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The Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday approved a proposal to launch an independent investigation, with subpoena power, into sexual harassment allegations in the Hogsett administration.
The legislative body overwhelmingly approved the proposal, which authorizes an investigation by an independent human resources or law firm with no ties to city business, as well as the creation of a council investigative committee. The outside firm would recommend any policy changes in the city’s human resources practices.
Twenty-two councilors voted in favor of the proposal, while one councilor voted against it and one abstained from voting. Democrat Jared Evans was absent.
The investigative committee is charged with “examining and investigating allegations of abuse by members of the Hogsett Administration and campaign,” following sexual harassment allegations against Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s former chief of staff, Thomas Cook, who also served on Hogsett’s election campaigns.
“It is unacceptable for anyone in a position of power to abuse their authority, or to fail to act when such abuses occur, or to oversee or contribute to an environment that allows that behavior,” Democratic Councilor John Barth said prior to the vote.
Barth stopped short of naming Cook or Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett directly, but said the council investigative committee would hold officials accountable.
Councilor Ron Gibson, a Democrat, voted against the proposal. In previous comments to IBJ, Gibson said he didn’t support council action because he “wanted to give [the Hogsett administration] that time and space for the mayor to make it right,” before stepping in.
Republican Derek Cahill abstained. Cahill told reporters following the vote that he was concerned that victim identities could be revealed through the Access to Public Records Act. He said he did not have a conflict of interest with the measure and supports the intent.
Since news reports revealed allegations against Cook, other reports of sexual harassment within the Hogsett administration have come to light.
The city on Wednesday fired a Department of Metropolitan Development administrator after an internal investigation found “overwhelming evidence” of inappropriate sexual misconduct. Additionally, anonymous sources told IndyStar that a former department director sent them inappropriate messages. Six open investigations were remaining following the Wednesday termination, which all pertain to separate current and former employees.
Hogsett released a statement following the approval of the proposal, saying “I remain committed to working with the City-County Council and the entire Administration to make continued changes to our policies and practices, both those initiated by my Administration and through this resolution.”
A public meeting is scheduled to appoint councilors to the committee Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the Council President’s Conference Room. The investigative committee will consist of five members in the Democratic majority and two Republican members.
The committee must convene for the first time within 21 days. A tentative report would be provided to the council by Feb. 28.
The measure also directs the administration to uphold and strengthen protections for accusers, require sexual harassment training for all city-county employees and require the disclosure of consensual relationships in the workplace to human resources.
Councilors voted down two amendments from Councilor Josh Bain, a Republican. The first would have allowed councilors to request and receive any documents from the independent firm hired to conduct the investigation. Multiple Democrats, including Council Vice President Ali Brown, said that change would leave the door open for personal information about victims and other current and former employees to be publicly outed because communications involving councilors are subject to public records requests.
“There’s a reason we separated that part of the investigation from the HR investigation,” Brown said. “We did that intentionally to protect other people who are interested in still reporting. And we’re seeing that, because we’re doing this in a victim-centered approach, we’re seeing more people come forward.”
Bain’s other amendment would have changed the ability to subpoena witnesses and documents from needing a simple majority of the committee—four affirmative votes—to allowing just one councilor to subpoena. The committee will only have two Republican members.
Councilor Dan Boots said that if the amendment had been approved, it would turn the committee into a “witch hunt,” “which is exactly what we don’t want, in my opinion,” he said.
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