The New Albany City Council recently asked Mayor Jeff Gahan to provide details on what the city has spent on litigation to preserve a controversial low-head dam.
But they didn’t have that information when they voted 5-4 Monday to approve the annual city budget.
Gahan has used city funds to fight a plan to remove the dam for more than four years. The city is involved in multiple related lawsuits, including some in which it is a defendant. But he has so far refused to disclose details on how much he’s spent.
Scott Blair is one of the council members who’s been outspoken in calling for information on the spending. On Monday, he proposed an amendment in hopes of working around the lack of information, but it failed by one vote.
That measure would have zeroed out a budget line he believes the city uses for some of the cost of litigating the dam. That way, the council would have to approve additional appropriations to use that fund.
“So we’re not taking anything away,” Blair said during the meeting. “We’re just asking them to come back to us and explain to us…how the money’s being used.”
Blair, who has requested the information multiple times, said after the meeting he had hoped to hold the mayor accountable.
“But we lost it tonight on a 5-to-4 vote,” he said. “Five members said that you know, ‘We're not going to hold them accountable for that information, and we're just going to move on without it.”
Legal battles, spending questions
Gahan’s administration is at odds with River Heritage Conservancy, which is overseeing plans for Origin Park, over the nonprofit’s plan to remove the dam.
The structure has historical, ecological and recreational importance to the city, Gahan has said.
The mother of a teen who drowned at the site last year is also suing the city and other entities for his death, and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources filed a complaint last year after Gahan had rocks placed in front of the dam to stop the hydraulic current.
The city recently lost two appeals in separate cases, but could still try to take matters to the Indiana Supreme Court.
The city has asked the mayor multiple times to say what the city is spending in these efforts. In a letter read to the council during Monday’s meeting, Gahan reiterated his reasoning: He maintains giving the requested details could hurt the city’s legal strategy.
“Just as before, this legal matter remains ongoing, and it would not be appropriate to release specific expenditures at this time,” his most recent letter reads.
Blair said Tuesday he thinks trying to get the information via his proposed budget maneuver was the last option.
Council Member Stefanie Griffith was among the minority who supported Blair’s amendment. She said during the meeting she doesn’t think there’s anything underhanded going on with the spending, but “it’s basically our right as the elected body to have that information.”
Member Chris FitzGerald said he wants transparency, but “I don’t want to have a department with one hand tied behind their back and dealing with court issues.”
Council President Adam Dickey said he understands some council members’ frustration. But he said he has an obligation to make sure city government can function.
He said Tuesday he was opposed to the amendment because he thought it could open up the city to difficulty in getting other city business done, such as code enforcement matters. And he is concerned it could impede the city as it works through its legal cases.
The council and mayor need to compromise, he said.
Dickey said he believes the mayor is not refusing or hiding transactions. He said the administration gives a monthly financial overview to the council, although it doesn’t say exactly what they’ve spent on the dam.
Council members may be out of options
Blair and Gohmann, who voted against the budget, and Jenny Collier, who voted to approve it, said Tuesday they weren't aware of any recourse the council has.
Collier said she opposed the measure to cut a fund used for legal spending because “I did not feel that the amendment Mr. Blair proposed last night was the responsible way to go about trying to force the mayor's hand.”
She also said it wouldn’t guarantee they would get the information.
Collier and some other council members hope there may be another opportunity for closure.
In Gahan’s letter to the council, he said the Indiana Department of Natural Resources has requested mediation “for all ongoing legal matters.” He said that’s encouraging because “mediation is what we have been seeking from the very beginning.”
It said the city has agreed to a mediation date in November. Gahan said in the letter the city hopes to reach a resolution that benefits all parties.
“Now, there is clearly an end in sight, and we are optimistic that this will lead to something positive for the people of New Albany,” he said in the letter.
A spokesperson for Indiana DNR said in an email to LPM News the parties have agreed to mediation in the case in which the city is accused of dumping rocks in front of the dam without permitting.
The council also approved 10% raises for non-union city employees and elected officials.
At a council meeting in September where the board passed the budget on first two readings, council member Gregg Phipps pointed out that the pay raises to elected officials include the city clerk, council and mayor.
“And it appears that two of those entities aren’t really doing their job to the fullest,” he said. “Mayor is not providing information we want, and we’re not really holding accountability.”
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