Medaryville to hold town election
Although the election of president won’t happen until 2016, many cities and towns across the state are holding conventions and elections to decide who will represent them in office.
Towns that include Monterey, Francesville and Winamac have decided who will hold an office on the town boards. Medaryville will hold an election.
Francesville: Registered voters in the town limits of Francesville will not be required to vote. The town council of Kyle Trent (R), Pamela Antrim (R) and Andy Durham (R) will remain, as will clerk-treasurer Linda Bennett (R).
Medaryville:Because there are several candidates for the seats of Medaryville Town Council, an election will be held on Nov. 3. The position of clerk-treasurer that is held by Judy Harwood (D) will remain the same.
Registered voters in the town limits of Medaryville can choose from three Democrats and three Republicans that include incumbents Corrie Hauptli (D), Carolyn Hager (R) and Robert Schultz (D) and candidates Kenny Smith Sr. (D), Raymond Saltsman Jr. (R) and Suzanne Wilcoxson (R).
Of the incumbents, Hager is the only one to serve a full four-year term. Hauptli was chosen by the Democratic Party to fill the council seat after the resignation of Gene Payne in April of 2014. Schultz was chosen by the Democratic Party after Derrick Stalbaum resigned from the council in June.
The board consists of three members.
Monterey: On Saturday, the Pulaski County Democrats conducted a town convention in Monterey. Voters were able to choose from four democratic candidates: Christine Fox, Emily Bailey, James Fleury and Douglas Denton. Fox, Bailey and Fleury were incumbents.
Laura Bailey, Democratic County Central Committee Chair, said in an email on Saturday after two rounds of balloting, “Bailey, Denton and Fleury were certified as elected to the council.” There were 40 people present for the convention.
“Because of lack of opposition filings, this served as the election for the town,” Bailey said in an email. “Monterey does not participate in municipal primaries which made the convention necessary.”
The clerk-treasurer seat was unopposed and Linda McCune (D) will remain as clerk-treasurer.
Winamac The Pulaski County Republican Party also held a convention to determine who would fill the seat of town council District #2.
On Aug. 13, incumbent Judy Heater (R) faced opposition from Ronald “Rudy” DeSabatine (R) for the District #2 seat. Unofficially, it appears that Heater won by nine votes. Heater took office in 2014 when Jim DeArmond resigned due to health issues.
Incumbents clerk-treasurer Melanie Berger (R) and town council District #3 Tom “Tommy” Murray were unopposed. James Watkins (R) will fill the seat of town council District #1, as councilman Richard Denney did not run for another four-year term.