Groninger, Mitchell, Truex, Jackson Win County Races
June 3, 2020 at 4:36 a.m.
Groninger, Mitchell, Truex, Jackson Win County Races
By David [email protected]
No Democrat has filed as of Tuesday to run for the at-large seats.
Kathy Groninger won 5,839 votes (26.73%) to guarantee her one of the three at-large seats. Incumbent Sue Ann Mitchell won 5,804 (26.57%) with incumbent Joni Truex receiving 5,181 votes (23.72%), allowing them to keep their seats on the council.
Incumbent Kimberly Cates, who was caucused to the council in June 2017 after the death of Bob Sanders, received 5,022 votes (22.99%).
On her Facebook page after the results were in, Cates posted, “I want to thank all who supported me in my run to be re-elected to Kosciusko County Council. Thank you!”
At the Kosciusko County Republican Party headquarters in downtown Warsaw, Groninger said, “I’m super excited. I can’t believe it. I’m honored, I’m very honored. I feel blessed. I’m surprised. I was hoping just to win, to get even one of the spots I thought would be a blessing and a hard thing to because it’s hard to beat the incumbents. I thought to get even one spot would be pretty exciting, but to get first is very shocking to me and I feel very honored and blessed.”
She said she intends to work very hard and hopes to have the opportunity this summer to sit in on as many county council meetings as she can. She said she’s done a lot of research to help her prepare as well as she can be.
With no challengers for Kathy in the fall, and her husband Cary Groninger, county commissioner for the middle district, facing a possible Democrat opponent in Travis McConnell, Kathy was asked if it would be a conflict for a married couple to sit on those two boards at the same time.
“I don’t see it as a problem at all. Honestly, the very first thing I did when I decided to do this was to call down to the State Board of Elections to check to make sure that it was OK that I did this. And they actually seemed really surprised that a.) I called, but they also were really encouraging to me. They said it was not a problem at all, very common, especially in smaller communities, and I don’t see it as a problem at all,” Kathy said.
She also pointed out that Cary was one of three county commissioners so “it’s not like he just gets whatever he wants. They decide amongst themselves. So I don’t see it as a problem at all.”
As for priorities she wants to pursue, Groninger said broadband internet in the county was important.
“For one, I live out in the country so I know what it’s like to have really bad internet. But, like for the schools and stuff like that, and if we want to attract new businesses, I feel like our internet is really important,” she said.
As an attorney, her expertise is in the criminal justice system so she would be able to help look at those programs for the county, she said. “That would be an area where we could save money because that’s an area where our budget is really growing because of the drug and alcohol crisis,” Groninger said.
Mitchell said, “As with every election, I am grateful for the votes that people garnered for me and I will continue to serve as I always have, hands-on, and do everything I’ve always done.”
On what the county council needs to do for the next four years, Mitchell said, “Well, obviously, right now the financial budget is not in crisis mode but it’s close. Only because we don’t know where we’re at with revenue. A lot of work needs to be done on that, that’s one.”
She said the second part was, “We had kind of worked on a long-range plan, which with the changes in the finance, we may have to do a lot of rearranging with that. Just re-evaluating where we’re at, to be sure we can sustain without increasing taxes, which is critical.”
“I’m excited. It’s bittersweet because Kim got defeated and she worked hard since she’s been in office, as we all did,” Truex said by telephone. “I’m humbled and honored I was re-elected. I will do my very best for the taxpayers the next four years.”
She said over the next four years, the county council will have to tackle the COVID-19 depletion of the county funds, and it needs to work to have the state legislature change the rules on the motor vehicle highway funding. State law currently limits what the money in the restricted and unrestricted funds of the MVH can be used for. “It’s sad we have to take money out of the general fund for payroll,” Truex said. “The local county should determine where the funds are spent, not the state.”
Beyond that, she said she will work to keep the county in good fiscal shape.
The only contested county commissioner race in Tuesday’s primary was for the northern district. Longtime incumbent Brad Jackson won with 5,286 (56.95%) votes over Marcia Baumgartner, who received 3,996 (43.05%). Jackson also defeated Baumgartner in the primary in 2016 by almost the same margin.
After learning of the final votes, Jackson said, “As of every other time, I’m honored that the people of Kosciusko County decided to put their confidence in me yet again to represent them as commissioner. It’s a great county, I love it. Like I’ve said before, it’s a great place to live, work and play, and it’s just an honor to serve.”
He said one project the county has right now that is “really critical” to get completed and it’s going in the right direction involves the expansion of Polywood in Syracuse.
“Polywood is in the process of building a new building right now and they’re probably going to build another one so they’re sinking their roots deeper into the county. We’ve been working with them on electricity issues they’ve been facing, water disposal issues and road issues,” Jackson said. “And actually, it’s a really cool thing, we’re actually working with the city so we’ve had city, county and federal officials all involved in this in one way or another.”
He said there’s also the overpass on Syracuse-Milford Road.
“Some people wonder why we’d spend that much money in one place, but it was a federal grant and there were certain stipulations,” he said of the $8 million project that’s earmarked by the federal government for a project that it feels adds safety to the county “and improves transportation for business and things like that.”
