City-county councilors want to create a safer work environment for city employees.
The changes being considered come in response to Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s handling of sexual harassment allegations against Thomas Cook, his former chief of staff and campaign manager.
More than a year after those allegations became public, councilors are preparing to make changes in an effort to regain the trust of city employees.
“We want to ensure that nothing like what has happened in the past ever happens again in the future,” said Councilor Dan Boots, a northside Democrat.
Current and former city employees have told news outlets that a toxic work culture has been fostered under Hogsett’s leadership over the past decade, prompting elected officials to take action.
“I believe there is a culture and a climate that exists now that needs to change,” said Carlos Perkins, a Democrat from the northwest side.
But some councilors are concerned that dramatic overhauls to the city’s human resources structure could lead to sensitive information becoming public.
An independent board
One of the changes involves the creation of an independent human resources board. Advocates for this structure say it’s designed to create trust in the process.
Under current policy, the human resources division reports to the Office of Finance and Management — which reports directly to the mayor’s office.
But an independent board, which would consist of elected officials and human resources professionals, would be subject to Indiana’s public records laws, creating the risk of sensitive information becoming public.
“If you have an independent board, board documents would become public record,” said Brienne Delaney, a Democrat from the northside.
Councilors heard testimony from Emma Davidson Tribbs, founder of the National Women’s Defense League, a group dedicated to preventing sexual harassment. She urged councilors to adopt the independent board model.
“Investigations involving senior officials must be handled by an entity that is independent of elected officials and city employees,” she said.
Inspector general
Another proposal involves the appointment of a temporary inspector general in cases where elected officials are accused of misconduct.
Brandon Beeler, the city’s top attorney, said it would be “hard to see what would work for the city” when it comes to that model.
Other Midwest cities like Chicago, Columbus and Detroit have inspector generals who, in addition to investigating misconduct allegations, work to eliminate waste and fraud in government.
Michael-Paul Hart, a southside Republican and one of five councilors who have called for Hogsett’s resignation, said there are “a wide range of models” in those cities that could work here.
“We’ve had conversations with individuals who can justify the cost of their existence through finding waste, fraud and abuse,” Hart said.
Next steps
It’s unclear at this point what changes the council may approve. A working group of six councilors, led by Boots, will continue to meet and discuss ideas.
But the “800-pound gorilla” in the room is how much the changes will cost, Boots said.
“Creating certain agencies or independent boards — there’s a dollar figure assigned to that,” Boots said. “As a steward of taxpayer money, that is an issue that comes into the calculus.”
The city’s response to the allegations against Cook has already come at a cost.
The council hired an out-of-state law firm to investigate the Hogsett administration’s handling of the allegations, which ended up costing taxpayers $450,000.
Many councilors were dissatisfied with the investigation, which determined that Hogsett followed city-county policy.
In response to the criticism against him, Hogsett signed an executive order mandating sexual harassment training for all employees. He also directed the city’s human resources division to create an anonymous system for reporting workplace misconduct.
Earlier this year, the city’s Office of Audit and Performance signed a $127,000 contract with Raftelis, a North Carolina-based financial consulting firm, to make recommendations for improving the city’s work environment.
The results of that survey are expected to be released by the end of the year.
A correction was made on Oct. 30, 2025: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the city of St. Louis has an inspector general’s office.
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Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
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