When City-Council member M. Ryan Vaughn made the decision to fill former District 3 Representative Jim Bradford's shoes in mid 2006, he realized that he had a large role to play.

"When Jim stepped down, I knew it was a great opportunity for me to get involved in community outreach again," Vaughn said. "I had become detached from the community aspect of my life, and I knew that the City-County Council was a government body with a much bigger impact on government and community safety."

"Detached" may be a bit too modest of a word for a man who by the age of 25 was handling anywhere between 15 and 22 cases a day as a deputy prosecutor for Marion County.

Vaughn, who has lived in different areas of Indianapolis throughout his life, may be the youngest-looking face on the City-County Council. But it may be his persistence and hard-working outlook that will help move the city, and Broad Ripple specifically, in a new direction. His ideas revolve around community safety and public infrastructure.

Vaughn currently wears another hat beyond his duties as a councilman: he is an attorney at Tabbert, Hahn, Earnest & Weddle downtown by day, but seems to spend countless hours outside his day job working for major improvements in his district.

His background in law began at Wabash College, where he studied Classical Rhetoric, which he described as "the theory of arguing."

"It was an obvious transition for law," he said. "I always knew I wanted to study law-I love being in the courtroom."

Vaughn found his way back to Indianapolis after his undergrad, where he attended the Indiana University Law School-Indianapolis. He spent most of his years in law school as a clerk in the county office. After he graduated, he was hired by the Marion County Prosecutor's office the same week Carl Brizzi was sworn in.

"I really got in touch with local political government bodies when I started working in the prosecutor's office," he said. "You learn just how much impact the government has on your job when you actually work in a government office."

Eventually, Vaughn said that he realized he did not want to become pigeon-holed as criminal lawyer. He went to work for the Marion County Republican Party in the last election cycle, and rediscovered how strong his feelings for politics at the local level actually were-which is why he immediately stepped up when the opportunity to serve his local district arose.

"The most unique thing about my job as a councilman is that not only do I serve my own district (District 3, which includes Broad Ripple and areas north and south of the Village), but I also work for the entire county," he said. "Right now I have a lot of catching up to do-mainly because I am just stepping in towards the end of Bradford's term, but everyone has been really helpful."

Vaughn continued by saying that although he is currently in the transition period of trying to identify contacts and work on outreach programs to the members of his constituent, he already knows what he wants to concentrate on improving the most-safety in the community and on a county level.

"Crime is our most pressing issue at the moment," he said. "The murder rate is climbing and car-jackings are way up. We have to get crime under control in the city, and we can't use band-aid techniques to do so.

"What we need is a long-term strategy and solution that looks at what our city needs. We need programs that address crimes before they happen, and we need to keep those who belong in jail in jail."

As far as improvements around the Village, Vaughn hopes to address issues such as much-needed road repairs, park upkeep, and safety on the Monon Trail. He also said that while these are areas that need constant attention, he also really hopes to focus on zoning issues in the area.

Vaughn is currently serving on the Public Works and Affairs, Children's Health and Safety committees. He is working hard to develop a community communications network and said that he wants all the feedback from residents that he can get.

"There must be more communication between what a councilman does and the community wants," he said.