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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA new political action committee formed by prominent Indianapolis Republicans is bringing together some unlikely allies with the aim of finding “smart” solutions to some of the city’s problems.
Organizers for the new Smart Indy PAC, led by Indianapolis City-County Council Minority Leader Michael-Paul Hart, say the group plans to privately convene both Democrats and Republicans in search of best practices, and it is already doing so.
The goal is to form policies for the six-member Republican caucus of the council to champion and to raise money for Republican candidates, but PAC leaders say they’ll need input from Democrats to be successful.
Hart said the group has raised $10,000 before its planned Aug. 12 kickoff fundraiser. The event at the InterContinental Hotel’s Astrea Rooftop Bar carries a ticket cost of $100, with options to sponsor, co-host or host the event by donating from $500 to $2,500.
The PAC plans to create an infrastructure for policymaking for the Republican caucus. It has 12 staffers total, Hart said, but just two are currently paid. Those positions are the finance director and fundraising director, while others work in volunteer roles in policy, events and communications.
Republican Councilor Josh Bain, the vice chairman of the PAC, said that the funds will aid Indianapolis Republicans with candidate recruitment. Currently, all countywide seats in Marion County are held by Democrats. On the council, Democrats hold 19 out of 25 seats.
“You know we are here to support you, and you don’t have to do it on your own,” Bain said of the future candidates. And Indianapolis Republicans have their next big challenge in 2026, when Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears, a Democrat, will seek reelection to his post.
That’s partially what makes it surprising that Mears, who has been a frequent target of Republican politicians, is engaging with the group.
Just days after a shooting in downtown Indianapolis took the lives of two juveniles and injured five others during the Fourth of July weekend, some prominent Indianapolis Republicans met for a roundtable discussion on public safety that included Mears and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Chris Bailey, an appointee of the Democratic mayor.
Out of that first roundtable, a few policy recommendations emerged: remove county residency requirements to expand the candidate pool for the Prosecutor’s Office and IMPD; transition the IMPD General Orders Board to an advisory capacity with staggered terms that outlast mayoral cycles; monitor alternative response options for non-emergency 911 calls; and invest in a unified evidence management system and license plate readers.
These ideas—which Hart says were well-received by attendees at the first roundtable—could form the basis for future council proposals from the Republican caucus.
“One thing I didn’t want to do is tie a red elephant to everything,” Hart said. “As soon as I do that … it’s going to take away a whole group of people.”
Joe Elsener, the former Marion County GOP chair and honorary chairman of the PAC, said local government is uniquely less partisan than politics at the state and federal level. That leaves open the opportunity for collaboration.
“The foundation of [the PAC] isn’t about politics. It’s about, ‘How are we finding folks that want to help to build the smartest city in America?'” Elsener said.
Hart said the group is planning other roundtables on topics such as economic development, building permits and homelessness. Because the group doesn’t constitute a majority of the council, its meetings are not required under Indiana’s Open Door Law to be open to the public.
Hart said the closed-door meetings create a better atmosphere for pragmatic discussions, rather than an appearance of political grandstanding.
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The first priorities should be 1) make sure Violent felons are incarcerated for many, many years!
2) humanely house the homeless and institutionalize the mentally ill.
These problems did not exist to the extent they do today even 15 years ago!
This is BASIC GOVERNMENT! Of course, the prosecutor is a problem but so are judges who fail to incarcerate violent criminals in some twisted sense of “compassion”!
Violent crime in Indianapolis fell 28% in 2024 from 2023 levels.
That’s just how they are labeled or classified, the actual counts remain.
What do you mean, the actual counts? The literal actual counts show a 28% decrease
but you don’t get headlines, or supporters, or cash, if you talk about declining crime.
Its not judicial compassion. It’s judicial realization there aren’t enough prison beds.
It’s not that Mears doesn’t go after criminals; he chooses which ones are worth the resources of court time, prosecutors time, and usually public defenders. And prison beds. Taking a case to court is expensive, and Indiana doesn’t like to spend the money. Hogsett is opposed to tax increases.
Something has to give. You can’t have lots of new prisons, staffed with prison staff, and full of prisoners, if no one will pay the money. Same with the homeless and mentally ill.
But I have questions: Dear Smart Indy Pac: How much are you willing to spend on incarceration of violent felons? How many more prison beds will be required to accomplish your goals? The State was behind on paying the counties housing prisoners for the state, which the state needed due to overcrowding at state prisons. So, you’ll need more beds, either at county jails or state prisons. What do your studies indicate will be the cost?
How much are you willing to spend on housing the homeless, and in particular the homeless with mental issues? Locking them up in abusive warehouses, as was the historical approach, won’t work anymore. What do your studies suggest will be the cost? How long to implement?
Will either the Indiana legislature or the federal government be willing to pay these funds? Would it be easier for Marion County/Indianapolis if they just gave the homeless one-way tickets to Carmel, Westfield, Noblesville, Greenwood? A special Metro bus line…The Red Ball One Way Express. Or do we just covertly give them bicycles and send them up the Monon Trail?
Will your incarceration plans provide any sort of rehab program for violent offenders, or will you just lock them up, leave them to rot, and free them in 15 years with no skills and ready to cause more violence?
If Prosecutor Mears pushed hard for jail sentences for all criminals, how long would it take before Indiana couldn’t afford all the prisoners any longer? WIll the legislature be willing to increase taxes, or will we just take those expenses out of educational funding? Two years ago that per prisoner cost was just under $20K per year. Can you find enough prison guards, because you can’t now…what additional compensation are you willing to pay for prison staffs? Or will we have a contract with El Salvador for their hell hole super max?
What additional compensation are you willing to pay IMPD. As of Fall of 2024, Indy was short some 300 sworn officers from the already authorized number, and IMPD’s union said they needed lots more officers. Can Indy afford another 500 officers.
So, new Republican PAC Smart Indy…have these answers before you step in front of a news media microphone to make suggestions or to criticize. I don’t have these anwers…you need to.
These implied failures of local government are the result of a low-tax, low-service environment, and it is so true that if we want government to do more, then we have to PAY the government to do more in the form of higher taxes.
We aren’t going to find it in the sofa cushions looking for “waste fraud and abuse”. We are going to have to be intentional about raising taxes to pay for a minimum level of necessary service to eliminate or reduce some of these problems.
Chris B: thanks for what I think is a message generally supportive of my unintentionally overly long screed. But I’m really hoping to hear from all these “lock ’em up” for criminals, and “hide them away” for the homeless and mentally ill, about how much they’re willing to pay in additional state and local taxes to reach their desired outcomes. As Chris B. points out, Indiana generally has a low tax, low service approach to government, and then citizens are shocked when things seem to go wrong.
So step up folks who think jails and asylums are the answer, and tell us how the bill is paid.
And invest in the community not just sports and entertainment. Yes the conventions and sports get Indy’s name out there but even with all these big events there is still no money for government services (transit, roads, neighborhood improvement)
still waiting…
I actually lean towards the “housing first” model for homeless folks without serious pathologies.
But institutions are also “housing first” for those who are mentally ill (unintentionally criminal) or drug-dependent, who are a danger mostly to themselves, and truly can’t function in society.
Those who cross the line into criminal behavior do need to be locked up, for everyone else’s safety, because they demonstrate that they are a danger to others (even when they have mental issues or drug dependency).
And yes, we need to budget and pay for it all under the heading “public safety”. That means higher taxes.
Uniparty PAC. Never voting for another Indy republican.