Indianapolis City-County Councilor Ali Brown, a Democrat, resigned from her position Sept. 10 to take on a role as executive director of the Indiana Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs.
Brown represented District 10 on the northeast side, which includes Lawrence and Fort Harrison State Park.
The Marion County Democratic Party has 30 days from Brown’s resignation to hold a caucus and elect a new person to represent the district.
Brown said she’s proud of her work on the council but made the decision to step down after some deliberation. Brown said she didn’t want a perceived political conflict with her new role.
“Every child deserves the opportunity to grow up and be an amazing adult and live their life to their full potential, and I see the Boys and Girls Club as a great means to doing that because they’re there to support these kiddos at every level at every time in their life,” Brown told WFYI.
She said she had attended a Boys and Girls Club when she was a kid. In the new role, she will be working with clubs across the state and coordinating financial support with the philanthropic community.
“We know the diversion program’s working here in Marion County,” Brown said. “Are there other counties where their prosecutor is interested in being a part of that? How do we take the amazing things that one club’s doing and sell it to other counties or other organizations so that we can show this impact?”
Brown was elected to the council in 2019 to represent District 5. In the 2023 election, she ran unopposed and won the District 10 seat. She was vice president of the council for two years.
While a councilor, Brown launched the Indy Autism Project and authored a proposal for bilingual English and Spanish captioning for city and county meetings. Brown also worked on animal welfare services, public construction and contracting, transportation and library services.
The Indianapolis City-County Council is composed of 25 councilors representing districts across the county. Brown’s vacancy will set off a process to find a replacement.
Megan Huntzinger, executive director of the Marion County Democratic Party, said it is working on details for a caucus meeting to replace Brown by Oct. 10.
The party must provide 10 days’ written notice before the caucus, and interested candidates must file a declaration 72 hours before the meeting. Precinct committee people will then vote on Brown’s replacement at the caucus.
Contact WFYI data journalist Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org.
