GOP Candidate For Indianapolis Mayor Unveils Housing Plan

In a press conference, Republican Candidate for Indianapolis Mayor Jim Merritt proposed solutions to Mayor Joe Hogsett’s transformed housing plan, which aimed to repair, transform, or demolish 2,000 of the estimated 14,000 vacant homes in Indianapolis.

“I will require all city agencies to coordinate their efforts with the Marion County Health Department to inspect health code violations,” he said. “This intra-agency coordination with allow efficiencies that people expect from our city government.”

Hogsett, the incumbent Democrat Merritt will challenge in November, says that he has fixed 2,500 blighted homes, which was a goal he set for his administration in 2017. But a report from the Indianapolis Star revealed that many of these homes are uninhabitable, lacking water and electricity. Merritt suggests that it’s Hogsett’s leadership that fails Indianapolis.

“These initiatives simply require proactive leadership—leadership which Joe Hogsett has not shown for the last three years,” Merritt said. ‘When elected your mayor, I will lead and make sure these agencies and coordinating and problem solving.”

Merritt also suggested that he would connect IMPD into his agency coordination plan.