Mayor Jim Brainard announced on Friday that he has vetoed the Conservation District bill that was passed for the Johnson Addition neighborhood.
As of press time, the Carmel City Council has an opportunity to override the veto with five votes at its Monday meeting. Current in Carmel will update readers on our Web site.
Four councilors voted in favor of the ordinance – Rick Sharp, Luci Snyder, Carol Schleif and Eric Seidensticker – and three voted against. If none of the votes against switch, then it would be unlikely a two third majority would be reached to override the veto.
City Spokesperson Nancy Heck said the mayor’s primary concern was centered on meetings about the matter and whether they were properly advertised to the public.
Supporters of the ordinance to establish the Conservation District say they did their due diligence in informing people about meetings and the petition. They also claim mistruths were reported about what they district would do and that might have scared some councilors unfairly. Supporters told Current that they would wait to release any comments.
Opponents of the bill say Main Street should not have been included in the boundaries and that the petition signatures were obtained through questionable means.