Guns, 2020 protests and housing investors: Indianapolis mayor debate takeaways
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Republican Jefferson Shreve criticized Democratic incumbent Joe Hogsett for not being on the scene during tense moments of the 2020 racial justice protests in the latest debate in the Indianapolis mayor's race, held Monday evening at WISH-TV.
The candidates also sparred on whether downtown is safe, how to address corporations buying up Indianapolis homes in large numbers, and animal welfare, a key issue Shreve has campaigned on.
News 8 evening anchor Phil Sanchez and reporter Katiera Winfrey served as moderators.
Here are the biggest takeaways.
Hogsett touts accomplishments; Shreve says it's not enough
Among the accomplishments of his eight years in office, Hogsett said, are hiring 700 new officers, a 16% reduction in homicides from 2021 to 2022, $9 billion in new economic investment, a $1.2 billion infrastructure plan, and adding $200 million to the parks system, without a tax increase.
“I would like an opportunity to finish the job,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shreve said that the question before voters is whether they are better off today than eight years ago.
“I don’t believe we are,” he said, pointing out that for three years, the city has had more than 200 homicides annually and a 300-person police officer shortage.
He also criticized Hogsett for not addressing the homelessness problem, the conditions in the city animal shelter, and not moving more quickly to get a new animal shelter built.
Hogsett said in response to animal welfare concerns that the live release rate from the city-run animal shelter has increased from 60% to 85-90% during his two terms.
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Where was Hogsett during 2020 racial justice protests?
Moderators asked Hogsett where he was during the 2020 racial justice protests, something he had previously spoken about to IndyStar.
“I was working from my home,” Hogsett said. “I was in constant contact with my representatives with IMPD. After things started to dissipate that evening, I got about two or three hours of rest and got up at four o’clock the next day.”
He said that he met with organizers of the protests over the rest of the weekend and issued the order to have protests ended.
Shreve attacked Hogsett for not being on the scene at the protests.
“We had a terrific mess on our hands, and the mayor wasn’t on the scene,” Shreve said. “I don’t know if he was just working from home. I can tell you that a Mayor Shreve would have been on the scene, whether an emergency command center or at least the 25th floor of the City-County building because that’s how you lead.”
Responded Hogsett: “Jefferson may be able to allege that he would have been on site. I’m not altogether sure what either he or I could have done in terms of wading out into the crowd.”
Are downtown and the city safe?
Hogsett said the permitless carry law passed by the Indianapolis General Assembly last year contributes to gun violence and has been “disastrous” for Indianapolis.
Statistics show downtown is the safest neighborhood in the city, Hogsett said.
Shreve said downtown does not feel safe to many people and said it was misleading of Hogsett to suggest downtown is the safest district because it is the smallest IMPD district geographically.
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“The inability to police the broken-window theory of policing is a reality in Indianapolis and so reports of crime on these fronts is underreported,” Shreve said, pointing to auto theft as an example of a crime that the understaffed IMPD cannot fully investigate.
The broken-window theory, which was popular in the 1990s but has been controversial in practice, says that prosecuting lower-level crimes, such as vandalism and theft, can reduce crime overall, including serious crime. Shreve has previously said he supports it.
Both candidates underscore need for gun control
Hogsett touted the aspirational law passed by the Indianapolis City-County Council this year that includes a slate of strict gun control reforms. The law cannot be enforced due to a 2011 Indiana preemption law that prevents cities from passing such local gun regulation.
Shreve criticized Hogsett for introducing the law after the Indiana General Assembly adjourned for the year: “In my view, a little too late.”
Hogsett responded that the Indiana General Assembly only passed the permitless carry law last year.
Downtown development and safety
The pandemic and subsequent loss of remote workers has affected downtown businesses. Both candidates agreed that the pre-pandemic norm of a five day, in-person work week will probably never return.
Shreve said the city has to be proactive and creative in repurposing spaces downtown to make it attractive and safe to live, work and play.
“People have to feel safe in living and working and playing downtown,” he said. “So we have to address that broken part of our foundation.”
Hogsett rebutted Shreve’s claims that downtown is not safe.
“The people that are living downtown are coming downtown to live because it is safe," he said, pointing to the rise in downtown's residential population. "And you don’t hear complaints from people who live downtown because they know it’s safe. Where you hear the complaints, and this is who Jefferson is listening to, are people who don’t even live in Marion County.”
Hogsett also pointed to his Downtown Resiliency Plan, a mini-park on Monument Circle called Spark on the Circle and the opening of the Bicentennial Unity Plaza as examples of projects key to the revitalization of downtown.
Shreve has said previously he would permanently end Spark on the Circle and opposes the closure of the Circle to vehicular traffic.
“What concerns me about the notion of Spark is the mayor’s characterization of it as a potential pilot, a precursor to closure of the Monument Circle to vehicular traffic,” he said.
Corporate investment in housing
Candidates were asked about the trend of out-of-state corporate investors buying up large swaths of housing and affecting housing prices in neighborhoods.
IndyStar investigated the issue in a two-part series published in September.
Indianapolis corporate homeownership: How Wall Street cashed in on the American Dream: Homebuyers outbid in droves by investors
“Healthy neighborhoods have a high percentage of individual homeownership, so we want to discourage outside investors buying up big swaths of housing stock,” Shreve said, adding that rent has been going up and that there are things the mayor’s office can do to rectify that.
Hogsett said his administration has a good track record of cooperating with the state attorney general on holding out-of-state negligent landlords accountable, referring to the joint lawsuits that led to the banning of notorious landlord JPC Affordable Housing Foundation from the state for seven years. He also pointed to his administration’s program to offer property tax relief to allow residents to stay in their homes.
Evictions
When asked about the high eviction rate in Marion County, Hogsett took aim at the Indiana General Assembly, which killed Indianapolis’ tenants rights bill in 2020 and prevented Indianapolis from passing tenant-landlord regulations.
He said that the city’s IndyRent program distributed almost $200 million to keep renters in their homes during the pandemic.
Shreve said the COVID-era funding, including that which funded IndyRent, will sunset in the near term.
He also said that the city’s Business and Neighborhood Services is ineffective in code enforcement, that Hogsett’s initiatives are toothless, and said there is no enforcement mechanism for the city’s landlord registry.
Life expectancy disparities, food deserts
The moderators asked what the candidates would do to help underprivileged communities across the city and increase life expectancy in Indianapolis, which is almost 30 years lower than that of Carmel several miles to the North.
The city must provide incentives for developers to bring mid-size grocers that offer fresh produce into food deserts, Shreve said.
Hogsett said his administration has been aggressive in addressing disparities. He pointed to the opening of Cleo’s Bodega early in his first term, the investment by Cook Medical into the new 38th Street facility, and Indy Achieves, a scholarship program for underserved populations.
Illegal street racing
Asked about the problem of illegal street car racing, Shreve said IMPD is understaffed and stifled by pursuit policy limitations in arresting individuals involved in illegal street racing.
“I don’t think that we’re addressing it adequately,” Shreve said.
Hogsett said IMPD has made a dozen or so arrests already, as of when he was last updated, and he thinks law enforcement is addressing the problem adequately.
“Jefferson and I are going to have to agree to disagree,” he said.
The election is Nov. 7. Early voting is underway.
Contact IndyStar reporter Ko Lyn Cheang at kcheang@indystar.com or 317-903-7071. Follow her on Twitter: @kolyn_cheang.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Mayor Joe Hogsett and Jefferson Shreve debate 2020 protests and more
