MUNCIE, Ind. — In Monday night’s city council meeting, following a 1 1/2 hour discussion on Ordinance 7-25, council approved a transfer of Opioid Settlement funds towards pay raises for police and fire. Two Democratic members, Brandon Garrett and Jerry Dishman, voted against the other four in their own party.

In one of the most tumultuous public meetings held recently at Muncie City Hall, dozens of community members were pitted against the Police department as well as Fire department over the possibility of city council passing an ordinance putting over $500,000 of Opioid Settlement funds distributed to Muncie into pay increases for public safety.

Tanya Pearson, a community advocate specializing in helping residents deal with addiction, opened up about her own experience battling addiction and the importance of such funding for combatting the crisis. Many believed that the funding should be used for the root of the issue rather than the 5% pay increases, and many cited the 10% raises given to police officers just a year prior.

Craig Wright and Matt Wagley, the Controller and Deputy Controller’s of the Ridenour administration, were confronted on whether other funding could be used for the pay increases such as EDIT funds. The two men denied that EDIT funds could be used for such pay increases.

EDIT funds were later used in the same evening for other pay increases through Ord. 16-25.

Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour did not speak at last night’s event. The sentiment of council-members Nora Powell and Sara Gullion, as well as many community members who spoke at the podium, was that the situation pitted the two causes against each other over the risk of an economic crisis for the city, as negotiations were done without council’s involvement and before the funding was talked about being transferred. Many advocates of prevention were hoping for an alternative that wasn’t an either-or situation, however after a motion was made to table the ordinance the vote was 5-4 against, followed by the ordinance being adopted by the same vote count.

District 4 councilor Sara Gullion created Res. 11-25 to establish an Opioid Advisory Committee that passed 9-0. However the advice of such a committee can still be disregarded by elected officials.