Kevin Tracy will
join the Burns Harbor Town Council while Terry E. Dunn will be added to the
Liberty Township Advisory Board and William Casbon to the Porter Twp.
Advisory Board after being elected Monday night by a Republican caucus held
at the Porter County Administration Building.
The atmosphere was
very laid back as County Republican Chair Michael Simpson announced that
there was only one candidate running for each of the three seats the caucus
needed to fill.
Simpson kept things
short by skipping candidate speeches, saying it would be “a little overkill
and unnecessary” to have them, and allowed the precinct committeemen to vote
by calling yea or nay for Dunn and Casbon’s appointments.
Voting in favor of
electing Dunn were precinct committeemen Jacquelyn Sterling (Liberty 3/4);
John Evans (Liberty 5); and Krista Tracy (Liberty 6).
Dunn will succeed
Jeff Larson on the board, who resigned after being elected to the County
Council in the 2016 general election. A Liberty Twp. resident for 36 years
and a bus driver for Duneland Schools, she said this will be her first time
serving on a public board but she does have past experience working for the
Liberty Twp. Assessor.
“I’m looking
forward to everything that is involved (on the board),” Dunn told the
Chesterton Tribune. The two other members on the advisory board include
Sterling and Tim Cole.
Liberty Twp.
resident Matt Keiser had filed his candidacy for the board vacancy on Friday
but withdrew before the caucus. Keiser is a member of the County’s
Stormwater Advisory Board and Indiana statute rules that a person cannot
hold two or more “lucrative” public offices, or in this case cannot serve
both the County and another government entity, according to Voters
Registration Republican Director Sundae Schoon.
Regarding the Burns
Harbor Council seat, Simpson said the appointment falls under a unique state
law that allows the party chair to make it themselves rather than by a
caucus. There are two precincts within Burns Harbor, but one -- Westchester
6 -- only encompasses industrial property, meaning the only voting precinct
committeemen would be from Westchester 11.
However, if fewer
than two precinct committeemen are eligible members of a caucus, the party
chair will fill the vacancy. Simpson said Tracy is his choice.
Tracy will serve
the remaining years of former Town Councilman Andy Bozak’s term. Bozak has
joined the County Council as first district representative, replacing Jim
Biggs.
Tracy said he had
worked as Bozak’s campaign manager when he ran for the Town Council in 2015
and connected with Bozak’s pledge for transparency and openness.
“I like the
direction (Bozak) had for his platform,” Tracy said and added he will strive
for the same things. He said he admires the spirit of cooperation
demonstrated by the current Council members which is a mix of longtime and
newer residents.
Tracy has served
the past year on the Board of Zoning Appeals. His wife, Krista Tracy, also
serves on the Town’s Plan Commission.
Tracy said he
encourages residents to contact him through his Facebook page or by his
e-mail address listed there.