The initials of Gary Mayor Jerome Prince have been removed from new police cruisers

Gary paid more than $50,000 per police vehicle it could have bought for $31,500

Contributed By:The 411 News

Gary's city council wants answers from the Prince administration. The question is will they get them.

Just coming off an examination of the city's ability to maintain its snow removal equipment, the council is raising concerns about more of the city's vehicle fleet. The council's Public Safety Committee hopes to get answers at a March 10 meeting scheduled for 6pm.

The council is eyeing the city's purchase of 18 new SUV police cruisers last year. "We spent too much. I hope something like this never happens again," said council president Bill Godwin at the Common Council meeting Tuesday, March 2.

Godwin started with the sale price of each vehicle. Instead of using Indiana's Quantity Purchasing Agreement, a process that identifies vendors who can offer large volume discounts on often purchased items like police vehicles, Godwin said Gary paid more than $50,000 per vehicle it could have bought for $31,500.

After the purchase, the mayor's initials "JP" were added to the vehicles' identification codes.

Gary Deputy Mayor Trent McCain told the council the mayor's initials have been removed from the police vehicles and are in the process of removal from General Services vehicles.

Even Valparaiso's donation of apparatus to Gary's Fire Department will be under examination. Councilman Ron Brewer said Valparaiso's gift of a 1995 fire pumper truck is needed because the city doesn't have one.

Councilmen Clorius Lay and Mike Brown said the cost of putting the pumper in service needs to be looked at, too. "I want more details about this truck. If it costs $100,000 to $200,000 to put it in operation, that's a problem," Lay said.

"We've had some real concerns about equipment lately, whether police, fire, or snow removal. The public is constantly asking us about this," said Brown. "They have concerns on how things are being done. We might have 1 or 2 people in the decision-making process on this and the whole city is being affected by it."

Clear from Tuesday night's meeting, fingerpointing, stated or unstated, was at the city's Director of Reinvestment, Eric Reaves. Godwin said Reaves ordered the police vehicles and "I asked him to remove the lettering because it was inappropriate."

Brown even asked if legal action could be taken against an appointee who wasn't performing their duties properly.

President Godwin said he wanted an honest and open conversation at the Public Safety committee meeting for a decision that "...was way too rushed. I want the commanders to be there so they can explain historically how this process has occurred -- in terms of how purchasing was done, how bidding was done. Who installed the radios, lights, lettering as compared to now. My understanding is they were shut out of the process."

Story Posted:03/05/2021