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No Democrat has filed as of Tuesday to run for the at-large seats.
Kathy Groninger won 5,839 votes (26.73%) to guarantee her one of the three at-large seats. Incumbent Sue Ann Mitchell won 5,804 (26.57%) with incumbent Joni Truex receiving 5,181 votes (23.72%), allowing them to keep their seats on the council.
Incumbent Kimberly Cates, who was caucused to the council in June 2017 after the death of Bob Sanders, received 5,022 votes (22.99%).
On her Facebook page after the results were in, Cates posted, “I want to thank all who supported me in my run to be re-elected to Kosciusko County Council. Thank you!”
At the Kosciusko County Republican Party headquarters in downtown Warsaw, Groninger said, “I’m super excited. I can’t believe it. I’m honored, I’m very honored. I feel blessed. I’m surprised. I was hoping just to win, to get even one of the spots I thought would be a blessing and a hard thing to because it’s hard to beat the incumbents. I thought to get even one spot would be pretty exciting, but to get first is very shocking to me and I feel very honored and blessed.”
She said she intends to work very hard and hopes to have the opportunity this summer to sit in on as many county council meetings as she can. She said she’s done a lot of research to help her prepare as well as she can be.
With no challengers for Kathy in the fall, and her husband Cary Groninger, county commissioner for the middle district, facing a possible Democrat opponent in Travis McConnell, Kathy was asked if it would be a conflict for a married couple to sit on those two boards at the same time.
“I don’t see it as a problem at all. Honestly, the very first thing I did when I decided to do this was to call down to the State Board of Elections to check to make sure that it was OK that I did this. And they actually seemed really surprised that a.) I called, but they also were really encouraging to me. They said it was not a problem at all, very common, especially in smaller communities, and I don’t see it as a problem at all,” Kathy said.
She also pointed out that Cary was one of three county commissioners so “it’s not like he just gets whatever he wants. They decide amongst themselves. So I don’t see it as a problem at all.”
As for priorities she wants to pursue, Groninger said broadband internet in the county was important.
“For one, I live out in the country so I know what it’s like to have really bad internet. But, like for the schools and stuff like that, and if we want to attract new businesses, I feel like our internet is really important,” she said.
As an attorney, her expertise is in the criminal justice system so she would be able to help look at those programs for the county, she said. “That would be an area where we could save money because that’s an area where our budget is really growing because of the drug and alcohol crisis,” Groninger said.
Mitchell said, “As with every election, I am grateful for the votes that people garnered for me and I will continue to serve as I always have, hands-on, and do everything I’ve always done.”
On what the county council needs to do for the next four years, Mitchell said, “Well, obviously, right now the financial budget is not in crisis mode but it’s close. Only because we don’t know where we’re at with revenue. A lot of work needs to be done on that, that’s one.”
She said the second part was, “We had kind of worked on a long-range plan, which with the changes in the finance, we may have to do a lot of rearranging with that. Just re-evaluating where we’re at, to be sure we can sustain without increasing taxes, which is critical.”
“I’m excited. It’s bittersweet because Kim got defeated and she worked hard since she’s been in office, as we all did,” Truex said by telephone. “I’m humbled and honored I was re-elected. I will do my very best for the taxpayers the next four years.”
She said over the next four years, the county council will have to tackle the COVID-19 depletion of the county funds, and it needs to work to have the state legislature change the rules on the motor vehicle highway funding. State law currently limits what the money in the restricted and unrestricted funds of the MVH can be used for. “It’s sad we have to take money out of the general fund for payroll,” Truex said. “The local county should determine where the funds are spent, not the state.”
Beyond that, she said she will work to keep the county in good fiscal shape.
The only contested county commissioner race in Tuesday’s primary was for the northern district. Longtime incumbent Brad Jackson won with 5,286 (56.95%) votes over Marcia Baumgartner, who received 3,996 (43.05%). Jackson also defeated Baumgartner in the primary in 2016 by almost the same margin.
After learning of the final votes, Jackson said, “As of every other time, I’m honored that the people of Kosciusko County decided to put their confidence in me yet again to represent them as commissioner. It’s a great county, I love it. Like I’ve said before, it’s a great place to live, work and play, and it’s just an honor to serve.”
He said one project the county has right now that is “really critical” to get completed and it’s going in the right direction involves the expansion of Polywood in Syracuse.
“Polywood is in the process of building a new building right now and they’re probably going to build another one so they’re sinking their roots deeper into the county. We’ve been working with them on electricity issues they’ve been facing, water disposal issues and road issues,” Jackson said. “And actually, it’s a really cool thing, we’re actually working with the city so we’ve had city, county and federal officials all involved in this in one way or another.”
He said there’s also the overpass on Syracuse-Milford Road.
“Some people wonder why we’d spend that much money in one place, but it was a federal grant and there were certain stipulations,” he said of the $8 million project that’s earmarked by the federal government for a project that it feels adds safety to the county “and improves transportation for business and things like that.”
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