WARSAW — Details of a Republican caucus needed to fill a vacancy on Kociusko County Council have been announced.

County GOP Chair Mike Ragan issued the notice Friday night that a county-wide caucus involving Republican precinct committee members would be held Jan. 6.

The caucus became necessary after Thursday’s resignation by County Councilman DeLynn Geiger, which was effective Friday.

Those invited to participate include Republican precinct committee members across the county who are in “good standing” and have served continuously for thirty days from the date of the caucus.

The caucus decision will be made in a secret ballot of the majority of the voting caucus members. 

Declarations of candidacy will be available at the county clerk’s office beginning Monday and must be filed with Ragan no later than seventy-two (72) hours before the caucus.

The post Kosciusko County Council GOP caucus set for Jan. 6 appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

WINONA LAKE — Republicans have been tasked with filling a vacancy after Winona Lake Town Council Rick Swaim resigned.

Swaim submitted a letter of resignation Tuesday and his decision to step down was effective immediately.

Swaim represented the 5th district in the southwest part of the town which is south of Roy Street and Winona Beach Drive.

A Republican caucus will convene in the Winona Lake Town Hall Chambers at 6 p.m. on Oct. 21.

Those interested in running for the position should submit applications to Kosciusko County GOP Chair Mike Ragan no later than Friday, Oct. 18.

The town council’s next meeting is Oct. 8.

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In a quick decision Monday night, a Republican caucus selected James Pecsi over Amanda Jackson to serve on the Jefferson Township Advisory Board.

Pecsi takes over for Robert “Bob” Riley, who resigned from the board effective immediately in January. The advisory board is up for re-election in two years.

Each candidate had up to three minutes to speak to the three precinct committeemen who made up the caucus. As Pecsi filed his declaration of candidacy first with Kosciusko County Republican Party Central Committee Chair Mike Ragan, Pecsi spoke first. Pecsi also was one of the three members of the caucus.

He said he was qualified to serve on the board.

“I’ve been, since I left the service, for 50-plus years I’ve worked in quality management, and that means I had to work with customers, suppliers and people in the plant,” Pecsi, 77, of Nappanee, said. “One thing I learned most of all is communication with people.”

He said he would walk the plant floors at least once a day and talk to all the operators, who knew him. If the operators, customers or suppliers had any problems, Pecsi said he would help them resolve the issues.

“So communication has been something I’ve learned. How to deal with people and deal with them ... in a manner that we could work out a solution to the problems,” he said.
He talked about the different places he worked and how he had to learn new technology. “Being an engineer, I knew how to pick it up and do it. But the key thing here, again, is working with people to resolve the problems and issues,” he said.

Pecsi served in the U.S. Navy from 1964 to 1968. He and his wife, Diana, have been married 55 years. Along with their daughter and son-in-law, their family includes two grandsons.

In her comments, Jackson said she’s lived on CR 400W in Jefferson Township for over 20 years. Her husband, Eric, has lived there on the farm as the fifth generation of his family.
“We know the community, we know the people and we know them well,” she said.

She has three children, two of whom are in college with the third aspiring to go to Indiana University. Jackson said she graduated from IU with a degree in public health.

“Public interest and public health in general is very high on my list. I worked in that industry for many years in the Syracuse and Milford communities. After that, I joined Wawasee Community School Corporation as their superintendent administrative assistant and worked in the education industry for many years,” she said.

Currently, she’s working at their church.

As to why she feels she’s qualified for the position, Jackson said not only does she have an interest in the community living there, but she also feels it is important to give back.

“And, while I feel I have all the qualifications for the position and I don’t have the opportunity to cast a vote for myself tonight, I hope that you take all the considerations in at hand,” she said, adding that she will continue to give back to her community either way.

The caucus included Vice Precinct Committeeman Ryan Reed, substituting in for Tony Ciriello, for Jefferson 1 precinct; and Precinct Committeemen Cory Benz, precinct 2, and Pecsi, precinct 3.

Counting the votes were Ernie Wiggins and Steve Foster.

