Valparaiso council ratifies Ordinance No. 20 after redlined edits; vote 4–1

Valparaiso City Council ratified Ordinance No. 20 on a 4–1 vote after staff and legal review clarified language on committee composition and methods for determining political affiliation.

Patrick, who reviewed a circulated redline version of the ordinance, told the council the substantive change appears in Section 4: "The total composition of the 6 voting members shall not exceed 3 individuals from the same political party," and he recommended referencing Indiana Code 36-1-8-10 to determine party affiliation. Patrick said the citation provides a method—primarily primary voting history or, as a fallback, certification by county party officials—for resolving ambiguous party claims.

At the roll call on the ratification, Doomer voted no; Papillo, Anderson, Capitan and Hunt voted yes, producing a 4–1 outcome. The clerk announced, "Ordinance number 20 passes with a 4 to 1 vote." The council recorded the vote without further amendment.

The council also approved minutes from the Oct. 27 meeting with an amendment to note that a prior ordinance vote was "passed subject to ratification," reflecting a ratification step that staff said would be memorialized by the city attorney.

Next steps: No additional ordinances or resolutions were taken at the meeting. The ratified ordinance will be included in the city record; staff indicated editorial and consistency edits were largely stylistic but that Section 4 reflected substantive clarification on membership composition and party-determination procedure.