City-County Council’s new chief of staff on role models, soft power and public policy

Doran Moreland grew up in Indianapolis, fell in love with politics and public policy at a relatively young age and became the special assistant for Mayor Bart Peterson after studying political science at Indiana University. That’s a pretty good introduction to how politics and policy work on the local level.

Fast forward a quarter century or so: On Monday, Feb. 2, Moreland returned to the City-County Building for the first day of his new job as chief of staff and chief policy officer for the City-County Council. The 25-member council dominated by Democrats has new leaders, including President Maggie Lewis, who have said they want to emphasize policymaking, collaboration and transparency after instances of internal infighting last year.Moreland’s new job has nuts-and-bolts aspects like budgeting, managing staff, maintaining community access and helping push the council’s initiatives across the finish line. It also entails supplying higher-level policy guidance on topics like data centers, inclusive growth, the city’s built environment and maintaining competitiveness. In this week’s episode of the podcast, he discusses the lessons learned from his father as a small business owner, his own foray into business, the administrative and public policy experience he’s gained since then and what he expects from his new position.

[Editor's note: This text has been changed to reflect that Moreland did not receive a degree from Indiana University in 2000. His degree ultimately was conferred in 2024.]