Gary Common Council overrides pocket veto on 23rd & Grant Commerce Center PUD

The Gary Common Council voted 6-3 on May 6 to override what the clerk described as a pocket veto on an April 15 ordinance creating the 23rd and Grant Commerce Center planned-unit development (PUD).

City Clerk Susette Rags read a May 6 letter to the council explaining that ordinance CPO 2025-17 had been presented to Mayor Eddie Melton and was not signed or vetoed within 10 calendar days, which the clerk said constituted a pocket veto. "Please be aware that council penny ordinance 2025-17 as titled above was adopted by the Gary Common Council on Tuesday, April 15, 2025 and presented to the mayor...has not been returned to the clerk's office with the signature or veto action upon the lapsing of the 10 calendar days constituting a pocket veto," the clerk stated during the meeting.

Councilwoman Linda Barnes Cwell moved to override the pocket veto; after a roll call the motion passed six to three. "With a vote of six yes and three nos, the veto has been overridden," the clerk announced.

Council debate was limited in the public record; several council members later expressed frustration with how the administration communicated its position. At the meeting's close, Councilman Darren Washington criticized the administration for announcing disapproval of projects on local radio without first consulting council members, saying the practice undercuts coordination: "We were not contacted about the mayor's disapproval of the Beckman project...to receive a message through WLTH and then a letter in the mail — that's not how we do business." Washington said better direct communication between the administration and council members is needed for major redevelopment decisions.

The override restores the council's adoption of the PUD ordinance and sends the item back into the local process established by the ordinance language. The clerk's pocket-veto notice and the override vote were the formal steps recorded at the meeting.