James Brainard

James Brainard is the mayor of Carmel, Indiana, a principal city in the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Brainard, who first took office January 1, 1996, is currently serving his seventh consecutive four-year term, most recently reelected in 2019.[1] Mayor Brainard is one of Indiana's longest serving mayors. He has led a city whose population has grown from 25,000 in 1996 to 100,000 in 2019. His keynote projects have been the creation of a new downtown called City Center, where a new 1,600-seat concert hall, the Palladium, opened in 2011; the redevelopment of the oldest part of town into a new Arts & Design District; and building several more city parks and trails.[2]

James Brainard
Mayor of Carmel, Indiana
Assumed office
January 1, 1996
Preceded byTed Johnson
Personal details
Born1954 (age 65–66)
Bristol, Indiana
Political partyRepublican
ResidenceCarmel, Indiana
Alma materButler University
Claude Pettit College of Law
OccupationLecturer
Politician
WebsiteOfficial website
Nickname(s)Jim

Early life and education

Raised in Bristol, Indiana, the son of Jack and Dortha, he was always interested in music. He considered majoring in it but since he wanted to go to law school, he chose to follow his parents to Butler University because of their history department's reputation. After graduating in 1976, he went on to the law school at Ohio Northern University. He graduated in 1982.

Political views

Transportation policy

Brainard is frequently asked to speak about city planning, redevelopment and roadway networks. Under his administration, the City of Carmel has eliminated dozens of traffic signals and dangerous intersections, replacing them with roundabouts. Carmel, with 122 roundabouts as of January 2019, has more roundabouts than any other city in the United States.[3] The policy has resulted in a reduction of both carbon emissions and intersection accidents. Prior to his election, he guided the construction of the first roundabout in city limits at the corner of River Road and Main Street (currently the city's largest roundabout) in 1996 as part of private construction, and oversaw the first publicly funded roundabout's construction as mayor the following year at 126th Street and Hazel Dell Road.

Climate and energy

Brainard is a moderate Republican who has earned a national reputation for defending efforts to fight against the effects of global warming.[4] Brainard is serving as a Trustee and co-chair of the Energy Independence and Climate Protection Task Force for the U.S. Conference of Mayors. In November 2013 he was appointed to the Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience by the President of the United States. He traveled in 2015 to four cities in India to represent the United States as part of the US State Department's speaker's bureau. Also, in 2015 he was asked to speak on energy and climate policy at the German-American Centers in five German cities.[5] Additionally, he has been a guest lecturer for Georgetown University, Butler University, Indiana University and Purdue University among others. He often speaks to city councils and planning commissions across the United States about city design and development. Because of his views, Brainard "was tapped to be on President Obama's Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience. He [also] won first place honors from the 2008 Mayor's Climate Protection Awards Program."[6] In 2013, it was announced he would be "one of 26 local government representatives who make up a new task force to help communities deal with the effects of climate change."[7]

Fiscal and health policy

Brainard is also a fiscal conservative who has invested millions of dollars in local redevelopment projects while keeping the city tax rate among the lowest among cities in the state of Indiana.[8] Because of Brainard's activity to create a health-conscious community, Carmel has received various awards for its healthy living.[9]

Concerns have been raised in recent years about Brainard's handling of Carmel city finances. In 2015 the city overestimated tax revenues by over $5 million and was forced to reallocate funds between accounts to meet then current obligations.[10] In 2017 S&P downgraded Carmel's long-term bond rating from AA-plus to AA, noting a $300 million increase in debt over the prior 3 years. In its analysis, S&P noted "In our view, this demonstrates the risk of high leverage and a heavy dependence on sometimes more volatile tax-increment revenues. We feel the city's crowded budget and high fixed costs leave it vulnerable to unanticipated economic or operational swings."[11]

In response to a question about the Green New Deal, Brainard has said, "I think we have [to] find that middle ground where we can do things that encourage green jobs—do things that help the economy and reduce carbon at the same time."[12]

