Meet the candidates for City-County Council District 19

Two candidates are running for Indianapolis City-County Council District 19: Democrat Frank Mascari and Republican Terry Trent. Mascari is an incumbent council member representing District 21. Due to redistricting, Mascari is running for District 19 – in the same area of near south Marion County. 

Mascari, 68, was first elected to the City-County Council in 2011. He has owned and operated Spalding Jewelry in Beech Grove for more than 30 years. 

Trent did not complete the WFYI candidate survey or provide biographical information. 

WFYI sent each of the candidates six questions to help voters learn more. 

Editors’ note: Responses were edited for style and grammar, and any numbers used were checked for accuracy. When a statement required more clarification or could not be independently verified, WFYI reached out to candidates before publication. Those instances, and those candidate responses, are noted throughout in editors’ notes, marked by an * and presented in italics.

Early voting started Oct. 11. Election Day is Nov. 7. 

FRANK MASCARI

What are the top concerns that your district’s constituents have shared with you, and what are the issues that you foresee affecting them most in the next two to three years?  

The top concerns in my district are public safety, being number one; infrastructure within the neighborhoods; and improving the local parks.  Last year the Department of Public Works allocated approximately $1 million to each councilor* for street repaving so I was able to ensure quite a few streets in the Barrington area were paved. (Previously, that area hadn’t been touched in 50 years.)

*Editors’ note: WFYI was unable to confirm this $1 million number. The Department of Public Works says it collaborates with councilors to identify roadways in need of repair.  WFYI was not able to confirm road repair history.

Affordable housing is a major issue in Indianapolis. What measures should the council take to address this?

Affordable housing has always been an issue in Indianapolis, especially with gentrification happening in my district’s neighborhoods. When I go to neighborhood community meetings, I constantly hear that realtors are aggressively trying to buy these houses and I always tell my constituents not to sell - to stay in their homes.

When there are apartment complexes being developed within my district, I always ask what percentage will be affordable housing. Currently, there are two new low-income housing facilities under construction in my district. One is located near Garfield and the other one is on Hannah Avenue. Both are scheduled to be completed this fall.

What is your top concern regarding public safety in Indianapolis? What steps will you take as a council member to address it?

We’re always striving to increase the budget for public safety. This year alone, we’ve added $10 million. We’ve installed 150 more flock cameras in 2023, for a total of 471 cameras in Indianapolis. The cameras are doing what they’re supposed to do - catch criminals. Also, we’re working to install B-link cameras in high crime areas. Those cameras actually are hosted by local businesses. Right now, we have approximately 60 of these cameras in use. The city of Indianapolis is monitoring them and they’ve been helpful with solving some crime.

What specific steps will you take to address environmental concerns in your district that affect your constituents’ quality of life and life expectancy? 

In my district, we had a factory that was emitting chemical smells and the city of Indianapolis had aggressively fined them over the years. The business has now placed better scrubbers in their exhaust chimneys.*

*Editors’ note: The candidate is referring to issues at the Metalworking Lubricants Co. on Indianapolis’s southside. Learn more here.

We’re working with [Keep Indianapolis Beautiful] to clean up the creeks in the district. We had a neighborhood clean up event in the Garfield area and removed several discarded blankets and sweatshirts from the creeks. (These were a result from homeless people discarding them.)*

*Editors’ note: WFYI could not verify. 

On the southside, we created a Southside Quality of Life group that was active for almost six years. Unfortunately, state funding ran out but the group was able to survey some of the housing issues and collect important information.

What specific steps will you take to connect minority-owned businesses in Indianapolis with contracts for city projects? How else will you support growth opportunities for minority-owned businesses?

Within the city of Indianapolis, we’ve been monitoring minority-owned businesses and are seeing some growth. Three years ago, Council President Vop Osili began having every department report equities for minority-owned businesses.* We are making headway. Also included are disabled-owned businesses. 

*Editors’ note: City departments report back to the Office of Minority and Women Business Development on diversity growth. Read more about city diversity goals here. 

What would you like to see happen for K-12 education in Indianapolis, and how would you work as a city-county councilor to achieve that?

The city has been funding pre-K for the last six years and the state is finally contributing to the pre-K funding.*  We’re optimistic more funding will be coming in the future.  Lilly’s is one of the supporters of the program as well.

*Editors’ note: The city funded preschool for low-income families from 2015-2020 through the Indy Preschool Scholarship Program. On My Way Pre-K is a state program geared towards 4-year-olds.