Hogsett Apologizes To Harassment Accusers, City Leaders Begin Investigation

Source: Garrett Berquist/WISH-TV / other

INDIANAPOLIS — It was a packed house inside the Indianapolis City-County Council chambers Monday night for a meeting that was supposed to revolve around Mayor Joe Hogsett’s proposed budget for 2025. Instead, it revolved around accusations of sexual harassment.

After making his pitch to councilors about his 2025 city budget, Hogsett addressed the elephant in the room directly.

In the last week, his office has been enthralled with scandal over his former chief of staff Thomas Cook being accused of sexually harassing two women who worked for Hogsett either in the mayor’s office or on his mayoral campaign. Both women say they reported Cook’s behavior to the mayor directly and they claim he did nothing.

“I want to tell you both, and the third anonymous individual who shared her story, how sorry I am for the harm that has occurred,” Hogsett said. “(Cook’s) conduct was a betrayal of the trust placed in him as a public official and my trust.”

Caroline Ellert and Lauren Roberts are the women who have come forward with the accusations. They both sat not five feet from the mayor during the meeting.

“First I regret that the two women who spoke up about this did not feel heard for far too long,” Hogsett said.

“We weren’t heard,” Roberts said from the gallery.

Hogsett said he took the accusations seriously when they were first brought forth, but said he should have communicated that seriousness more clearly. He promised wide-ranging human resources reforms in his office to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.

These include wide-ranging mandatory sexual harassment training for all employees. Before, only management had to receive such training.

That’s not enough for the Indianapolis City-County Council, who voted 22-to-3 after the mayor spoke to open an investigation into the harassment claims. The inquiry will be led by the council’s Rules and Public Policy Committee, of which Councilor Brian Mowery is the ranking member.

He said all options are on the table.

“I think pending an investigation and finding out what he knew and when he knew and why he didn’t take corrective action, yes (resignation) should definitely be on the table,” Mowery said. “I wouldn’t take (impeachment) off the table by any means. We need to look at this situation and look at how we can make it right.”