Mediaboss Marketing

The Indianapolis City-County Council will face some new political tension when it meets Monday.

Earlier this week, Councilor Ethan Evans announced that he was leaving the Democratic Party to become an independent and wouldnt seek reelection in 2023.

In a statement, Evans described a growing frustration, writing that hed felt shut out in trying to come up with solutions from inside the party.

At least one Democratic leader on the council is pushing back on that characterization, suggesting that the freshman councilor simply wasnt able to effectively build coalitions of support around his ideas.

You have to temper your priorities, how youre going to package these objectives for people because we all have constituents that we answer to, said Vice President Zach Adamson.

Adamson, a Democrat, recalled Evans work on potential legislation that would have barred city-county government from constructing any additional jails. Adamson said he and other councilors supported it in theory, but that they didnt want to hamstring the cityneedlesslywithout knowing what the current circumstances may be in the future.

Evans himself declined to comment, as did Majority Leader Maggie Lewis and Council President Vop Osili, both Democrats.

Republican leadership, meanwhile, identified with the split.

Its going happen to every party at some point, where theres going to be disagreements and, you know, you just hope that they can come out of this as civil as possible, said Minority Leader Brian Mowery.

Mowery recalled 2017, when former Councilor Christine Scales left the Republican Party to join Democrats.

There was a lot of confusion around that. I had talked to her, I believe, even the day she announced, and she didnt give me any idea she had any inkling to do that, Mowery said. So, sometimes these things just happen.

Will Evans be allowed to caucus privately with Democrats to discuss strategy and priorities?

The numbers lean toward a no, according to Adamson. He noted that Democrats still hold 19 of the councils 25 seats, a supermajority that can easily round up the 13 votes needed to pass any proposal and the 17 votes needed to overturn any veto.

Theres also some emotional fallout among Democrats.

Most of us felt what seemed to me to be a degree of betrayal in leaving the family, so to speak, Adamson said.

Mowery, meanwhile, said that Evans and the councils five Republicans were likely too far apart ideologically to caucus together, given Evans support for reducing and reallocating law enforcement funding.

I dont know that he would want to be labeled as a conservative either, Mowery added.

That doesnt necessarily mean total isolation for Evans, though.

If we can [work] with Republicans, well obviously work with somebody who at least shares our values, even if not to the same degree, Adamson said. Youll have people working with him and talking with him, but it wont be the same kind of conversation youd have if you were in a position of trust within the family.

For Republicans, Mowery acknlowledged, Evans decision to become a caucus of one comes with a wisp of opportunity.

Jokingly, the only opportunity I really have said is that now were no longer the minority caucus, Mowery said. But for anything we want to try to get done, we still have an uphill battle But, you know, maybe this gives us an in, to have somebody to work with that has still has connections in the Democratic caucus itself that maybe we didnt have.

Politically, the future is likely to be a challenge for Evans.

Not only has he altered his relationships with his Democratic colleagues by striking out on his own, but hes also become a lame duck, a term for outgoing politicians. Theyre typically perceived as having less influence because of their limited time left in office.

In his statement, Evans didnt indicate exactly whats next, but wrote, I remain committed to representing the constituents of District 4 and working on the issues important to the community. I appreciate the support Ive been given and have not made this decision likely.

Evans represents District 4, which includes a large portion of Lawrence Township, mostly east of Interstate 69 and west of Geist Reservoir.

View post:
What's the future for a Democrat turned independent on the City-County Council? - Indianapolis Business Journal