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MILFORD — James Smiley was appointed to the Milford Town Council by a Republican caucus at Milford Town Hall on Tuesday night.

The position became vacant after Robert Cockburn resigned from the council effective Dec. 31.

Wednesday, Smiley went up against Joseph Shetler. Precinct committee members were Stephen Tucker, John Beer and Dr. Bruce Lamb.

Before voting occurred, Smiley and Shetler were given three minutes to speak to the caucus.

Smiley said his life changed on Sept. 25, 1999, when he was given a choice between alcohol and his wife and kids. He chose his wife and children. He turned his life over to God the next day and, “He showed me the way to sobriety and forgiveness.”

He taught his children that a good work ethic gets rewards. Smiley’s son started mowing lawns and Smiley taught both children how to budget.

“We think that’s the most important thing that’s overlooked” in people’s lives — what a budget is, he said. He believes “in being very conservative (about) money brought in for rainy days.”

He cares about Milford. One of the issues of concern he brought up was some town employees quitting recently with another employee thinking of quitting, he said. Smiley said he talked to those employees and the town has to wonder why the issue is occurring.

Smiley said he loves the town and wants to see it prosper. He thinks handling taxpayer money is the most important job of the town and the town should be very conservative with that money. He built his business on faith and honoring God and “it’s an honor every day.”

Shetler said, after some time praying about whether to file for the position, he said he thought he would be a good asset for the town. His involvement with the town started about 50 years ago.

He started a heating and cooling business. He was also the building commissioner for the town. After trying to close the business down, he and his wife did missionary work in Jamaica. After moving back from Jamaica, they moved into town.

Shetler said he loves being involved in the town. He serves on the board of the Milford Food Pantry.

He asked what brings growth to Milford. He said he believes it’s a welcoming community. He said the street department does a great job.

He said he sees his role on the council as listening to people. He didn’t want to change a lot of things if they weren’t broken.

After being elected to the council, Smiley said he wanted to make the area better for his kids. His priorities now that he is on the council is first to listen because “this is all new to me.” He said he will voice his opinion if it needs to be voiced.

“If I don’t agree, I will stand by what I’m about. A lot of people know what I’m about and that’s what I plan on doing,” he said.

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WINONA LAKE — As expected, Heather James was appointed as the new Winona Lake Clerk-Treasurer Tuesday night by a Republican Caucus to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Laurie Renier.

James, who beat Renier in the May Primary and was set to take office in January, will now have the chance to begin rebuilding the office.

She said she's been gearing up to take over for months and knows there is plenty work to be done

"It is a big challenge. I don't think anyone can deny that," Thomas said. "I think this opportunity — especially what we've done here in the recent past — we've identified some problems and an opportunity to correct them and move forward and and make sure we're doing everything as we should."

She said one of her first priorities will be to begin filling two vacancies by deputies who quit their jobs along with Renier earlier this month.

The clerk’s office remans in the middle of a audit by the Indiana State Board of Accounts. Town council contends Renier did a poor job and Renier claims the office was a mess before she arrived in 2021.

James said she believes it could very well take several months to right the ship.

As a result of taking the job, James had to resign her seat on council, and Republicans will now work to fill that vacancy.

A caucus to fill that seat is now scheduled for Nov. 6.

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WARSAW — Plans have been finalized for a Republican caucus needed to replace Winona Lake Clerk-Treasurer Laurie Renier who resigned Tuesday after nearly ten months o contentious relations with town council.

The caucus will take place at 6 p.m. Oct. 24 in the Winona Lake Town Hall Council Chambers.

Declarations of candidacy are available at the office of Kosciusko County Clerk of the Circuit Court, 121 N. Lake St., Warsaw, and must be filed with GOP chairman Mike Ragan by Oct. 21.

Renier was one of three town employees who resigned Monday.

Renier lost to Heather James in the May primary. James will assume office in January and could very well seek to fill the vacancy through the caucus.

The post GOP caucus for WL clerk-treasurer set for Oct. 24 appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

Kosciusko County Republican Party Chairman Mike Ragan tells the Times-Union that candidates include David Rosenberry, Nathan Scherer and Brian Woody.

