This is part of Mr. Clean, a series that focuses on ethical concerns within Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration. It was reported in a collaboration between Mirror Indy and IndyStar and is not available for republication in other media. For questions, see Mirror Indy’s content republishing guidelines.
Several Indianapolis City-County Council members are sharply criticizing Mayor Joe Hogsett’s handling of conflicts of interest regarding a secret relationship between his former chief of staff, Thomas Cook, and Scarlett Andrews, a top city official who recommended millions of dollars in city incentives for Cook’s clients.
Councilors said they were troubled that they hadn’t known about the romantic relationship between the two when the council was voting to approve city incentives for major projects. Andrews began leading the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development in 2020 around the same time that Cook resigned to work for a private law firm representing developers seeking city incentives.
The conflicts of interest were made public by a Mirror Indy/IndyStar investigation published Monday. That reporting showed that at least $80 million in public incentives were recommended or approved for Cook’s clients while Andrews oversaw DMD.
Reporters reached out to all 25 city-county councilors for a response.
While most of the 19 council Democrats did not respond to voicemails and emails sent by the news outlets seeking comment, Council President Vop Osili said in an Oct. 14 interview that the relationship between Cook and Andrews created an “appearance of impropriety.”
“If (Hogsett) knew that there was a relationship and they were dealing with various projects, it would raise serious concerns for me,” Osili told reporters. “If I had known, if it had been me, as soon as I knew, I would have put a stop to it — as in immediately.”
Osili said he didn’t become aware of the relationship until early 2024 after Andrews left the city for a private sector job. He also said he hasn’t spoken to Hogsett about the matter.
Councilors wait on media
Several councilors, including Osili, told reporters they want to see additional reporting from Mirror Indy and IndyStar before deciding on a course of action.
“You all have teased out there are going to be follow-ups on this. I think we want to see whatever you bring before us before we start talking about, ‘This is what we are going to do,’” Osili said.
“I think it’s worth a question. Should all of these deals be reviewed?”
— Vop Osili, city-county council president
Democrat John Barth said he’d “prefer to withhold comment until I see the second story,” though he said the article “reflects a broader pattern where the Mayor ignores or downplays ethical concerns … when it comes to his former chief of staff and his actions.”
But much of the criticism has come from the six-member Republican minority on the City-County Council.
Some said the private relationship casts doubt on whether the deals the city made under Andrews’ leadership with Cook’s developer clients were in the public’s best interest. Andrews threw her support behind some of the projects despite opposition from neighbors and also proposed exceptions that allowed luxury apartment developments to sidestep affordable housing requirements.
“They’re having us vote on all these economic development deals, meanwhile the upper echelon of the administration knew about all these conflicts of interest,” Republican Councilor Joshua Bain, who took office in August 2020 and became one of four councilors to call for the mayor’s resignation earlier this year, told the news outlets. “Thomas Cook is on one side and his lover’s on the other side as a city employee.”
“They’re having us vote on all these economic development deals, meanwhile the upper echelon of the administration knew about all these conflicts of interest.”
— Joshua Bain, city-county councilor
Natalie Goodwin, chair of the Marion County Republican Party, released a statement Monday saying the “culture of corruption surrounding Hogsett and his closest associates has brought shame to our city.”
Osili said development deals require multiple approvals – including from council – and so he said he “will stand with the deals that were done” unless additional evidence emerges.
But he added: “I think it’s worth a question. Should all of these deals be reviewed?”
In a recent interview, Hogsett refused to comment on the relationship between Cook and Andrews or whether it represented a conflict of interest. He said the city can’t control a private attorney’s actions on behalf of developers, and he defended his administration’s economic development deals.
“I’m confident that the multiple layers of legal, administrative and legislative oversight involved in approving economic development deals ensures that every incentive offered is in the best interest of this city and its taxpayers,” Hogsett said.
But of the council members who responded, none of them said they had been aware of the romantic relationship between Cook and Andrews when those deals were made.
Cook kept power after allegations
Cook had maintained his role as the mayor’s right-hand man for years after Lauren Roberts, a former campaign worker, reported allegations of sexual harassment and abuse of power to the Hogsett administration in 2017. Those allegations were first reported publicly last year by IndyStar and Mirror Indy.
Another Cook subordinate, Caroline Ellert, told the news outlets that Cook sexually assaulted and harassed her between 2018 and 2020. She reported the allegations to the mayor’s administration in 2023.
Despite an HR recommendation to fire Cook in late 2020 after Hogsett learned of his relationship with Andrews, the mayor allowed Cook to remain in his role for 68 days and then praised his top aide in a news release upon his departure. When Cook began working for the law firm Bose, McKinney & Evans to represent developers who do business with the city in February 2021, Andrews, as DMD director, oversaw the city’s negotiations with Cook’s clients.
“Everything was done by the book, every bit of it, I assume.”
— Frank Mascari, city-county councilor
Democratic Councilor Jesse Brown said Cook and Andrews should have both been fired after initially denying that they had a sexual relationship in a human resources investigation.
“I think you have to have a zero-tolerance policy for lying to HR,” said Brown, who has previously called for the mayor to step down. “Anybody involved in that should have been fired, definitely shouldn’t have been allowed to continue rising up the ladder.”
Councilor Frank Mascari, a Democrat, said he doubted that the relationship between Cook and Andrews led to any improper or illegal deals. He defended Andrews as an intelligent DMD leader who made sure “all the Is were dotted and the Ts were crossed.”
“She was just doing her job,” Mascari said. “As far as special favors, I don’t think there were (any). Everything was done by the book, every bit of it, I assume.”
Republicans raise questions
Republican Councilor Paul Annee said the council should examine its requirements for reporting conflicts of interest in future economic development deals. Whether or not councilors would have voted differently, Cook and Andrews’ relationship raises questions about the fairness of those deals, Annee and other councilors said.
“It’s troubling, it’s disappointing, and I think the council needs to look into this in a more comprehensive way,” Annee said, “to really understand if and where the system failed and make strategic remedies where those breakdowns exist.”
Republican Michael-Paul Hart said the news outlets’ investigation is the latest in a series of troubling reports about the Hogsett administration.
In addition to investigations into Cook’s conduct that were published last year, the news outlets have chronicled a ‘toxic’ work culture at city hall and revealed that Hogsett had sent late-night texts to female staffers that made them feel uncomfortable.
“My concern is, what else?” Hart said. “How long are we going to continue to see these types of behaviors and patterns?”
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Contact IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at 317-444-6081 or tony.cook@indystar.com. Follow him on X @IndyStarTony.
Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
Email IndyStar Reporter Jordan Smith at jtsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on X @jordantsmith09.
Emily Hopkins is a Mirror Indy reporter focused on data and accountability. You can reach them on phone or Signal at 317-790-5268 or by email at emily.hopkins@mirrorindy.org. Follow them on most social media @indyemapolis or on Bluesky @emilyhopkins.bsky.social.