In a radio segment with Steve Lindell, which was a complete softball interview, Dan Ridenour was thrown leading questions about a “politically motivated” council that was only ever out to get him with the recent civil budget. As Lindell also skimmed a several-months long saga, which includes Ridenour trying to break apart the city employees union, there were also several attempts by the Ridenour administration to shape the story to their liking. Through press releases, community update videos, and online articles that were copy and pasted from Amber Greene directly, they continued to place blame on council as recently as mid-November.

Not only is it Lindell, but the Star Press has missed opportunities in the past year to ask questions to the administration about unavailable information that should be public, or their inability to work with the new council, which unlike last year isn’t a close Republican-majority. When the Post-Democrat reached out to the Mayor’s office asking about the three positions cut, there was zero acknowledgement about the reasons laid out by Nora Powell on the October 23rd meeting. Instead it was a standard PR statement of “I am pleased that the council has completed their work with the budget. This allows myself and my administration to continue our work on the great things going on in Muncie.” Here’s what Ridenour is missing:

Going back to mid-2024, the Ridenour administration was unresponsive to questions from the council. Notably in the August session, Nora Powell stated publicly that she requested the budget be presented for that evening, however it wouldn’t be filed until past the August 26th deadline. It was submitted to City Clerk Belinda Munson’s office past 4pm and not officially filed until the next day, and another three departments were missing from it. Council-member Nora Powell also asked to be part of discussions with the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF), however the administration wouldn’t allow her to sit in. Additionally, Billy McIntosh volunteered publicly to be present in upcoming meetings for negotiations for both police and fire and received no response.

Between September and October, multiple council and finance committee meetings were held leading to the last amends to the budget on October 23rd. Council was aware of the interest income mentioned by Ridenour and factored it in, and all information that council used to make the amended changes was confirmed by the DLGF. Ridenour admitted to errors in the proposed budget, which were in the millions, at the second finance committee meeting on September 29th. And, when it came to other cuts besides the three defunded positions, the fire department was willing to cut where they could.

Most importantly, the budget as explained by Ridenour has zero to say about the AFSCME negotiations going on for eighteen months, going back all the way to May of 2023. The $2 million in cuts was made not only for their negotiations but also for the police and fire unions that aren’t expected to be figured out until later. And so at the final meeting pertaining to the budget on October 23rd, the bomb hit when Harold Mason made the last motion that would cut Deputy Mayor Richard Ivy, Deputy Controller Matt Wagley, and Communications Director Amber Greene. The Deputy Mayor position was previously vacant for over a decade before Ridenour filled it in late 2020. And, going back decades to the administration of David Dominick (1992-1996), residents were frustrated that city funds were going towards an unneeded position.

The position of Communications Director has been a source of bitterness for residents since Ridenour’s first term. The position oversees Muncie’s official Facebook page, which many have accused of helping Ridenour’s reelection campaign and limiting access to residents in recent months. We also have to wonder, is Deputy Controller a needed position when we already Controller Craig Wright to begin with? But the point is, if we have a budget that was razor thin, which Matt Wagley even acknowledged, then why should we have any focus on funding the administration when AFSCME is at risk of losing a contract?

And now, Ridenour is finding new ways to fund Amber Greene and Matt Wagley’s positions. He decided not to veto the amends by council, despite not only continuing to harp on it but seemingly working with local media to present his own story. Amber Greene’s press release on the matter came out and was republished by Woof Boom News, yet another story on the budget that doesn’t tell anything about the union negotiations, two videos posted by Ridenour on the budget, and lets not forget that commenting is prevented on their Facebook. In other words, they expect people who are less engaged to skim through and see their headlines, while crushing any opposing views they can.