Indianapolis City-County Council

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

District map for the Council

The Indianapolis City-County Council is the city legislature of Indianapolis, Indiana and Marion County, known as Unigov. It was formally established in 1970 upon the merger of the city government with the county government. Both the Council and Mayor's office are located within the Indianapolis City-County Building. The council passes ordinances for the city and county, and also makes appointments to certain boards and commissions.

1 Composition of the Council
- 1.1 Council leadership
- 1.2 Members of the Council
2 Committees
3 See also
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Composition of the Council

The Council consists of 29 seats, corresponding to 25 districts apportioned by population throughout Marion County and 4 At-large seats. Although all cities in Marion County, apart from Indianapolis, retained their status after the merger, their residents are represented on the Council and vote alongside other county residents.^[1] Every seat is up for reelection every 4 years. The head of council is the Council President who is elected by the majority party at the Council's first meeting in January. In the previous Council Democrats held a 15-14 majority as well as the Mayor’s office. However, after the 2007 elections there was a major shake up. Republicans regained a majority in the Council, 16-13, and Greg Ballard defeated 2-time incumbent mayor Bart Peterson.^[2] Republicans have generally been stronger in the southern and western parts (Decatur, Franklin, Perry, and Wayne, townships) of the county while Democrats have been stronger in the central and northern parts (Center, Pike, and Washington townships). Republican and Democrat strength is split in Warren and Lawrence townships.^[3]

Affiliation		Members
	Republican Party	16
	Democratic Party	13
Total		29
Republican Majority		3

[edit] Council leadership

Position	Name	Party	District
President	Bob Cockrum	Republican	22
Vice-President	Kent Smith	Republican	AL
Majority Leader	Lincoln Plowman	Republican	25
Majority Whip	Ryan Vaughn	Republican	3
Minority Leader	Joanne Sanders	Democratic	AL
Minority Whip	William Oliver	Democratic	10

[edit] Members of the Council

District	Council Member	First Took Office	Political Party
1	Jose M. Evans	January 1, 2008	Democratic
2	Angela Mansfield	January 1, 2004	Democratic
3	Ryan Vaughn	December 5, 2006	Republican
4	Christine Scales	January 1, 2008	Republican
5	Virginia Cain	January 1, 2004	Republican
6	Janice McHenry	January 1, 2008	Republican
7	Cherrish Pryor	January 1, 2007	Democratic
8	Monroe Gray	November 23, 1992	Democratic
9	Jackie Nytes	January 3, 2000	Democratic
10	William Oliver	January 1, 2004	Democratic
11	Paul Bateman	March 7, 2006	Democratic
12	Michael J. McQuillen	January 1, 2008	Republican
13	Robert Lutz	July 20, 2007	Republican
14	Mariliyn Pfisterer	January 1, 2004	Republican
15	Doris Minton-McNeill	March 22, 2008	Democratic
16	Brian Mahern	January 1, 2008	Democratic
17	Mary Moriarty Adams	January 1, 1988	Democratic
18	Vernon Brown	January 1, 2004	Democratic
19	Dane Mahern	January 1, 2004	Democratic
20	N. Susie Day	January 1, 2004	Republican
21	Benjamin Hunter	January 1, 2008	Republican
22	Bob Cockrum	January 1, 1996	Republican
23	Jeffery L. Cardwell	January 1, 2008	Republican
24	Mike Speedy	January 1, 2004	Republican
25	Lincoln Plowman	January 1, 2004	Republican
At-Large	Ed Coleman	January 1, 2008	Republican
At-Large	Barbara Malone	January 1, 2008	Republican
At-Large	Joanne Sanders	January 3, 2000	Democratic
At-Large	Kent B. Smith	January 1, 2008	Republican