Meet the candidates for City-County Council District 21

Two candidates are running for Indianapolis City-County Council District 21: Republican incumbent Josh Bain and Democrat Phil Webster. Bain is an incumbent council member representing District 20. Due to redistricting, he is running for District 21 –  in Marion County’s Southwest corner. 

Bain, 29, has sat on the council since August 2020 and works as virtual support for Proper Cloth, a clothing company. When his predecessor Republican Jason Holliday resigned to serve as a Decatur Township trustee, Bain filed unopposed to replace Holliday. He was elected by caucus. 

Webster, 81, is a retired educator and baseball coach. In 2015, he was inducted to the Indiana High School Baseball Coach Association Hall of Fame. 

WFYI and the Indianapolis Recorder sent each of the candidates six questions to help voters learn more. Their answers are presented in alphabetical order.

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. 

JOSH BAIN

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?  

Infrastructure is by far and away the #1 issue I hear from constituents. Given that our whole city budget is $1.3B* and we underfund infrastructure by roughly $800M a year,** that is no surprise. When I was first on the council in 2020, we were spending $125M on infrastructure. This year that number is closer to $250. We are going in the right direction, but the fact is, we have to be spending hundreds of millions more on infrastructure just to maintain our current poor road conditions. So unless the city adopts a full, comprehensive plan (like I have proposed) to address our fiscal road funding crisis, roads are guaranteed to get worse year-over-year.

*Editors' note: City budget total note: Indianapolis’s city budget has increased in recent years. The 2020 budget spent $1.2  billion. Indianapolis marked nearly $1.3 billion in 2021. In 2022 the city’s spending topped $1.3. The Indianapolis city budget for 2023 is more than $1.4 and the 2024 budget is more than $1.5 billion. 

**Editors' note: The Department of Public Works has increased spending over the past few years. The adopted DPW operational budget for 2021 through 2024 is below.

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

When it comes to housing in my district, I often hear about the need for move-up housing. There are many people that grew up on the southwest side that express a desire to stay in the area, but we don't have the move-up housing they want once they get their second or third job out of college or enter the workforce. We lose too many great people to Plainfield, Avon, Carmel, Noblesville, etc. I will continue to work with residential developers to bring in the move-up housing we need, and when a residential zoning case comes before me, my support will only be given if it meets the needs of our community, and the developer makes significant investments in the surrounding infrastructure. Our roads on the southwest side cannot sustain additional traffic. 

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

The top issue when it comes to law enforcement is the lack of support officers feel. We are one of the top paying departments in the region with a starting salary of $72,000. The fact that are still 300 officers short* shows that it's not all about funding. We have to create a culture of support for law enforcement-- not only for new officers, but also for veteran officers too. If a veteran officer has 10-15 years of service under their belt, but they are driving an outdated vehicle and a new officer is driving a brand new vehicle, I can certainly see how the veteran officer feels under-appreciated. It's not that the veteran officer doesn't think the new officer shouldn't have that new car, but they are left wondering why they didn't get one after several years of service. Another example is when the city entered into a plea agreement with the family of Dreasjon Reed, after IMPD was cleared of any wrongdoing. IMPD officers do everything by the book, but yet the city still awards a criminal's family $390K. That sends the wrong message to our officers. We have to hold the city accountable for decisions like that. I am honored to be the only candidate in Council District 21 to be endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #86, and Local Firefighters 416.

*Editors' note: Mayor Joe Hogsett has hired more than 700 officers since he took office in 2016, but from 2016 to 2022, IMPD lost close to 740 officers.  In 2023, the department reported hiring 75 officers and losing 136 officers as of September's IMPD budget hearing. The department is currently looking to hire about 300 more officers to the force.

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

The southwest side of Indianapolis has been historically underserved by the city administration. We lack amenities like bike trails, community centers, and community resources like mental health treatments. We have to continue to hold the city accountable for this. We have to push for the White River Master Plan to extend the White River Trail down to Southwestway Park. I have also led the effort to put a multi-purpose path along Kentucky Ave. As for the community centers and mental health resources, we have to continue to build partnership with local & regional businesses to bring those investments to the southwest side. The city also uses race/ DEI initiatives too often when it comes to awarding city services.* For example, their equity lens for the recent parks plan used race in nearby census blocks as a criterion for investment. This means if you have a less ethnically diverse district or neighborhood, you have additional hurdles to jump through to get investment in your parks.

