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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAs a business owner whose company is at the very heart of our city on Monument Circle, I care a great deal about the future of Indianapolis. The growth of IBJ Media is tied to a prosperous and growing city, region and state. And while I don’t believe in looking solely to elected officials for answers, I do expect them to meet minimum expectations. For the mayor of Indianapolis, those involve public safety, urban planning and infrastructure (roads, bridges, parks, housing), and economic development.
Public safety was top of mind after a bullet tore into IBJ Media’s office on Monument Circle a few hours after the conclusion of Game 7 of the NBA Finals. IBJ’s award-winning journalist Mickey Shuey left the office approximately 45 minutes before that bullet pierced a wall and came to rest not far from where he was working.
So what have we heard from the mayor of Indianapolis—the elected official in charge of public safety and the man who campaigned on making public safety a priority? Nothing.
He’s issued no public statements and offered no solutions following this unacceptable shooting in the heart of our city, one that left three people injured and bullet holes in several other businesses. A 16-year-old boy was arrested and preliminarily charged with unlawful carrying of a handgun in connection with the shooting.
But Joe Hogsett has been missing in action—just as he was in 2020, when violence ripped through downtown, leaving a trail of injuries and property damage.
Before Hogsett, Indianapolis had been blessed with great mayors, leaders who had a vision for the city and ably tackled public safety, infrastructure and economic development. Maybe that is why the deficiencies of the Hogsett administration are so glaring. As IBJ wrote in a June 13 editorial calling for the mayor to step down, the “Hogsett administration has never been able to articulate a clear strategy for the city, a message or a plan through which business and community leaders could rally.”
When it comes to urban planning and infrastructure, the Hogsett team is also failing miserably. Indy drivers have to worry about vehicle damage while dodging potholes on major thoroughfares. And rather than advocating for important improvements to Interstates 65 and 70, the mayor has left the advocacy to civic champions like the Rethink Coalition, which formed in the absence of mayoral leadership. How about a plan to better connect Indiana University’s and Purdue University’s growing Indianapolis campuses to downtown by modifying West Street? Nothing from Mayor Hogsett.
And what about economic development? Two years ago, the mayor stood on stage with one of Indy’s most dynamic entrepreneurs, Ersal Ozdemir, and provided words of support at a groundbreaking for an Indy Eleven stadium. But the mayor pulled a fast one and decided the city would mount its own effort to land a Major League Soccer franchise, backing out of its promises to support an Indy Eleven stadium that could have eventually been home to an Indy Eleven MLS team.
The city has now spent millions of city dollars to acquire land for a different soccer stadium site. But where are the plans for that stadium or the MLS team the mayor said he was confident Indianapolis could land? Nowhere. Once again, Joe is missing in action.
It’s clear that the mayor hopes he can wait out calls for his resignation—and only the Legislature has the authority to impeach him. Neither has Hogsett shut down discussion about whether he’ll seek a fourth term. For the sake of the city, let’s hope he exits.•
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Feltman is publisher of IBJ and CEO of IBJ Media. Send comments to nfeltman@ibj.com.
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What a big ball of nothing Mayor Joe has turned out to be. Absent, MIA, a placeholder. Thirty years ago a friend said of him, “He just wants to be elected to something, anything.” And that has been his achievement – to get elected. Beyond that … absence. Mayor Lugar is surely appalled when he looks down on recently renovated Lugar Plaza, the front door to city hall, and sees junkies sleeping on swings that are meant for children to play on. This is the perfect symbol of the Hogsett era.