City-County Council committee advances effort to overhaul sexual harassment policy

The Indianapolis City-County Council’s rule-making committee on Friday advanced a proposal to conduct a formal investigation into the city’s handling of sexual harassment allegations against a former top official in the Mayor’s Office, as well as overhauling the way similar claims are handled by city staff in the future.

The Rules and Public Policy Committee amended a Democrat-backed proposal focused on reforms to include additional harassment training and subpoena authority, along with several other changes. The proposal also lays a framework for an investigative committee to assess claims against Mayor Joe Hogsett’s former chief of staff, Thomas Cook, who also served as the mayor’s campaign manager.

The committee voted 11-0 to approve the amendment, which was presented by Democratic Councilors Andy Nielsen of District 14 and Crista Carlino of District 11.

The proposal specifically calls for “examining and investigating allegations of abuse by members of the Hogsett Administration and campaign.”

The amendment essentially combines two proposals that had been intended to be heard separately by the committee—one from the Democratic caucus and the other from Republicans. They were merged following discussions between several councilors and Democratic leader Maggie Lewis and Republican leader Brian Mowery.

The proposal now includes several focal points:

— Creating an investigative committee consisting of five members in the Democratic majority and two Republican members, which will delve further into the claims against Cook and the Hogsett administration;

— Give the investigative committee the authority to subpoena witnesses and documents tied to its investigation;

— Hiring an independent human resources or law firm with no ties to city business to conduct its own investigation and recommend policy changes in the city’s human resources policies and practices;

— Upholding and strengthening identity protections for those leveling accusations against Cook;

— Modifying municipal code to mandate sexual harassment training for all city-county employees, as well as requiring the disclosure of consensual relationships in the workplace to human resources.

The modification also follows an executive order issued this week by Hogsett requiring all city-county employees to complete sexual harassment awareness and prevention training, circumventing the previous rule that required the training once every two years. The administration is also working to set up an anonymous online reporting system, city officials have said.

Cook is accused by at least three women of abusing his power and making unwanted advances on them during his time in the administration, which concluded in late 2020. Cook remained in Hogsett’s inner circle for several years as a political adviser even though Hogsett was aware of the allegations.

City officials have said Cook’s behavior was investigated three times over six years and each investigation brought a reprimand and discipline against Cook. The result was Cook’s resignation from city employment in 2020 and, later, his departure from Hogsett’s 2023 mayoral campaign.

Cook has not been charged with a crime.

“I think it’s so important that we work together to restore trust in our city leadership … [and] I think it’s extremely important that we ensure that Indy is a place where every employee feels secure, safe and valued,” Lewis said during the committee meeting. “I want to remind us that we are committed to making the necessary changes to protect our current employees and our future employees. And, lastly, this is not a political move, this is not about politics. It really is about doing what is right for our community.”

The proposal will next be considered by the full City-County Council during its meeting on Sept. 9. If approved, the investigative committee would first convene within 21 days, followed by several other meetings at undisclosed intervals. A tentative report would be provided to the council by Feb. 28.