By: City of Muncie Communications—
Muncie, IN—In his ruling on June 18th, Special Judge Haviza confirmed that Muncie City Civil Engineer, Brian Stephens-Hotopp, who was appointed by newly elected Mayor, Dan Ridenour at the start of the year, is entitled to serve as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Muncie Sanitary District by virtue of his office. This court ruling ends a long delay as Hotopp was denied his seat by the current board during the January 15, 2020 meeting, the first meeting of 2020.
“I am very pleased that Brian can now serve on the MSD Board as he has been entitled by statute to do since January. It is about time.” – Mayor Ridenour.
Judge Haviza also held that the MSD Board would have four members until the end of 2020, despite the fact that the city ordinance creating the district and the state law under which it was created only provided for three members. This may call into question future decisions of the Sanitary Board.
“With all due respect to the judge, I am not excited to add a member to a board in a manner that clearly doesn’t follow council ordinance language. It seems off to me. I feel I was elected by the public to create a city government that follows the rules. The ordinance clearly says 3 members, so I am working to get the council to authorize this action prior to the July 1st MSD Board meeting so that we do this the right way,” said Mayor Ridenour.
