7 Indy council members appointed to committee to investigate sexual harassment in Hogsett administration

INDIANAPOLIS — Five Democrats and two Republicans were appointed to a special investigative committee on Tuesday night that will be tasked with investigating sexual harassment within Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration.

Democrats appointed Councilors Andy Nielsen, Crista Carlino, Jessica McCormick, Kristin Jones and Rena Allen to represent them on the committee. The Republicans appointed Minority Leader Brian Mowery and Councilor Josh Bain.

The appointments come one day after the council voted overwhelmingly to launch an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against several top city officials and how Hogsett handled them.

The committee will hire an outside, independent firm to look into the allegations and provide recommendations on how to address them going forward.

“They understand the importance of us taking a deep dive into what’s happened in the past and how do we move forward,” Majority Leader Maggie Lewis said.

The investigative committee is a bi-partisan undertaking following the allegations made against Mayor Hogsett’s former chief of staff and campaign manager Thomas Cook.

Two women accused Cook of sexually harassing and assaulting them when they worked for Hogsett. They said that despite reporting the allegations, Cook remained Hogsett’s right-hand man.

Since those allegations became public, more victims have come forward leading to the firing of another top city staffer last week while at least six more are under investigation. The committee will be looking into all of it.

Mowery said he believes it’s possible there are more victims out there.

“I am worried that it’s going to become a more and more prevalent issue,” Mowery said. “What we have seen so far in the past few days is that more and more people are coming forward with these accusations and I encourage more to come forward if they’re out there.”

Lewis said her selection of four women to the committee was intentional and said it was important that women’s voices are heard.

Mowery said the decision to appoint himself and Bain was a group decision.

Despite the fact that all the members have an “R” or “D” next to their name, Lewis said it is important that the process stay away from politics.

“At the end of the day that we have proven ourselves that we are not a rubber stamp by our willingness to move forward,” Lewis said. “If it was really about being a ‘good Democrat,’ I’m not sure that we would have created investigative committee.”

The Republican minority hopes the same but remains skeptical.

“If Madame leader is the gospel on that I would hope so that we can come together on this and not have the issue of Democrat or Republican,” Mowery said. “But if I was saying it wasn’t in the back of my mind, you know I couldn’t say that. It’s definitely a thought that I have.”

According to the proposal, the committee is required to have its first official meeting sometime in the next three weeks. They will be required to meet at least once a month until the investigation is completed.