Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer

WARSAW — Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer has issued a statement regarding the ruling Tuesday, Aug. 22, by Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt regarding allegations the city violated the Access To Public Records Act and the Indiana Open Door Law.

“The city is pleased with the ruling by the public access counselor that the list of anonymous donors, protected by state statute, shall remain confidential. Those donations, representing a very small portion (less than 4 percent) of the total donated funds, were given under the condition of anonymity. With nothing other than ‘skepticism,’ the allegations of impropriety were ill founded,” stated Thallemer.

“With regard to the open door law, the city has maintained a practice of seeking prior approval of issues with time sensitivity, a practice that was previously statutorily approved and followed by the last two administrations. Those decisions have always been publicly and openly ratified at subsequent board of works meetings. The ruling against that practice is the result of an opinion handed down a few years ago by the public access counselor. We have adjusted our procedures to reflect that ruling.

“I will also reiterate that the acceptance of the alleyway activation project by our donors, by our citizens and by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority has been gratifying. Our process was open and followed state statutes. Deliberating early to accept the state grant and then ratifying that acceptance at the next board of works meeting was a procedural error that had absolutely no impact on the outcome or propriety of the project.”

Thallemer, in speaking about openly ratifying decisions, is referring to Indiana Code 36-1-4-16, which states: “A unit may ratify any action of the unit or its officers or employees if that action could have been approved in advance. Ratification of an action under this section must be made by the same procedure that would have been required for approval of the action in advance.”