On the heels of an IndyStar/Mirror Indy investigation that found Mayor Joe Hogsett’s campaign acted behind closed doors to advance the interests of his donors, Democratic Indianapolis City-County Councilors are proposing a change to the city’s ethics ordinance.
Their idea isn’t new: Hogsett floated a similar measure more than a decade ago when he was running for mayor.
The proposal from Council Democrats would establish a one-year cooling off period for senior city officials. The announcement comes on the same day the news outlets published a story in which ethics experts questioned former chief of staff Dan Parker joining an Indianapolis engineering firm shortly after leaving the city. The firm, American Structurepoint, has landed millions of dollars of business with the city.
“Strengthening our ethics policies will help protect the public’s trust, reduce the appearance of conflicts of interest and reinforce confidence that government decisions are made in the best interests of our residents,” the caucus said in a statement provided by their spokesperson, Denise Herd. “We look forward to working with our colleagues to strengthen the city’s ethics code.”
The brief statement did not specifically criticize the mayor or his administration. Some councilors, though, said the Hogsett administration’s actions should be examined more closely.
Past reporting by the news outlets has found other instances where former top Hogsett deputies in city government have quickly gone on to private-sector jobs at city contractors.
Hogsett’s spokesperson Aliya Wishner didn’t immediately respond to the news outlets’ request for comment. Wishner previously told the newsrooms in a statement that the Hogsett administration can’t stop former city officials from earning a living in the private sector.
Indianapolis has weaker post-employment ethics restrictions than Indiana. The state requires a one-year cooling off period before former employees can work for or lobby a company if they negotiated or held an administrative role over a contract involving that company while the employee worked at the state.
Cooling-off periods generally require government employees to wait before taking jobs with private companies they did work with as public employees. They are recommended by ethics experts, the outlets have reported, because they prevent former public employees from cashing in on their knowledge of government business in the private sector.
The proposal floated by Council Democrats addressed just one element of the recent reporting by the news outlets. Several other issues would not be affected by the Democrats’ new proposal.
An investigation published June 23 found Hogsett’s campaign had acted behind closed doors to advance the interests of his donors.
During his 2019 reelection campaign, for instance, Hogsett’s top fundraiser who had no formal role in city government arranged for wish lists of donors’ preferred city contracts to be hand-delivered to Parker, the city’s public works chief at the time.
The fundraiser, Emily Gurwitz, denied involvement in city contracting processes. Hogsett spokesperson Aliya Wishner said recently that Gurwitz played no role in the process. In a recent impromptu interview, Hogsett called the reporting “absurd.”
IndyStar and Mirror Indy 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.
Councilors react to investigation
Council Vice President John Barth said the news outlets’ reporting warrants more investigation.
“Every city contract should go through the city’s established procurement process,” Barth said. “I will be asking questions about these contracts to ensure all procurement requirements were followed and that the public can have confidence in the integrity of the process.”
Paul Annee, a Republican councilor who represents parts of the south side, said reporting from the news outlets warrants further scrutiny.
“This is another example of the Hogsett administration kind of blurring the lines, and trust in city government continuing to be eroded,” Annee said. “It’s incumbent upon Council Democrats specifically to take a look at this in a more in-depth way and make a determination on the best way to move forward.”
Jesse Brown, a Democrat who represents the near east side, also said there should be additional investigation into the conduct described in the stories.
“This shows what we have all been seeing in front of us for years. We know that donors are treated better than voters,” said Brown, who was expelled from the council’s Democratic caucus in 2025. “You’ll see them normalize it and say, ‘This is just how it works.’ … We don’t have to live this way.”
Brown was the first councilor to call for Hogsett’s resignation in 2024. He was later joined by Democrats Crista Wells and Andy Nielsen and Republicans Josh Bain and Michael-Paul Hart.
Not everyone on the Council appeared concerned, though.
Democrat Ron Gibson, one of Hogsett’s allies on the council, said he believed the mayor is ethical and that “anybody who really raises political capital, the majority of them are using their relationships, friendships, networks, to raise political money.” He said the matter didn’t deserve additional scrutiny.
“It’s just them capitalizing on the relationships that they have,” Gibson said. “And maybe it’s not them capitalizing, it’s just people investing in them because they believe they’re the right candidate to move the city forward.”
Vop Osili, a Democratic councilor who is also running for mayor, said he was “disappointed” to learn about donor wish lists and campaign officials influencing public contracts. If elected in 2027, he said he will close ethical loopholes, enforce cooling-off periods and establish safeguards to prevent city workers from being pressured to campaign.
“This isn’t just about rules. It’s about values. It’s about saying clearly: Public office is a public trust,” Osili said in a statement to the news outlets. “Indianapolis is moving forward. Our government must move with it.”
Efforts to reach mayoral candidates Andrea Hunley and David Bride were unsuccessful. They are not on the City-County Council.
News outlets investigate Hogsett administration
The proposed reforms come after a string of investigations into ethical issues within Hogsett’s administration.
Previous reporting by the outlets found that Hogsett ignored conflicts of interest related to a secret relationship between disgraced former chief of staff Thomas Cook and Scarlett Andrews. At the time, she led the agency responsible for giving incentives to developers. Millions of dollars flowed to Cook’s developer clients, raising questions about whether those incentives were in the city’s best interest.
In an interview for that story, Hogsett said he was confident the deals were handled appropriately and in the city’s interest.
After leaving the city, Cook was among several Hogsett allies that routinely benefited from no-bid city contracts after joining law firms closely connected to the Hogsett administration.
The news outlets found the city and agencies over which Hogsett has influence awarded more than $6 million in no-bid contracts to a handful of allies. That’s despite a 2015 campaign promise to increase competition for professional services contracts “wherever feasible.”
Hogsett’s spokesperson defended the use of no-bid contracts, saying “legal providers are selected based on skill, knowledge … experience, availability based on deadlines and focus of practice.”
Council Democrats want to build on past ethics reforms
The council previously revised its ethics ordinance in 2024, after IndyStar reported that city-county councilors’ employers received city contracts worth millions of dollars. A council spokesperson at the time said councilors rarely vote on contracts.
Those reforms required the city to make councilors’ financial disclosures easily accessible online. They also require councilors to disclose the money they received through contracts between their employer and the city, including through incentives such as tax abatements.
The proposal had included a requirement to disclose which stocks the councilors had invested in, but that provision was not included in the approved ordinance.
Hayleigh Colombo is an investigative reporter for IndyStar. Contact her at hcolombo@indystar.com or @hayleighcolombo on X.
Contact IndyStar Indianapolis City Hall Reporter Jordan Smith at JTSmith@indystar.com. Follow him on X @jordantsmith09.
Emily Hopkins is a senior reporter at Mirror Indy. You can reach them by phone or Signal at 317-790-5268 or email at emily.hopkins@mirrorindy.org. Follow them on most social media @indyemapolis or on Bluesky @emilyhopkins.bsky.social.
Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him by phone or Signal at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy Democrats call for modest ethics change after ‘Mr. Clean’ investigation
Reporting by Hayleigh Colombo and Jordan Smith/IndyStar; Emily Hopkins and Peter Blanchard/Mirror Indy, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Hayleigh Colombo and Jordan Smith/IndyStar; Emily Hopkins and Peter Blanchard/Mirror Indy, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