They are vying for the District 4 seat, previously held by Larry Martindale who recently announced his resignation.

The deadline for candidates to file for the caucus with Ragan is 6 p.m. Saturday.

A caucus is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday in Syracuse.

The post Three seeking Syracuse town council seat appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

MENTONE - Even though Ed Rock is retiring as the Kosciusko County Emergency Management Agency director at the end of March, he will still be serving his community beyond that.

Thursday evening, three precinct committeemen - including Rock himself - elected Rock out of the three candidates who filed to serve on the Harrison Township Board of Trustees. Rock, 67, replaces Gerald Weirick, who resigned effective Dec. 31, and will finish out the remainder of Weirick’s term. Weirick did not seek re-election in the 2022 election.

The other two Republicans who sought the board seat in the caucus were Ronald Buhr and Keith Franks.

Each candidate was given up to three minutes to speak.

Rock, who has lived in Harrison Township for 41 years, said he spent seven of those years on the Mentone Town Board.

“Currently, and for the past 40 years, I’ve been a member of the Mentone Volunteer Fire Department. I worked in county government as a department head for the last 20 years, and I will be retiring at the end of March,” he said. “All of this has given me some experiences: Experiences with budgets. I have also written and been awarded over $8 million in grants in my prior position.”

He noted he is the Harrison 2 precinct committeeman and has been for a number of years.

“But the underlying point I’m trying to make is that my willingness is to serve the people of Kosciusko County and of Harrison Township. And, I believe that I have the experience and skill sets and the desire to do just that,” Rock said.

After winning the caucus, he stated, “I am looking forward to this. I have been involved with a lot of different levels of government and this is one that I haven’t, so it’s going to be a little bit of a challenge, but I think what I said in my opening words were that I do think that I have the experience and the skill sets to make that happen.”

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WARSAW -- A Republican caucus has been announced to fill a vacancy on the Syracuse Town Board.

Larry Martindale, who represented Ward 4, resigned from the board effective Tuesday, Jan. 17. According to his resignation letter, Martindale has a major surgery coming up and doesn’t feel he will be able to adequately represent his constituents.

He was elected to the Syracuse Town Board June 15, 2016, by a Republican caucus and was the only person to file for the seat. He replaced Brian Woody, who resigned from the board at the end of the May 17, 2016, board meeting after 13 years.

Whoever is elected to fill Martindale’s seat will serve the remainder of this year. City and town elections are being held this year, with the filing deadline for the Syracuse primary being Feb. 3.

Kosciusko County Republican Central Committee Chairman Mike Ragan set the caucus for 6 p.m. Feb. 7 in the Syracuse Town Council Chamber, 310 N. Huntington St., Syracuse.

Eligible members of the caucus, by statutory definition, are the Republican Precinct Committee members of Turkey Creek Township Precincts 2, 3, 4 and 5 in Syracuse who have served continuously, from 30 days prior to the date of the commencement of the caucus.

Declarations of candidacy are available at the office of Kosciusko County Clerk of the Circuit Court, 121 N. Lake St., Warsaw, and must be filed with Ragan no later than 72 hours prior to the start of the caucus.

Eligible candidates must reside in Syracuse, Ward 4, and be a Republican in good standing,

The post Caucus announced for opening on Syracuse Town Council appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

She was the only candidate to file for the seat which became available after Duncan was elected to the Warsaw Community School Board on Nov. 7.

After being chosen in a secret ballot, She was then sworn in by Republican Party Secretary Austin Rovenstine, who oversaw the caucus for chairman Mike Ragan who has been ill.

McGinnis will fill out the final year in the current term and said she intends to run next year for re-election.

McGinnis’s been on the Winona Lake Park Board for the past year and has been chosen President of the Kosciusko County Republican Women's Club for the upcoming year.

McGinnis, 34, is employed with her family business, Warsaw Engineering & Fabricating. She and her husband, Brandon McGinnis, have a four-year-old son.

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