The July 14th, 2025 Valparaiso city council began with recognition for the 2025 city Government Academy graduates. Valpo city government academy is a free seven week, once weekly course the city offers to residents. The meetings take place at various places around town like the police station, fire department, and waste water management facility, among others, where residents learn about the functioning of the local government that supports our community. Mayor Costas commented “Local government is important, it touches your life really more than federal or state government on a daily basis and so it’s important to get engaged.” Inquire with the city for registration in the next session.
Council then approved Resolution 7, 2025 establishing a committee on budget and finance comprised of three council members to be determined. The budget committee instead of the entire council would review the yearly budget and then give recommendation to the council on how to proceed.
There was an ordinance passed for some changes to the municipal code concerning city cemetery procedure for who does headstone footings, the city will be doing them so that there is uniformity in quality.
Councilman Hunt brought back her previously tabled ordinance concerning the Mayoral Advisory Human Relations Council (HRC) which would bring it under the purview of the council instead of merely advising the Mayor. This ordinance was first brought to the April 14th, 2025 council meeting with much opposition from other council members, the Mayor, and the Human Relation Council head herself saying “I fear the HRC will become just a political animal and I can have no part in using minority groups to champion my political position.”
The HRC had started a community cultural educational grant program instead of choosing which minority group to locally promote but at last council meeting 6-23-25 the Mayor read a prepared statement after public comment ending the grant program. The secretary for LGBTQ Outreach of Porter County had spoken during public comment to express his disappointment in the grants being rescinded.
The LGBTQ Outreach group was planning on using tax payers money to bring transgender writer and activist to the Valparaiso Public Library to read from his book about “reading and allies training program,” that offers a community training program for trans allies. The Mayor’s response “I have come to the conclusion that tax dollars should not be used to fund cultural projects that are focused on a defined minority, lifestyle, or viewpoint, but rather expended to deliver core city services to our citizenry, therefore I believe the best approach is to decline funding to all pending HRC cultural grants and focus HRC efforts into other avenues for ensuring that minority populations are heard, valued and served well in Valparaiso.”
This cancellation of the transgender reading hour at the Valpo Library by the Mayor more than likely revitalized councilman the attempt to take control of the HRC by the Democrat majority city council. This was the first reading and was carried over to the next council meeting for a vote.
The Vice Chair of the HRC who represents houses of worship on the HRC spoke out at public comment saying that none of the council members trying to take control of the HRC have even bothered to go to any of their regular council meetings, noting “It seems like we are looking for problems where there may not be problems specifically for some of the issues people think are going on.”
The Mayor suggested the Democrat city council make its own human relations council and then he can decide what to do with his. “Some council members have expressed they want it to function in a different way, otherwise you wouldn’t be doing this. But my position as Mayor is much different than your position as city council.”
There was also an ordinance passed on final reading establishing new impact fees for parks and recreation. These are one time fees for new housing construction built anywhere in Valparaiso to support our parks and park programs as the city grows. The raise in the impact fee puts us on par with what other local communities charge.
Minutes of the June 23, 2025 Valparaiso City Council Meeting.
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
Recent Meeting Highlights:
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- A recent meeting included discussions about opioid grant recipients and the impact of the funds.
- Another meeting focused on a resolution recommending a downtown liquor license for Cafe Farina.
- One meeting in 2025 regarding a proposed Data Center meeting saw a large public turnout regarding a specific issue, leading to a crowded chamber and locked doors.
Public Participation: Citizens can address the council during designated periods, often with time limits and specific protocols. On Monday August 11th, the Council Overrode the Mayor’s Veto, read the full story here.MORE VALPARAISO RELATED ARTICLES . . .
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Susie Young Baxter, CEO, has published PanoramaNOW Magazine for 31 years. Her hobbies are Camping, Boating, Hiking, Nature, Gardening and Outdoor Activities. She is an Artist, Graphic Designer, an Avid Seamstress, Dabbles in Homemade Crafts and Landscaping. Since her Father was a Health Teacher, she also likes homeopathic Health Solutions. Since blogging started over 10 years ago, PanoramaNow has been added to Newsbreak – a national news affiliate.