Civil rights and diversity

In 2015, he proposed and the City Council passed a new ordinance to designed to protect human rights regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity. The issue was first raised in Carmel during the election campaign and came to its closure during a time of heightened awareness.[13] Brainard claims to be a supporter of diversity in Carmel. He hosts an annual Iftar for the local Muslim community and established a new Carmel Interfaith Alliance in the fall of 2015 designed to bring together pastors and religious leaders from a variety of faiths.[14] Brainard has said, "When I study the history of our cities, I see that the most important advances take place when people of diverse backgrounds meet. Carmel's diversity brings a richness to the fabric of our community, and our freedom of religion should be celebrated."[15] On the other hand, following a November, 2019 investigation by a local news program, I-team 8, which found that African Americans received traffic tickets at eighteen times their rate in the local populations, Brainard declined an interview and stated "A large portion of our Asian population are Indians, which, through a car window would appear to be … a dark skin color [...] We talk with those folks all the time and they — I’ve never gotten a complaint they’re pulled over at any greater rate than anyone else".[16]

Carmel and protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd

On June 1, 2020, in the wake of a nationwide outbreak of protests against police brutality and racism in policing, Brainard and the city of Carmel released a statement saying that they had retained outside counsel and had sought to sue the city of Minneapolis for alleged costs incurred in "increased security" as a result of said protests.[17] In the press release, Brainard is quoted, stating "I encourage other cities to join us in this lawsuit for recovery of our costs. Those in power need to understand the far-reaching consequences of their actions".[18] The threat made national news, and Brainard subsequently publicly retracted the city's plan that same day evening.[19]

Awards
  • 2013 International Making Cities Livable Joseph P. Riley Jr. Award "for his inspirational leadership in creating a vibrant, multi-functional heart for Carmel, IN."[20]
  • 2012 American Council of Engineering Companies of Indiana (ACEC Indiana) Public Service Award [21]
  • 2011 Local Arts Leadership award for the "Support the Arts fund, which mandates that one percent of the city's general fund support local arts organizations."[22]

References
  1. "City of Carmel, IN : History". www.carmel.in.gov. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  2. Schneider, Keith (1 July 2014). "Redevelopment of Carmel, Ind., Has a European Flair". Retrieved 3 May 2017 – via NYTimes.com.
  3. "Carmel releases timeline for $229M of roadwork". indystar.com. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  4. Commons, the urbanophile / Creative. "Q&A: In Indiana, fighting climate change by rethinking the suburb". Midwest Energy News. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  5. "Brainard discusses climate change in India, Germany". indystar.com. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  6. Yerman, Marcia G. (7 July 2014). "Republican Mayor Jim Brainard Believes in the Science of Climate Change". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  7. "Carmel Mayor James Brainard to help White House on climate change issues". indystar.com. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  8. "Property Tax Rates by County: STATS Indiana". www.stats.indiana.edu. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  9. "City of Carmel, IN : City Wide Awards". www.carmel.in.gov. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  10. https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2015/12/09/carmel-go-broke/77002216/. Retrieved 4 April 2019. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. "Carmel's 'rapidly increasing debt' leads to drop in credit rating". Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  12. Vyse, Graham (2019-04-05). "The GOP Mayor Pushing Climate Change Policies in Congress". Governing, the Future of States and Localities. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  13. Fischer, Jordan (6 October 2015). "Carmel City Council passes anti-discrimination ordinance in 4-3 vote". theindychannel.com. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  14. "Carmel Interfaith Alliance organizes cleanup of Monon Trail". currentincarmel.com. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  15. "Mayor hosts members of Muslim community". currentincarmel.com. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  16. Stephanie Zepelin (18 November 2019). "Carmel police ticket black drivers at higher rate, data shows". Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  17. "Carmel to sue Minneapolis for security costs". currentincarmel.com. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  18. "UPDATE: Carmel putting lawsuit against Minneapolis on hold". currentincarmel.com. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  19. Sikich, Chris, John Tuohy, and Kaitlin Lange (1 June 2020). "Carmel Mayor Brainard backs off plan to sue Minneapolis over costs associated with riots". currentincarmel.com. Retrieved 3 June 2020.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. "Mayor James Brainard, Carmel, IN awarded 2013 IMCL Joseph P. Riley Jr. Award - International Making Cities Livable". www.livablecities.org. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  21. "Mayor James Brainard received 2012 Public Service Award". acecindiana.org. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  22. "Mayor James Brainard (R - Carmel, IN)". americansforthearts.org. 31 December 1969. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
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