Democratic incumbent Joe Hogsett and Republican challenger Jim Merritt's first face to face mayoral debate focused on fighting poverty and raising the minimum wage.

The largest allocations from the city go to three categories: 22% for public safety initiatives, 25% for the broadly defined "public services," and 38% for criminal justice services.

Mayor Joe Hogsett introduced the policy recommendations by noting that while the city has seen significant growth in the last ten years, poverty has gone up by 80%.

Five community organizations received $60,000 from the Community-Based Violence Prevention Partnership.

Merritt says as mayor he would work to provide tax incentives or subsidies to local food markets in areas with food insecurity.

Indianapolis unveiled two solar powered lawnmowers as part of Mayor Joe Hogsetts plan to achieve carbon neutrality by the year 2050.

New funding allows Indianapolis to expand its program to provide safe, productive and free activities for youth 13 years and older. The Safe Saturday initiative is now Safe Summer.

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

Its called the 'SOS' plan, which stands for the three things Merritt says he'll focus on to address crime in the city: Safety, Opportunity, and Streets.

The state attorney general's office invested $500,000 to help Ten Point expand about a year ago, and now the group says its expansion into the far east side helped reduce violent crime.