government consists of a mayor and a city council. The current mayor is James Brainard, who has served since 1996. The city council consists of nine members. Six are elected from individual districts and three are elected at-large. Planned development In mid-2017, the city council was considering a multimillion-dollar bond issue that would cover the cost of roundabouts, paths, roadwork, land acquisition by the Carmel Redevelopment Commission and would include the purchase of an antique carousel from a Canadian amusement park for an estimated purchase price of CAD $3 million, approximately US$2.25 million. However, a citizen led petition drive against the purchase caused the city counsel to remove it from the bond issue. According to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, as of 2019 the City of Carmel had an overall debt load of $1.3 billion. List of mayors Education Public schools The Carmel Clay Schools district has 11 elementary schools (Kindergarten - Grade 5), three middle schools (Grades 6–8), and one high school (Grades 9–12). Student enrollment for the district is above 14,500. The elementary schools include: Carmel Elementary (Feeds into Carmel Middle School) Cherry Tree Elementary (Feeds into Clay Middle School) Clay Center Elementary (Feeds into Creekside Middle School) College Wood Elementary (Feeds into Creekside Middle School) Forest Dale Elementary (Feeds into Carmel Middle School) Mohawk Trails Elementary (Feeds into Clay Middle School) Prairie Trace Elementary (Feeds into Clay Middle School) Smoky Row Elementary (Feeds into Carmel Middle School) Town Meadow Elementary (Feeds into Creekside Middle School) West Clay Elementary (Feeds into Creekside Middle School) Woodbrook Elementary (Feeds into Clay Middle School) The middle schools include: Carmel Middle School Clay Middle School Creekside Middle School All middle schools feed into Carmel High School. Private schools Carmel has several private schools, including: Coram Deo Academy (Kindergarten– Grade 12) Midwest Academy (Grades 3–12) Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic School (Kindergarten– Grade 8) Pilgrim Lutheran Preschool (Preschool) St. Elizabeth Seton Preschool (Preschool, Pre-Kindergarten, and Kindergarten) University High School (Grades 9–12) Walnut Grove Christian Prep School (Kindergarten– Grade 12) Notable people Bernie Allen, baseball player Ted Allen, television personality Franklin Booth, pen-and-ink artist Steve Chassey, Indy Car driver Pete Dye, golf course designer Alex Hall, author known for Ben Drowned (2010) Jay Howard, British racing driver Steve Inskeep, host of Morning Edition, National Public Radio Jake Lloyd, former actor known for his portrayal of young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: