After serving for six years on Lawrence’s City Council, Jeff Coats is preparing to take his seat on the Indianapolis City Council.
“Many of the issues that we deal with on the local level, we do not have as much input as an excluded city in Lawrence,” said Coats. “That is one reason I looked at running for the Indianapolis City Council, just the opportunity to have a greater impact on the community on the upper northeast side.”
From his experience on the Lawrence council, Coats was able to learn and develop skills to prove himself as a knowledgeable and qualified candidate for the Indianapolis council. With the bigger body and budget of the city council, he plans to focus on issues he tackled in Lawrence and help fix them on a larger scale.
During his six month campaign, Coats connected with the public to try to find what residents are concerned with. Crime and infrastructure were overwhelming concerns, and Coats wants to make sure that they are addressed along with his own concerns.
“Public safety has been a big issue for me, working with police and fire to make sure they have the staffing and the equipment they need to do their job,” said Coats. “And fiscal accountability; we all pay quite a bit in property taxes and some of our income taxes go to Indianapolis government as well. [I want to make sure that] those who spend that money are being responsible for it.”
But for now, Coats just wants to help the community.
“My time on the Lawrence council has been a valuable experience and I hope that the community thinks I served them well,” said Coats. “A few years ago, I never even considered running for the Indianapolis City Council. Opportunities present themselves, and if other opportunities come up those may be worth pursuing, but I will let the future take care of itself.”
