INDIANAPOLIS — A woman who accused Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s former Chief of Staff of sexual harassment is calling for the City-County Council to take action.
“I’m just disgusted by the whole thing,” said Roberts on Thursday. “It was just very upsetting.”
Roberts sat down with WRTV on Thursday. She said she anticipated that there might be some conflict at the meeting on Monday.
"They might cut my mic, but that’s the worst that I thought would happen,” said Roberts. “I’m just trying to help them do their jobs better, for the workers, and the city, and also on campaigns.”
Roberts said Thomas Cook, Hogsett’s former Chief of Staff, sexually harassed her while she worked for the campaign in 2014 and 2015.
Reflecting on Osili’s decision to remove her from Monday’s meeting, she said it’s left her “angry and scared” and concerned for the impact on other survivors looking to come forward.
"It was a very foolish strategic move to a survivor, a woman, and if they’re doing that to me, a white cisgender woman, it could have been a lot worse to someone who doesn’t have those identities and that type of advantage or privilege protecting them,” said Roberts.
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Council president Vop Osili issued a statement Wednesday saying he failed Roberts, his fellow councilors, and people attending the meeting.
“He hasn’t reached out to me directly. He has my number,” said Roberts. “This isn’t real repair. It’s showing me he is actually not interested in making things better."
The city launched an independent investigation into how the Hogsett administration handled sexual misconduct allegations.
But Roberts said the investigation left out key evidence, including text messages between her and Hogsett that made her uncomfortable.
“It ignored a lot of documentation, including these creepy texts from the mayor that I received and that my friend received,” said Roberts. “It’s astounding to me that those were not addressed or included in the report. That seems very relevant.”
Three City-County councilors have called for Hogsett’s resignation, but Hogsett has refused.
Roberts is urging more councilors to call for Hogsett to step down and for the council to do a thorough review of survivor statements and documentation.
"They need to listen to survivors, the people most impacted,” said Roberts.
The Administration and Finance Committee will meet next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. to discuss the proposed allocation of $300,000 to cover the final invoices from the law firm that conducted the independent investigation.
Roberts was invited to join the public comment portion at the committee meeting.
“I’m never putting my body in that building again,” said Roberts. “I’m done trying to get them to listen.”
Roberts also said the Indiana Democratic Party should condemn what happened on Monday.
WRTV reached out to the Indiana Democratic Party for comment and received a statement:
"These allegations are extremely concerning, and the Indiana Democratic Party (IDP) does not countenance sexual harassment of any kind. The Indianapolis City-County Council spent significant funds to do an investigation, but various news outlets claim that the report from Fisher Phillips is incomplete. Those persons challenging its factual findings should be able to express their concerns publicly.
Having citizens removed from a public meeting is an extreme measure in any case. If we all have learned anything from the Trump administration, it is that division, exclusion and insults are not the way to conduct public business. We urge all government institutions, including the Indianapolis City-County Council, to take a different path.IDP’s newly formed Ethics Committee has a procedure for investigating allegations of Code of Conduct violations, and when a complaint is received, we conduct our own, thorough investigation."
