The head of Indiana’s Black Legislative Caucus wants another job: Mayor of Indianapolis. State Rep. Robin Shackleford (D-Indianapolis), announced at the Madam Walker Legacy Center, that she intends to run for the top office in the state’s largest city in 2023.
Shackleford may or may not have to face current Mayor Joe Hogsett in a primary. He said Wednesday he’s trying to make a decision on whether he will run for a third term.
:We can do better,” said Shackleford when making the announcement, saying Indianapolis is a “tale of two cities”, one where people have plenty, don’t go hungry and are not exposed to much violence, and another “with pothole ridden streets where residents struggle to get enough to eat and worry that at any moment a stray bullet will travel through their wall and strike their child.”
Shackleford said her plan includes addressing the root causes of crime, passing common sense gun safety ordinances, increasing youth engagement and community policing and improving relationships between the community and law enforcement. All of those initiatives have been or are part of the motus of the current administration.
Shackleford said she would endeavor to foster broad and balanced economic growth across the city.
“Indianapolis needs a mayor that will both challenge and support business leaders,” she said, “a mayor that is willing to assist in training a world-class workforce, a mayor committed to creating better jobs and helping local businesses thrive.”
Shackleford said she would also commit to helping veteran and minority-owned businesses build capacity “and go from subs to primes”.
She promised to try and leverage more American Rescue Plan dollars to fix streets and add sidewalks, and to find ways to work on the city’s homelessness problem, and its implications.
