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Banks voted in as council nominee |
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Wednesday, May 07 2008 |
By CHRIS MEYERS
Staff writer
Once the final tally was revealed, a new face was added to the list of contenders in the fall battle for Whitley County Council, and one familiar face had been removed.
Whitley County Republican Chair Jim Banks gathered the most votes of the night, with a total of 1.948 for a little more than 25 percent of the vote.
Meanwhile, incumbent council member Scott Darley was defeated, having received 1,407 votes for about 18 percent of the vote.
The two other incumbents up for election, Bill Overdeer and Tom Western, retained their seats.
Overdeer came in with 1,518 votes for a little more than 20 percent of the vote, and Western brought in 1,508 votes for almost 20 percent of the vote.
Fellow candidate Steve Hively finished with 1,202 votes for nearly 16 percent of the vote.
“I’m enormously grateful. The voters have given me a great deal of responsibility, and I don’t take that lightly,” Banks said following the release of the final vote tally.
He attributed the victory, in part, to a desire of voters in general for new leadership, referring also to the defeat of incumbent Jim Pettigrew for the race in District 3 for county commissioner to Don Amber.
“That doesn’t mean anything disrespectful to the men who have served this county for a long time, like Scott Darley,” Banks added, saying Darley had done many good things for the Republican party.
“It’s just a point in time where voters are willing to give the responsibility to new people …which is a big deal for someone like me at the age of 28. This is very humbling for me,” Banks said.
For the top-finishing incumbent, Overdeer attributed the victory to his experience on the council and name recognition.
Looking toward the issues facing the county, House Bill 1001 doesn’t bother him as much as the potential effects from the Kernan-Shepard report.
“Some of the things they’ve put in there probably would work some places, but I don’t think they work in Whitley County,” he said.
Overdeer would like to see counties have the option to adopt the changes in HB 1001 rather than have them forced upon residents.
One of his biggest concerns would be having a county executive and the inability of residents being able to vote for many county offices.
“People need to have the right to elect their officials,” Overdeer said.
Overdeer also sits on a committee within the Association of Indiana Counties which will be going through the report this year to see what recommendations can be made to the state about possible changes to the report.
As for Western, he’s also looking at the issues facing the county and what will likely be the top priorities this fall.
“There are several issues we’ve got to work on. The first thing is finding funding for the roads … but nobody has put a finger on it yet as to where it will come from,” he said, adding that he’s received many calls about road conditions.
Western said most of the money comes from the state and excise and gas taxes, but the total amount to come in from those taxes has not yet been determined.
When it comes to other funding issues, Western is also keeping an eye on the local ambulance service.
“We certainly don’t want to see our EMS service go downhill,” he said, adding that the county can’t offer more services with less money available.
He’s looking forward to offering opportunities for existing businesses to expand and for new businesses to be built.
“Hopefully we’ve made a good environment that existing businesses want to expand here, besides a few new ones that may want to move in,” he said.
The top three finishers — Overdeer, Banks and Western — will square off against eachother and Democratic council candidate, Cliff Crance.
The Whitley County Democratic Party can also still nominate two other candidates for the contest in the November election. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, May 08 2008 )
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