Indianapolis city-county councilwoman Christine Scales has come forward to describe Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard’s actions towards Clerk Treasurer Christine Pauley at the 2016 Republican National Convention held in Cleveland, Ohio.
Scales
Scales prefaced her statement by saying, “I wanted to make it clear that I volunteered to come forward on Christine Pauley’s behalf. At the time of the convention I had never previously met Christine. I was already acquainted with Mayor Brainard due to our children’s’ friendships. I tended to pay attention to his actions whenever he was nearby.”
Scales continued: “Mayor Brainard’s behavior toward Christine could not go unnoticed, whether at breakfast or during a cocktail hour in a hotel lobby, Mayor Brainard sat as close to her as possible without occupying her seat. It was obvious the Mayor was desperately trying to gain her attention, while Christine sat stiffly, for the most part didn’t turn her head toward him as he spoke. I recall thinking, maintain some dignity Mr. Mayor, she is just not that into you.”
Scales admitted approximately a year later she did have the opportunity to become better acquainted with Pauley while seeking guidance from the Clerk Treasurer’s Office when needing help finding some documents.
Scales stated she and Pauley discussed the Mayor while having lunch.
“Christine mentioned the challenges of having to work with Mayor Brainard. I then shared with her what I had witnessed regarding Mayor Brainard’s attention towards her while at the convention and told her how shocked I was.”
During her statement, Scales also described conflict that she encountered with Brainard over a 96th Street roundabout: “This man won’t stop until he gets what he wants.”
Scales denied coming forward with her observations of Brainard in Cleveland was in retaliation with the roundabout issue.
“If I wanted to personally come after him in some way, I would have done that already,” said Scales. “As a politician I have had many opportunities to engage in acts of retribution and I have tried to turn the other cheek when someone has really done me wrong.”
At the conclusion of Tuesday’s statement, Scales said she encouraged Pauley to come forward with her allegations and offered to help if she was worried about losing her job.
Mayor Brainard responds
Submitted
Editor’s note: The following is a statement from Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard’s campaign.
Brainard
The latest allegations from Ms. Pauley and friends continue a long history of unsubstantiated claims that are nothing more than political maneuvering to conceal the fact that that mayor’s opponent (who she supports) does not have any plan or direction for the future of our city.
While the Mayor is focused on continuing his work to steadily improve development of downtown Carmel and its surroundings, the campaign believes now is the time to correct the record about Ms. Pauley’s claims and detail some of her past actions.
In the past few months, Ms. Pauley has:
- Fired her top financial staff member because that staff member shared a letter from the IRS regarding an audit with the Mayor, who is the chief executive of the city. Ms. Pauley was required to publicly apologize and hire that staff member back because it was clear that was the only way to complete the audit and get her office back in order.
- Shared rumors and other information with Indianapolis City County Council member Christine Scales, who is now a Democrat, while Carmel was being sued by the City of Indianapolis over the 96th and Keystone intersection project. She violated Indiana Public Access laws by bypassing the required action steps for requests for information (Scales vehemently opposed the 96th Street Roundabouts project which prompted the lawsuit).
- Worked with the Mayor’s opponent during the current election cycle in the hopes of securing a job because, as a second class city, Carmel will no longer have an elected Clerk Treasurer after Dec. 31, 2019.
- Lied to City Council President Jeff Worrell in a public meeting about her staff attending Audit Committee meetings, when that staff member has not attended a single Audit Committee meeting.
- Publicly admitted to picking through the trash at City Hall to find any information that might help sabotage the mayor’s campaign.
- Erred last Friday in not paying part-time city employees through direct deposit last due to an error.
This shows a pattern of unethical behavior designed to discredit Mayor Brainard and the positive future direction of this city.
Additionally, with respect to allegations about the 2016 GOP National Convention, there are people who have a different impression of the mayor’s behavior.
Susana Suarez, then Zionsville Town Council President and an alternate convention delegate issued a statement that reads: “I spent quite some time with Mayor Brainard and Ms. Pauley at the GOP convention in Cleveland and did not see any indication that anyone was uncomfortable.”
Mayor Brainard also states that on the first day of the convention, Ms. Pauley picked up the mayor in her car and drove them to the Indiana Delegation reception, where they met a family member of Ms. Pauley, who accompanied them that night at the event. Likewise, on the second day of the convention, Ms. Pauley and the Mayor were joined at that evening’s reception by her family members.