There was above average attendance at the council meeting Monday night, February 24th, 2025. The resolutions and ordinances were taken out of order due to there being two competing pieces of municipal legislation that were presented last, together for comment.
The first order of business was an ordinance brought by the new council president Ellen Kapitan and Hunt. This ordinance appropriates up to 150,000 dollars for council legal services and consultative purposes. Councilman Cotton pointed out this was the same as last year’s ordinance and that less than a thousand was used as City Council Funds.
Next ordinance gets the paving season funding underway with appropriations of funds over nine million dollars to put into improving our streets. Both of these will be back next meeting for second reading and a vote.
The two pieces vying for council approval were read next. Both dealt with projects receiving economic incentives from the city of Valparaiso. One a resolution proposed by council members Pupillo (R) and Anderson (R), the other an ordinance by Robert Cotton (D). The key difference between the two was that with Cotton’s ordinance there was stipulation requiring “Evidence of participation in apprenticeship programs” for contractors. This was the source of the debate that unfolded over the next hour. This phrase concerning labor first appeared in Valparaiso ordinances in 2016 with an ordinance to establish responsible bidding practices and submissions requirements for submitting bids to perform construction work on public works projects.
The phrase about apprenticeships was put in at the behest of the Indiana Illinois Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting FFC, a pro union nonprofit construction industry foundation. They are also the ones who helped Cotton draft the ordinance being presented to council now.
The conversation unfolded as first the mayor spoke and laid out the format that was to follow. He would speak, then Valparaiso’s director of development George Douglas and veteran building commissioner Vicki Thrasher, followed by public comment, then councilmembers statements and debate.
I will summarize the mayor, director of development and building commissioner’s statements together as they were all speaking from the same position and echoing the same message, that both of these are inherently unnecessary, but the Pupillo/ Anderson resolution may be more practical for our city if they were to choose.
Cotton’s ordinance extends the requirements for bidding on work the city does with tax dollars onto the private sector for any developer looking for a city incentive on projects over $150,000 dollars. This narrowing of the playing field for private sector development while excluding small and new businesses, could limit competition which could potentially increase costs and reduce development in Valparaiso. This degree of government regulation is not warranted by the current concerns about the Link development. This response, while addressing one concern, has the potential to negatively affect the development of Valparaiso. It also introduces processes that are not practical for building, and involves city employees that were not consulted on how and if their department could handle it. There is a waiver process and council involvement that could add weeks onto a developer even being able to know if he can use a certain contractor. The mayor and the two other city employees made it clear this would be disastrous for the city of Valparaiso’s future growth and development.
The Pupillo/Anderson resolution had the flexibility for the council to enact those standards but did not, like the Cotton ordinance, make them mandatory. The Pupillo/Anderson resolution was later voted down by a majority vote. The public comments were split. Three union representatives spoke in support of Cotton’s ordinance along with the director of Construction Advancement Foundation of Northwest Indiana, who spoke of a non-union counterpart. A local contractor and the Valparaiso Economic Development Corporation spoke in favor of the Pupillo/Anderson resolution outlining the potential harms of Cotton’s. This obvious support by local unions makes another public comment somewhat interesting. This person drew attention to the FFC mentioned earlier in this article and how this nonprofit’s influence on the wording in our local ordinances might be fancy language to skirt us around our state’s right to work laws. Stating that Valparaiso is being used as a way to test state law concerning unions.
Council comment and discussion was next and the council was split along party lines between Democrats for Cottons ordinance and Republicans for the Pupillo/Anderson resolution
except for councilwoman Reed a Democrat who offered some reasons to heed concern for Cottons ordinance.
Reed “I have questions on who and how” speaking of Cotton’s ordinance, she continues, “the process for managing, tracking and verifying shall be established by the city council.” She is
reading from Cotton’s ordinance. “Isn’t this something that should be figured out and presented in conjunction with this ordinance? If this ordinance is established we immediately do not have a
method for managing, tracking or verifying the documents. The city does not have the personal right away to do that nor have they established themselves to do that.” She then goes on to site
all the times the ordinance vaguely refers to the “city” receiving documents and verifying information without clearly establishing who the city is.
Council president Kapitan in response to public comment of Council acting as a reactionary organization said “Is this ordinance reactionary? Maybe.” Kapitan, Hunt, Domer and
Cotton along with the Valparaiso Democratic Committee Facebook page were all saying the same thing, this is to protect the taxpayers and has nothing to do with unions.
While the Republican councilmembers Pupillo and Anderson, along with the mayor and city employees all were pointing out the flaws and potential harms this ordinance could do to our city’s development. Councilman Anderson ended the discussion by saying “We have a mayor that has for the last almost twenty years had not only the vision but the know-how, the expertise and leadership skill to essentially develop this city. We have an economic development director telling us this ordinance is a bad deal. We have the director of the Valpo Economic Development Corporation telling us that this ordinance does not work, and also the building commissioner. Why are we not paying any deference to the expertise of any of these people?”
The Pupillo/Anderson resolution failed 4 to 3 against and the Cotton ordinance was carried to the next council meeting for the final vote. Mayor Costas and councilman Jack Pupillo
both commented on their appreciation for community conversation. Next Council Meeting is March Monday, 10th.
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Aftermath Cidery & Winery ; Bao’s Pastry ; Be Good Juicerie ; Designer Desserts-Valparaiso;
Don Quijote Imports; E&A Jewelers ; Ella Jayms ; FLUID Coffee Roasters – Downtown Valparaiso ; FLUID Coffee Roasters – Valpo South;
Hungry Hound Boutique & Grooming ; Indie Indie Bang Bang ; Journeyman Distillery; Lifestyles ; Market 102 ; Merit Pilates;
Birdie’s ; Old World Market ; Peddlers Pizza Pub ; Pickles Kids; Pikk’s Tavern ; RADIUS-Valpo; Rocket Fizz Valparaiso, Indiana ; Scented Science
Silcott Shoes ; Six Cypress Boutique; The Spice & Tea Exchange; The Press; Toys in the Attic – Valpo Valpo Vintage;
vALPARAISO, INDIANA; ValpoEvents; Valparaiso Events; Things to do in Valparaiso; Downtown Valparaiso; Valparaiso Restaurants; Valparaiso Boutiques
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.
