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Councilors react to former chief of staff sexual harassment allegations

Councilors respond to former chief of staff sexual harassment allegations

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis City-County councilors are responding to allegations of sexual harassment against the Mayor’s former chief of staff.

Multiple women allege that Mayor Joe Hogsett’s former Chief of Staff Thomas Cook sexually harassed them between 2014 and 2020. Recent reports also claim the Mayor knew about these allegations during that timeframe.

News 8’s news gathering partner Mirror Indy details the allegations of three women against the city’s two most powerful men.

A member of Hogsett’s own party has now called for him to resign.

Jesse Brown, (D) Indianapolis, announced this in a statement shared to social media on Wednesday.

Other councilors said it is too soon to act with the information they have, but they support further investigation or action as this develops.

Councilor Jessica McCormick, (D) Indianapolis, is the chair of the City-County Council Ethics Committee. She spoke to the media after the Aug. 8 Ethics Committee meeting.

McCormick clarified that by statute, the City-County Council Ethics Committee can only handle ethical complaints against councilors, not executive branch members.

“The authority that we have on the ethics committee is for councilors,” McCormick said. “This body of 25, the 24 others that I serve with.”

McCormick is not joining Brown in calling for the mayor to resign over these allegations yet.

“I need more information,” McCormick said. “I don’t think that I am, as a single person, in place to make that decision.”

On the other side of the aisle, Republican Joshua Bain, Indianapolis, joins his party caucus in calling for the council to form an Investigative Committee to look into these claims.

Bane also spoke to the media after the Aug. 8 Ethics Committee meeting.

“The Ethics Committee itself only has jurisdiction over fellow councilors and their duties as a councilor, but we do have jurisdiction in creating investigative committees that actually have subpoena power,” Bain said.

Bain has also not explicitly called for the mayor to step down at this time.

“I think we should make that determination after we do an investigating committee,” Bain said.

McCormick confirmed the council is in discussions about how to move forward, but did not provide specifics of these discussions.

“We’re having discussions and discussions on ways to move forward,” McCormick said.

When pressed further, she said, “[We are] having the conversations on what to do to move forward as a body and what we’re allowed to do.”

Republican Leader Brian Mowery supports the creation of a council investigative committee. In a one-on-one interview with News 8, he said he would like to see an independent third-party come in to investigate these claims.

Council President Vop Osili shared the following statement to social media on Thursday:

I want to thank Caroline Ellert and Lauren Roberts for the letter they shared with me today outlining their thoughts about the changes necessary to protect City-County employees from all forms of harassment.

To both of them, I want to say clearly: you are believed. You have been heard. And you are not alone in seeking change.

We must make meaningful changes to the system that failed to protect these women from the appalling and predatory treatment they experienced. From the hours immediately following the Indy Star’s disclosure, l’ve been working with fellow Councilors to establish a process by which we can determine the precise changes needed to protect our workers, provide appropriate redress when harassment does occur, and begin rebuilding the trust of our employees and our community.

I’m fortunate to serve alongside incredible women Councilors, and they are guiding the Council’s formal actions as we pursue this matter. There will be more to share on our next steps soon.

Council President Vop Osili, (D) Indianapolis

The full council will meet on Monday. That meeting also marks the start of budget season with the introduction of the proposed 2025 budget, meaning much of the council’s time will soon be dominated by budget hearings over the next two months.

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