But what's interesting most of all is Mayor Greg Ballard saying he'll veto it. Why does he think Indianapolis should be different, in this area, than the state and nation? While the pro-gun segment isn't likely going to vote for a Democratic mayoral candidate, they'll be more than willing to not support Mayor Ballard in the primary, or just not vote at all in the general.

Indianapolis City-County Council Meeting Tonight

A full view of what's on the agenda is here. The following are some items of interest that I found:

To be voted on:

• Prop 12 of 2010 appoints Stuary Lowry as the Director of Parks and Recreations. I was half an hour off in getting to the committee meeting on time, but I was told by someone exiting the meeting that there was no call for public comment. I have e-mailed my district council representative,Maggie Lewis (D-District 7), as well as the At-Large representatives, and hope a public comment can be added to the City-Council meeting before the council takes it's vote. I can live with my own fault if I missed my opportunity to have my voice heard, but it was never given a chance. The council should rectify that tonight.
• Prop 22 of 2010 amends a few parts of council ethic requirements and how to file complaints and handle them.

The following proposals are only being introduced to the council:

• Prop 30 approves Dennis G. Papenmeier as hearing office to preside over "administrative adjudication" of parking citations. If my definition of "adjudication" is accurate, this probably means Mr. Papenmeier will be presiding over the Parking "Court" that I've blogged extensively on. This will be referred to the Administration and Finance Committee.
• Prop 33 reappoints Michael Halstead else to the huge City Market Corporate Board of Directors. The City-Market's board is bloated and needs focused leadership, not more bureaucrats. Mr. Halstead is probably not the person to provide that, since he's been on the board since 2006. His background (surprise) is architecture. Here is his resume and here is his Linkedin profile.
• Prop 32 is funding various activities within the Mayor's Office of Education Innovation.
• Prop 35 is to fund two city-supported not-for-profit corporates, Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association and Indianapolis Economic Development Inc., as well as the Mayor's Office of Education Innovation. This is a common legislature tactic to put funding for various groups in one proposal even though the groups don't necessarily have the same goal, or anything in common. This forces representatives to vote for or against the whole package, even though they may support part of it. What should be done is this proposal should be broken into three, with ICVA, IEDI, and the Mayor's Office of Education Innovation in each. Each should lay out a specific budget on what exactly they intend to do with the money. It is disturbing that all of the additional funding being proposed in all of the additional funding proposals is being tossed into Section 3(a)3's "Other Services and Charges" category, meaning little accountability can be expected or enforced.
• Prop 36 will use a federal grant to fund EnderDel, a manufacturer of automotive lithium-ion batteries. I have previously expressed my concern at how much federal funding is propping up the budget of the City of Indianapolis, and am very concerned where all this money will come from once it dries up.
• Prop 37 uses $400,000 in a state grant to fund fiber-optic cables and related equipment installed by Lockheed Martin Aspen Systems Corporation.
• Edward Coleman (L-At Large) introduced another piece of legislation as well, Prop 39, to amend the ordinance banning firearms in city parks. This changes it so that law enforcement can carry their firearms into city parks, and that licensed firearm owners who can carry can also. It is still illegal to discharge any firearm unless it is in defense of self or others. This is sure to cause some controversy. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

The full council meeting will start at 7:00PM. Attend if you can.