The October 27th, 2025 Valparaiso City Council meeting began as always with the Pledge of Allegiance. The Council Chambers were near capacity, full of people there to support the Citizen Redistricting Advisory Commission. There were several items before that on the agenda though.
There was a Resolution dealing with granting the downtown restaurant, Radius, a new liquor license for their new location. The council had previously allowed Radius to move their license to the new location but because of state laws concerning the downtown historic specialty license it was not allowed to change location. So the council issued a new liquor license for the new location and the license at the current location will be given back to the city when they move. There is only one downtown liquor license left for potential restaurant development. Radius is planning on being in their new location within eight months.
The Next two Ordinances were the final reading and council vote for the city 2026 budget and the Valparaiso 2026 salary Ordinance. Both passed unanimously. The next hour and fifteen minutes was spent amending and discussing the last ordinance on the agenda, Councilwoman Barb Domer’s legislation creating the Valparaiso Citizens Redistricting Advisory Commission, along with public comment on the ordinance. In Councilwoman Domers’s introduction to the second reading she introduced two amendments to the ordinance. First was Mayor Costas’s suggestion for consistency with other commissions and to remove the compensation section of the ordinance. Second was that instead of each district council member appointing one voting member to the commission, the council would jointly appoint all voting members. These amendments needed to be voted on by council in order for them to amend. The council voted party lines, 5 Democrats in favor, 2 Republicans against.
Councilman Peter Anderson offered several amendments to the ordinance to safeguard against a one party majority city council appointing commission members all from one party. Councilwomen Emilie Hunt and Diana Reed supported the idea while Domer opposed. It was proposed at first to add a member to the commission, and then that it be half Democrat and half Republican. Through discussion and not wanting to exclude Independents or smaller parties it was agreed upon to word it so that it has six members with no more than 3 members from any one party. This amendment was voted on but did not follow party lines, it passed 4 to 3, Kapitan, Domer, and Cotton voted no, while Hunt, Reed, Anderson, and Pupillo voted yes. The amended Ordinance itself was then voted on, everyone but Councilwoman Barbara Domer voted to adopt the Ordinance.
During council liaison reports, where council recounts the business of the various committees they are on, Robert Cotton, from the “standpoint of human relations” wanted to express concern for individuals within the community who might have “potential issues with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)”. Cotton continued saying “I wanted to make certain that the standard of conduct we will exercise on behalf of our current citizens…I’d like to see, whatever we as a city can do to show support for due process”. Later during public comment a citizen stated “I would like to correct something Mr. Cotton said, if someone has potential issues with ICE, they are not a citizen.”
The Public comment consisted of support and thanks for our local police at the last ‘No Kings” protest but also criticism for ticketing excessive car horn use. There were also comments in opposition to ICE and in support of illegal immigrants. Councilman Cotton spoke up again on the topic saying “We should be very proactive with a general statement or stance with respect to who we are when we say we are Valpo.” One gentleman brought into question the behavior of BZA (Board of Zoning Appeals) member Hanna Trueblood saying basically that she, after a partial continuance, publicly advocated against the still-pending petition on social media, evidencing prejudgment / impermissible bias and inviting ex parte communication, making her further participation improper and any ensuing decision vulnerable on judicial review because state statute was not followed.”
The next Valparaiso City Council meeting is November 10th at 6:00pm.
Valparaiso City Council meetings are held on the second and fourth Mondays of each month.
Meeting Time: The meetings begin at 6:00 PM.
Location: The meetings are held in the City Council chambers at City Hall.
Public Access: The meetings are open to the public, and citizens can attend in person.
Meetings are Recorded: Watch City Council Meetings Online here
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