Dems fail to override Ballard veto

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Democrats on the City-County Council say they're "disappointed" by the outcome of a special meeting.

"It's about our taxpayers," said Council president Maggie Lewis. "It's about you and I. It's about our neighborhoods being safe. To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement."

Lewis and her fellow Democrats wanted to override line item vetoes in their recently passed City-County budget. Mayor Greg Ballard eliminated $32 million and other funding for county agencies. They failed.

The math was against them. An override requires 20 votes. The council has only 16 Democrats.

Mayor Greg Ballard certainly knew that. He says his team had warned Democrats about his objections.

"We were telling them that some of this stuff that you're looking at we may not be able to live with. It may not be acceptable to us. Not to mention what you're going to be telling the Statehouse. But then they went ahead and did it anyway."

Ballard also said he vetoed those portions of the budget because, "I think the citizens are looking toward me to keep it stable, keep it consistent for the future."

Democrats such as Sheriff John Layton made it a public safety issue.

"Call me biased," Layton said before the votes. "But I'm telling you what: the priority has to be law enforcement. And making sure the public stays safe, first and foremost."

His department is one of the county agencies that won't have the money they wanted.

In a news conference after the overrides failed, Maggie Lewis said: "we're willing to have the conversation with the mayor. I cant stress that enough, we need to have a conversation about how do we get the dollars back into the council's budget so that we can ensure our county agencies can function come Jan. 1."

Negotiations may come, but Nov. 1 was the deadline to submit the city's budget plan to the state for review.