Former Monroe County Republican Party of Indiana chair William Ellis filed a petition with the Indiana Supreme Court on July 5 in an attempt to overturn an appeals court decision about a dispute over filling a vacant seat in Bloomington's plan commission.
Central to the dispute is a state law that says party chairs can appoint members if the mayor misses the deadline and if the seat belongs to their party. When Nicholas Kappas vacated his seat in January 2020, Mayor Hamilton missed the 60-day deadline to fill the seat.
Nicholas Kappas was unaffiliated with a party, making it unclear if Ellis has the authority to make an appointment in this case.
The petition now tasks the court with determining whether or not plan commission appointees must be affiliated with a political party.
It argues that Ellis’s appointment, Andrew Guenther, should fill the seat instead of Hamilton’s appointment, Chris Cockerham.
Indiana law mandates no more than three of five mayoral appointments to city plan commissions be affiliated with the same party. The plan commission has three Democrats appointed by Hamilton, meaning a Republican should be appointed to fill the vacant seat.
Cockerham voted in the 2020 Republican primary, but pulled a Democratic ballot in 2019. The petition argues Cockerham’s 2020 ballot does not count because he was appointed before primary election day, even though he submitted his ballot prior to appointment.
An initial ruling by Monroe Circuit Court 8 decided the case in Ellis’s favor. The Indiana Court of Appeals overturned this decision, claiming there is no requirement that an appointee be affiliated with a party.
Before the Indiana Supreme Court decides to hear the case, the city of Bloomington must file a response to the petition within 20 days after filing, followed in ten days by a response from Ellis and Guenther.
