One week from today, our local city council is expected to vote on Ordinance 7-25, which would transfer over $500,000 that Muncie received from an Opioid Settlement fund to salary increases for the police and fire departments. Considering that our nine council-members voted unanimously to introduce the ordinance, it seems likely that they’re considering adopting it, unless enough people speak out against it on the April 7th meeting.

The Indiana Commission to Combat Substance Use Disorder recommends that the funds go towards treating addiction, however the portion being used for the pay increases comes from an unrestricted part of the Opioid fund that can potentially go towards anything the city wants. But does this mean it’s right? Absolutely not.

If 75% of Muncie’s whole budget already goes towards public safety, why should we use this once in a lifetime opportunity for something far removed from what it’s intended for? People like Ridenour might try framing that as an anti-union stance against our police and fire unions (even though he’s responsible for the 18+ months it took on negotiations with AFSCME Local 3656), or even suggesting that critics like myself want to “defund” the police. In reality, we don’t have a set plan to complete the Crisis Center anytime soon, and yet he’s willing to use this money out of nowhere.

For some context, police already received a 10% raise last year, and this would provide an additional 5%. Not only that, but our council already made $2 million in budget cuts at the end of 2024 for the sole purpose of allowing more increases, not only for police and fire but for our city employees’ union. In the whole ordeal of dealing with the budget for 2025, Ridenour was unresponsive to council, used shaky legal ground to bypass working with them, and pushed our elected officials out of meetings with our unions. 

There were then three positions in the administration, ones that were already points of contention in the community, that were cut. They were 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 had a budget that was razor thin, which Matt Wagley even acknowledged, then why should we have any focus on funding the administration when AFSCME was at risk of losing a contract?

Even though the $2 million was cut from the general fund last year, for the sole purpose of giving negotiating power to our unions, Ridenour has somehow attempted to convince them that the budget cuts by council hurt his capability to increase their salaries. And yet, he also managed to retain his Communications Director and Deputy Controller, making his real priorities blatantly obvious. Not to mention that once a contract was figured out with AFSCME this month, the “me too” clause they advocated strongly for was taken out. Let’s also not forget that he recently threw $650,000 in EDIT funds towards purchasing the former Concannon’s Baker Property, something which our most involved community members opposed.

We can hope that even if this does pass, there will be better plans in place to use the rest of the funds the right way. Council is also introducing a resolution that would establish an advisory committee for the Opioid funds that they could hear from, however it’s not guaranteed if our mayor would listen since their recommendations could still be ignored. On the police and fire raises, he’s holding their bargaining power hostage in the face of council, and only allowing raises if we throw away this potential solution to addiction. But don’t take it from just me in the upcoming week, take it from the other community members ready to oppose it.