Council committee confirms Andrew Merkley as director of Office of Public Health and Safety after months of debate over shelter response

The Indianapolis City County Council committee voted to confirm Andrew Merkley as director of the Office of Public Health and Safety (OPHS) after a presentation on the office’s programs and a lengthy public-comment period that raised concerns about winter contingency shelter conditions and program oversight.

Merkley, introduced to the committee as the mayor’s nominee, outlined his experience in homelessness and eviction-prevention work and summarized OPHS initiatives including the Tenant Advocacy Project (TAP), the Assessment and Intervention Center (AIC), clinician-led community response teams, reentry services, and a planned housing hub. He told the committee that the AIC served more than 500 unique people this winter and that 21 of those guests moved into recovery services; that a School 68 winter site served more than 61 families and that more than half of those families moved into permanent housing during roughly four months of operation; and that the clinician-led response teams logged 1,224 calls in 2024 and responded to 738 within their service area.

“This is the first time that the city of Indianapolis has engaged in any way in winter contingency outside of the pandemic,” Merkley said, and he described…