The Merrillville Town Council plans to appeal a joined declaratory judgment that both reestablishes its Town Court and states that its Clerk-Treasurer should’ve been allowed to cast a tie-breaking vote to do it.
Lake Superior Court Civil Division Judge Bruce Parent, in the judgment filed December 26, ruled that Indiana Code provides that a town clerk-treasurer “is an ex officio member [of the town council] for the purpose of casting the deciding vote to break a tie,” but that the council precluded him from doing so during a May 14 vote to reestablish the court. Using an “embarrassingly old copy of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary,” Parent wrote that a tie is defined as “an equality in number (as of votes)” or “an undecided or deadlocked contest,” according to court documents.
Because the vote was, by definition, a tie, January should’ve been allowed to vote, making the vote four in favor and three against, Parent wrote in the ruling.
Town Attorney Joe Sventanoff in a statement he read said the Town Council believes the court’s decision was wrong on three counts: There was no true deadlock because there was an abstention vote; it found that the Town Court could be reestablished upon only one reading of the ordinance, which conflicts with law that says an ordinance must be adopted “only on two readings unless otherwise allowed”; and that January would’ve voted in favor of the Town Court “even though his official vote had not been cast.”
“Also, we are of the opinion that the Trial Court did not consider current case law and the latest version of Robert’s Rules of Order, which both directly discuss and interpret abstentions as being considered a “No” vote,” Svetanoff said. “The Town is preparing a Motion to Correct Error so the Trial Court can reconsider its order, or vigorously file an appeal of this case to the Court of Appeals and possibly the Supreme Court.
Sventanoff added that out of the five years the Town has been battling over the Town Court, the December 26 ruling was the first ruling that didn’t go in the Town’s favor and that the Town is confident it’ll prevail in closing the court and clarifying the Clerk-Treasurer’s voting role.
January said that he believes it’s clear the court made the right decision and that he “hates to see the Town continue to waste money on litigation when the Court should just be open as the order said.”
The council voted at the May 14 meeting 3-3-1, with Councilwomen Shauna Haynes-Edwards, D-2, Leona Chandler, D-3, and Marge Uzelac, D-4, voting on first reading to re-establish the town court after a years-long fight, and Councilmen Rick Bella, D-5, and Shawn Pettit, D-6, and Councilwoman Keesha Hardaway, D-7, voting against it, the Post-Tribune previously reported. Councilwoman Rhonda Neal, D-1, abstained from voting.
Indiana Code says that if a voting member of a body refuses to vote when a majority vote is required, their abstention is considered a “No” vote. Furthermore, the only way the Clerk-Treasurer would be called in to vote would be if there were an even number of councilors present at the vote; since Neal was present — making it a full council of seven — the ordinance had to be passed by majority, or four votes, the Post-Tribune previously reported.
Attorneys with the State Board of Accounts and Accelerate Indiana Municipalities ended up clarifying to January and Town Manager Michael Griffin that because Neal was present and abstained from the vote — a point January didn’t explain to them, they said — Svetanoff was in the best position to decide the matter. Griffin offered to bring the matter to the Attorney General’s office, but January declined and threatened litigation, the Post-Tribune previously reported.
The Town Council voted in December 2019 to abolish the Town Court as of Dec. 31, 2020, saying it was losing money on top of having hundreds of thousands of dollars embezzled from it. On the same day that it was supposed to close, a caucus chose Judge Eugene Velazco to fill the seat of former Town Judge Gina Jones, who was appointed to Lake Superior Court by Gov. Eric Holcomb.
In 2016, former Merrillville Town Court clerk Virlissa Crenshaw pled guilty to stealing $176,763 in funds from the town in U.S. District Court in Hammond. A State Board of Accounts audit found $310,325 in missing bond payments, traffic tickets and ordinance violations, and said there could have been more money missing but some receipts had been shredded.
Velazco was granted an injunction in Lake Superior Court in January 2021 that stopped the court from shutting down until the matter could be heard and a certified public accountant completed a full audit of the court’s cash bond account. In turn, the Town Court, after reinstating its full operations, was instructed to wind down operations, not take on new cases and start transferring more lengthy cases to Lake Superior Court, County Division.
The matter came up again in August 2022 when the Town Council planned to discuss closing the court September 30, 2022 at a Town Council meeting. The item was met with blowback from the community, and attorneys for Lake County Clerk Mike Brown filed a motion enjoining his office to Velazco’s suit.
The council, via Parent’s order, subsequently amended the ordinance to remove the closure date and to provide that the clerk-treasurer, Lake County clerk of court and Indiana Office of Court Services would be given detailed instructions on winding down the town court. It passed in October 2022.
Velazco then filed a new lawsuit against the town council saying the amendments were so substantial, the ordinance should’ve been presented again on first reading, not second reading, court documents said. The two cases were consolidated and the parties each filed for summary judgement, which Velazco lost, according to court records.
Velazco then appealed, but the Court of Appeals in January denied his appeal because Velazco “was not only aware of the amendments to the ordinance; he participated in drafting them and ultimately agreed to them,” court documents show.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
