Lake Station residents demand answers after mayor indicted
NWI Times
April 17, 2014 - 9:30 pm
April 17, 2014 - 9:30 pm
LAKE STATION | Residents who stormed the City Council meeting room Thursday expressed anger and disappointment and demanded answers in light of the multiple criminal charges filed against Mayor Keith Soderquist, his wife and stepdaughter.
"What will you do to restore the public trust?" one resident asked.
Soderquist did not attend the meeting, which was lead by City Council President Todd Rogers.
"The mayor will not be here tonight," Rogers said.
Rogers, prior to the meeting, declined to comment about the mayor's situation or the city's future leadership status.
"It's up to his lawyers to comment," Rogers said.
The council agreed to allow limited comments from the public with about half a dozen residents going up to the microphone.
Resident Joseph Castellanos drew a round of applause when he told council members he found it hard to believe they didn't know what was going on in the city since most of the 12,000 Lake Station residents did.
"Why don't some of you resign along with the mayor? I'll serve, and I won't take any pay," Castellanos said.
Soderquist, his wife, Deborah, and stepdaughter Miranda Brakley pleaded not guilty Thursday to a total of 15 criminal charges in Hammond federal court.
Defense attorney Scott King, who is representing Soderquist and the mayor's wife, said he believes federal prosecutors "got it wrong" on charges alleging his clients stole food pantry and campaign funds, gambled away some of the proceeds and failed to report the allegedly stolen cash as income on their tax returns.
City Court Clerk Kim Frizzell also took the council to task for not asking more questions, especially in light of City Court money that was found missing and later was turned in by Brakley, a fired city court employee. The money was found in Brakley's car.
"I'd like to know what each of you feel. You said you had no idea this was going on, but none of you asked about the money," Frizzell said.
Councilman Gary Szostek told residents they probably know as much as council members do about what is going on.
"I had no idea. It came as a shock. We have no control over the mayor's campaign fund. ... You all have questions and hopefully your questions will be answered, but not by us," Szostek said.
Resident Amelia Lara said she was especially sickened to hear the mayor was accused of stealing food pantry funds. She serves as a food pantry director in Portage.
"This is an administration that stole from hungry people. That crushes me," Lara said.
Lara said she would be willing to work with the community to restore the food pantry.
"It needs to be run by a board and the community and not by city officials," Lara said.
Councilman Rick Long, at the end of the meeting, asked the community to work together and to go forward.
"It's a sad day in the city, and I'm very disappointed. We still have a city to run, and we need to work together to get it done," Long said. "Hopefully we can get through this quickly and move forward."
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