Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett criticized a recent investigation from IndyStar and Mirror Indy as “absurd” when asked about reporting that showed, among other findings, that his campaign arranged for city contract wish lists from his donors to be placed on the desk of a former top city official.
A reporter caught up with the mayor after he left out a back exit following an Indy Chamber event on June 23, his first public appearance after the news outlets published reporting showing how his campaign has advanced the interests of his donors behind closed doors while he has been mayor.
Hogsett has declined an interview request, and his office hasn’t responded to several questions and public records requests from the news organizations related to the investigation. The reporting examined the extent to which Hogsett upheld promises he made over a decade ago when running for mayor to ignore the influence of “downtown insiders.”
The reporting showed that three of his donors received city public works contracts included on the wish lists within months of being hand-delivered to Dan Parker, who oversaw the Department of Public Works at the time. The story also found Emily Gurwitz, the campaign official who arranged for the wish lists to be delivered, sent names of his donors to the administration for potential board appointments. At least once, a name was sent within days of a donation to Hogsett.
“That’s just absurd,” Hogsett said when asked by IndyStar about his campaign delivering wish lists. He said it “just did not happen.”
Hogsett said he was assured by his campaign finance consultant Emily Gurwitz that “there were no such thing.”
However, IndyStar and Mirror Indy have reviewed records that proved the existence of the wish lists and spoke to a source familiar with the arrangement who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation.
All nine firms included on the wish lists, or executives from those firms, were Hogsett donors. The source said they believed the goal of the arrangement was to make sure city officials knew about the donors’ preferences while avoiding an electronic paper trail.
“The truth is that I come to work every day to represent all of the people of Indianapolis, and that’s exactly where my focus has been and that’s where it will continue to be,” Hogsett told the reporter. “And with all due respect to your reporting, I think you ignored important aspects of my tenure as mayor that needed to be included in the story, but that’s your judgement.”
Hogsett, who then walked away to his vehicle, did not respond to a question from the reporter about why Gurwitz provided board appointment names of Hogsett donors to the city.
Read the latest IndyStar/Mirror Indy “Mr. Clean” investigation here. And catch up on previous parts here.
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This article was written by IndyStar reporter Hayleigh Colombo.
