Carmel City Council votes for Christkindlmarkt investigation, at odds with mayor

Indianapolis Star

06-05-2025

Carmel City Council votes for Christkindlmarkt investigation, at odds with mayor
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See inside the 2024 Carmel Christkindlmarkt and try the food with us
The award-winning Christmas market in Carmel is underway again! See inside this year's version with IndyStar's Madyson Crane.
The Carmel City Council unanimously voted to investigate actions surrounding the city's iconic Christkindlmarkt Monday evening — a sign the council is at odds with Mayor Sue Finkam and her oversight of the market.
The council also introduced a proposal that would grant it more influence over Finkam's Christkindlmarkt board appointees. The actions came less than a week after the founding CEO of the market resigned and said she was pushed out by the organization's board of directors, who were appointed by Finkam.
The city council will investigate "the actions taken by representatives, contractors and the Carmel Christkindlmarkt Inc. Board of Directors as it relates to the Carmel Christkindlmarkt," but it also has the power to look into any of Finkam's Chriskindlmarkt decisions. The investigation was introduced as verbal motion from councilor Jeff Worrell then was approved by an 8-0 vote. Councilor Rich Taylor was not at the meeting Monday. All members of the council will be on the investigative committee.
'Sunlight is the best disinfectant,' said City Council President Adam Aasen. 'If we want to make this go away and we want to stop talking about this, we need to have tough conversations and have them in public. I have a lot of questions.'
Drama surrounding the Carmel Christkindlmarkt began last fall when, under Finkam's leadership, the city dismissed two former board members, and then-board Chair Susan McDermott resigned shortly after. On the same day McDermott resigned, four new board members, who were appointed by Finkam, approved a new operating agreement between Carmel Christkindlmarkt Inc. and the city.
More recently, city officials drilled into the finances and operations of the market at an Affiliate Review Committee meeting. The committee was created by a City Council ordinance last year and tasked with reviewing finances and operations of the city's nonprofit affiliates. There was an emphasis on the staffing levels of the market and compensation for Christkindlmarkt employees during the committee's April 16 meeting.
Market employees and some city councilors have complained that the Affiliate Review Committee meetings have been one sided, with all of the information presented coming from the city's perspective. Volunteers and employees of the market have also expressed fear that operational changes could impact the market's quality going forward.
In defense, Finkam said the information presented has aligned with the ordinance that established the committee in the first place. And since the fall, the mayor has said she is trying to protect taxpayer dollars, while pushing for the market to rely less on the city for its operational costs.
It's not yet clear how the City Council investigation will run or what specific information will be sought after, but councilors seemed to be on the same page that Councilor Ryan Locke should run it.
Previous coverage: Carmel Christkindlmarkt CEO 'excluded from key decisions,' resignation letter says
Councilor Tony Green said there needed to be assurance that politics would not play a role in the investigation. He voted in favor once learning the investigative committee will include all members of the council.
Throughout the meeting, the mayor and some city councilors pointed out that there were more pressing issues city officials could be focusing on, instead of the operations of the Christmas market.
'We shouldn't be spending time on this, but it's our job,' said Worrell.
Locke, who chairs the Affiliate Review Committee and is expected to head the City Council investigation, pointed to the transition of leaders as a culprit behind the drama.
For nearly 30 years, Carmel was led by former Mayor Jim Brainard and the Christkindlmarkt began in 2017, during his time in office. Finkam, a former city councilor, took over the mayor's office at the start of 2024.
'That concept of transition is something that, as a city, we have not had to grapple with before,' Locke said. 'We're grappling with it clearly now, in open session.'
Mayor, some city councilors not on the same page
Before city councilors voted in favor of the investigation, Finkam pitched a new idea for structuring the city's nonprofit affiliate organizations, including the Carmel Christkindlmarkt.
'This current system and processes we inherited are not working, and our taxpayers deserve our very best efforts to collectively improve them,' Finkam said.
The mayor proposed the creation of a new nonprofit, with co-equal governance between her office and the City Council. The new nonprofit would be called Experience Carmel and manage all the city's public spaces and events, with shared staff, Finkam said.
'The work associated with running these events and supporting these philanthropic efforts is a distraction from the truly important work that our community is facing,' the mayor said.
But Finkam's idea did not gain much traction from city councilors, at least publicly at Monday's meeting. Worrell said he did not hear about the idea ahead of the meeting, while Aasen said he was only informed a few hours before.
At Monday's meeting, Aasen, Worrell and several other city councilors introduced their own proposal to change the operations of nonprofit organizations receiving support from the city.
More coverage: Carmel committee probes Christkindlmarkt salaries, pushes for less reliance on city dollars
Their ordinance would impact any nonprofit corporation that receives at least $25,000 of support from the city, not appropriated by the City Council through the annual budget process. This would include the Christkindlmarkt.
The ordinance would require at least one member of the organization's governing body be appointed by the City Council. The remaining members of the governing bodies would have to be approved by the City Council under the proposed ordinance, as opposed to just being appointed by the mayor.
Samantha Karn, corporation counsel for City of Carmel, said she had not fully reviewed the ordinance, but she believes it could be an overreach of the City Council's authority.
The ordinance will be discussed further in the Finance, Utilities and Rules Committee, which is expected to meet May 13.
Finkam led her own investigation while on City Council
Carmel city councilors have formally investigated city matters before. In 2020, councilors launched a formal investigation to review cost overruns of the city's Hotel Carmichael.
The review was led by the City Council finance committee, which at the time was chaired by Finkam.
Maria Adele Rosenfeld, the former CEO and president of the Carmel Christkindlmarkt, who resigned last week, said she was grateful for the discussion surrounding the market at Monday's meeting.
'I'm hopeful that this investigation will provide an opportunity for many important questions to be answered and for meaningful changes to be implemented,' Rosenfeld said in a statement to IndyStar.
Contact Jake Allen at [e-mail]. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @Jake_Allen19.