Editors' note: WFYI could not verify that parks in certain neighborhoods are more or less likely to receive investment based on city equity goals.  You can read more about the city’s diversity and equity goals here. 

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? 

Indianapolis is blessed to have many local businesses deserving of city contracts. As long as our local business owners are able to compete on a fair, level playing field, a lot of contracts will go to minority owned businesses. That being said, I do not think the city should use race as a reason for awarding contracts.

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? 

While a City-County Councilor doesn't have direct oversight over K-12 education, there are many things we can do to help K-12 education. We have to leverage our connections with local businesses to promote partnerships with our schools. For us on the southwest side, this includes businesses/ organizations like the Indianapolis Airport Authority and Arcamed. We have to do everything we can to make sure the next generation is ready to take on high-skill, high-wage opportunities out of high school or college. Thankfully, Decatur Township schools are doing this with their recent investment in the on-campus career center.

PHIL WEBSTER

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?  

Much attention is focused on preventing the extension of the Ameriplex Parkway through Decatur Township. This four-lane highway will divide Decatur Township north and south and fundamentally change the character of the township from a rural suburban environment, sought by many residents, to more of a commercial and industrial character.

Also there is much concern about the high property taxes paid by the people of District 21 and the feeling that they are not getting a fair share of government services. There is a sense of hopelessness that nothing will change and the quality of life will not improve. 

What city leaders are doing is creating a progressive downtown at the expense of the people who live in the township.

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

The council will need to use incentives to encourage the production of affordable housing. Offering tax abatements to developers who will build quality affordable housing. The council needs to regulate the development of [Airbnbs] and the rent they charge. They needed to be treated and regulated like hotels. The council needs to encourage voluntary organizations like Habitat for Humanity to build affordable housing on publicly owned land that will be given to charitable organizations who will build on the land and charge rent at a reasonable rate. The council should work with bankers and other lending institutions to grant government backed loans for lower income people to purchase affordable housing.

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

Public safety can only be achieved by applying a variety of solutions . We have to see that people have a decent quantity of life. (Adequate food, water, clothing and shelter.) These are essential to creating a group of people who are not likely to harm others. When they have a sense that they belong in the community and are not discriminated against they are likely to have a sense of higher self esteem. Since we are not even close to supplying these essential needs to many of the people in our community we are now facing a crime problem that often shows up in some form of mental illness. To manage this safety problem we will need to hire more police and locate them in police stations closer to where people live. Get police out of their cars and meet the people they are policing. They can do this by being in the neighborhoods they serve. 

We need to bring vocational education back to the local school. So people can develop skills and get a job that pays a living wage. We need a decent prison system that is about rehabilitation and not punishment and we need affordable health care including mental health. Most of the people [in] Indianapolis are good people and are willing to help those who, for whatever reason, are not acting as they should. The council needs to continue working on the quality of life issues.

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 a child born today north of I-465 has a shorter life expectancy than a child born south of I-465. WHY?

The answer seems simple to me. Poor food, (food desert), poor housing, poor water, few doctors, or medical centers failing schools, poor infrastructure, including areas that still have septic systems and rely on well water are not good environments for children to grow up in and be healthy. Now add to it a city government that neglects an area of the city by allowing un regulated or poorly regulated business that dumps industrial waste into the local water or uses some of the land for a city dump or water treatment plant or allow the airport to disregard noise pollution. What I would do is to watch for these problems developing and use the power of regulation and ordinance writing to prevent these dangerous actions from happening.

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? 

This is a tough one. I realize that the city has a moral and ethical and legal obligation to be fair and equal when it comes to dealing with the public. I would encourage the city to compile a list of minority contractors who they will contact when a project will need to let contracts. If they are qualified to do the job and there is evidence that they are an equal opportunity employer

With no history of racial gender or sexual discrimination and they pay a livable wage to their employees they would be considered for the job. Every opportunity would be given to minorities to own businesses. What I think is mostly needed is the city government to protect any minority business from being discriminated against by using the full power of government against anyone one who discriminates against a minority business.

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? 

I would work to end the voucher system and return the money to the local public school systems. I would attempt to reduce the size of the school and encourage full-time kindergarten*. I would encourage the state legislature to bring back vocational education to the local schools. There is little a councilor can do but to encourage the local schools to make policies that will truly benefit our kids.

*Editors’ note: the Indiana Department of Education requires school corporations to provide a kindergarten program for eligible students.