Hogsett, Shreve clash in Indy Chamber HobNob remarks

Jefferson Shreve at the Indy Chamber HobNob (IBJ photo/Eric Learned)

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett touted his efforts in downtown development, crime reduction and infrastructure investments at the Indy Chamber HobNob, an annual political networking event held Wednesday at the downtown’s Columbia Club Stardust Ballroom.

In return, his competitor Jefferson Shreve took jabs at the incumbent over his unwillngness to agree to a formal debate and his campaign advertising strategy.

Shreve, a Republican businessman, is running against Democrat Hogsett as the mayor seeks his third term in office in November’s election.

During mayoral election years, past HobNob events have featured a traditional debate. Hogsett has previously debated Republican challengers Chuck Brewer and Jim Merritt, respectively, at the event. The format this year instead consisted of 10-minute stump speeches.

At the start of his remarks, Shreve accused Hogsett of requesting the format be changed for the event.

“Until this year, the HobNob was the signature mayoral debate in Indianapolis,” Shreve said. “And this change was made not at my behest—I would love to be standing alongside our mayor—but this is the ground rule that he set for this conversation.”

Adam Burtner, vice president of governmental affairs for Indy Chamber and the host of the event, declined to comment on the deliberations to set up the event.

“We’re super-excited that both candidates were able to be here. Traditionally, we have had debates in the past, it is not an expectation of either candidate,” Burtner said. “… [The] stump speech model works better this year, so we went with that.”

Shreve said multiple media outlets have reached out to organize a televised debate. His spokeswoman, Jennifer Erbacher, said these television stations were WXIN-TV Channel 59 and WISH-TV Channel 8. She told IBJ that the Hogsett campaign has been presented with several possible dates but has not committed to one.

“We feel they’re slow-walking it,” Erbacher said.

In a written statement, Hogsett campaign manager Blake Hesch said the mayor “has agreed to participate in a number of forums and debates before November and details will be coming over the next few weeks.”

“Mayor Joe spent his time this evening talking about his work to move the city forward, although we understand that Jefferson had other priorities,” Hesch wrote. “We were excited to work with the Chamber on HobNob, and our campaign quickly agreed to their formal invitation, which was similar to last year’s successful event.”

Hesch also told IBJ that any perceived delay in response from the Hogsett campaign is due to discussions about debate formats.

Hogsett focuses on record

Hogsett told the room of influential political and corporate leaders that they have had a hand in the path of the city so far and they will continue to if he is reelected for a third term.

He referred to “architects of the new Indianapolis that is already under construction” and credited various agencies with improvements during his nearly eight years as mayor.

“Unemployment is at historic lows and the only thing higher than job growth are the cranes that are dotting the sky,” Hogsett said.

He then listed six developments, including the new IU Health campus, the Bottleworks expansion and the Elanco headquarters.

“Do you want me to keep going?” Hogsett asked the crowd before naming five more, including the proposed 32-story tower addition and redevelopment of Old City Hall announced this week.

Hogsett also said there was a 16% decrease in homicides in the city last year compared with 2021, a decline that he said was due to the efforts of the Office of Public Health and Safety and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

The city did see a drop of homicides last year, to 226, after a record-breaking 272 the previous year and 221 in 2020.

Hogsett also touted the city’s infrastructure investments.

“If you like smooth streets, you’ll be seeing more of them, thanks to our five-year, $1.2 billion infrastructure plan including over $100 million devoted just to neighborhood and residential roads and streets,” he said.

Hogsett also emphasized the city’s role as a magnet for conventions and huge sports bids, including hosting almost the entire NCAA men’s Basketball Tournament in 2021. He credited leaders with the NCAA, Visit Indy, the Capital Improvement Board and the Indiana Sports Corp. for those events, which he said “helped ensure that while the rest of the country was reeling, we were leading the vanguard of recovery.”

Hogsett gave three campaign promises: that he would value counsel and constructive criticism of the corporate and civic communities; that he would not let what he can learn from peer cities distract from people in Indianapolis who “possess the pen to write our next chapter;” and that he would focus on “what is good, and fair, and just about Indianapolis” over advice from political consultants and polling results.

Shreve explores opportunities

Shreve, whose campaign has so far been focused on improving public safety, branched out into opportunities for Indianapolis growth in the IUPUI split and the federal CHIPS Act.

The candidate is an alum of both Indiana University and Purdue University and sits on the chancellor’s board at IUPUI. If elected, Shreve said he would personally work to engage with IU and Purdue as they  operate separate Indianapolis campuses.

“We’re on the cusp of something special,” he said. “We’re going to take IUPUI and create two free-standing Research 1 universities right here in the middle of our city, and the economic implications and amplification opportunity is the most important opportunity that I think our city will face over the next decade or two.”

Shreve said the hardtech corridor from West Lafayette to Indianapolis proposed by Purdue President Mung Chiang and the science and technology corridor proposed by Indiana University President Pamela Whitten from Indianapolis to Bloomington will allow the city to leverage tech to make “Indianapolis truly stand out amongst the cities, once peer and those that have momentarily eclipsed us,” such as Columbus, Ohio.

Additionally, Shreve said Republican U.S. Sen. Todd Young’s work on the CHIPS Act will be central to his vision for the city, which he said would be rolling out in more detail as Election Day approaches.

Shreve, whom the Hogsett campaign and the Indiana Democratic Party has attacked over issues such as abortion and guns, referred to “nationalized” issues that have little to do with the mayor’s race. He criticized his opponent’s ad messaging.

“Joe Hogsett’s core argument, near as I can tell, about why I shouldn’t be mayor is that I’m a Republican,” Shreve said. “Well, I am. Lifelong. Guilty as charged. So now we’ve covered that, let’s talk about Indianapolis.”

He recently saw uproar among conservative Republicans over his public safety plan, which includes reversing the permitless carry law the Legislature passed last year. He told attendees that he is a gun owner, but “not a model NRA member.”

Shreve said his own political thinking rose out of the tradition of “civil rights Republicans” such as Sen. Richard Lugar and former Mayors Stephen Goldsmith and Greg Ballard.