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Chris Bammerlin, 37, Warsaw, is the sixth man to file for the Kosciusko County Council at-large seat.
He will join Republicans Thaddeus Du Bois, Will Stockdale, Kyle Tom, Rob Parker and Travis Trump, who have already filed for the caucus scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10 in the old courtroom of the county courthouse. Filing deadline is 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7.
The at-large council seat became open Monday, Jan. 12 after attorney John Barrett’s resignation due to the number of conflicts of interest he would have as a public defender. Barrett was elected by a Republican caucus Jan. 6 to serve on the council after the resignation of DeLynn Geiger, effective Dec. 12, due to his desire to spend more time with family.
Asked why he decided to run for the council seat, Bammerlin responded, “I worked for Zimmer for 11 years and I ended up breaking off and starting my own property management company, which I launched in September of last year. I’ve kind of got that off the ground to the point where I’ve got a little bit more free time where I can schedule my time around. I figured it would be a good time now that I can actually help out and get involved. With my background, I figured I’d be a good fit.”
He has not held an elected position before. Bammerlin said he’s aware of the current county council members and knows some of them, but not personally.
As for any particular issue he would be interested in if elected to the council, Bammerlin said, “I managed the inventory control team at Zimmer. I compare that basically to forensic accounting in the sense of trying to dig through all the information and details, so I think I would be good at doing that for the county, and kind of scrutinizing every dollar, where it’s all going and making sure it’s going to the right place and everything’s being spent properly and everything like that.”
He said with his current property management business and fixing things, he has a good idea of what everything should cost. He thinks he would be good at evaluating costs of everything and making sure all expenditures are legitimate.
What he thinks puts him over the top of all of the candidates who have filed is his background. He was born and raised in the area, graduating from Warsaw Community High School in 2006. He started working at Midwest Rake, which is now Seymour Midwest, after he received his undergraduate degree. He then earned his master’s degree in business, with a focus in corporate finance, from the University of Notre Dame. He then worked at Zimmer for 11 years before starting his own company.
“Having worked at a smaller, mid-size company and then working in the corporate world, and then having my own company, I think just gives me that scope of understanding of everybody in the county and how everything needs to operate and I think I’ve got a good handle on things,” Bammerlin stated.
He currently is not married and does not have children.
The council member shall be elected by a secret ballot of the majority of the voting caucus members to fill the office vacancy. Candidates must reside in Kosciusko County and be a Republican in good standing.
Declarations of candidacy are available at the office of the Kosciusko County Clerk of the Circuit Court, 121 N. Lake St., Warsaw, and must be filed with Kosciusko County Republican Party Chairman Mike Ragan no later than 72 hours before the start of the caucus (6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7). Ragan’s phone number is 574-265-1430.
Eligible candidates will be allowed a maximum of three minutes to address the voting caucus.
