Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Both men expressed their love for Kosciusko County in their candidate speeches, but at the end of the Republican caucus Tuesday night, John Barrett was chosen as the new county council at-large member.
Barrett, 59, a Warsaw attorney, who has never held public office before, went up against former long-time County Commissioner Brad Jackson for the seat, which was vacated with the resignation of DeLynn Geiger in December. There are three years left on Geiger’s term.
Fifty-six of the 65 eligible precinct committeemen and committeewomen voted in the caucus. Six of those 56 were vice committeemen or committeewomen who served as proxies.
After the votes were taken and tabulated, and after being declared the winner by Kosciusko County Republican Central Committee Chair Mike Ragan, Barrett said, “I’d like to say, Mr. Jackson, we all know Mr. Jackson, he is a gentleman, plain and simple. He’s done an awful lot of work for this county over the years, and I think we all should give him quite a hand for all he’s done.”
After a round of applause for Jackson, Barrett continued, “You know, one of the great things about these caucuses is, you get to decide and tonight a decision was made. I’m ready to hit the ground running.”
He thanked everyone for their vote.
Jackson congratulated Barrett and thanked all the voters for being there.
“It’s been an honor to serve you in the past, and I’m sure John will pick up the torch and do an excellent job,” Jackson stated.
Before Jackson had filed for Geiger’s at-large seat, Jackson had announced his intentions to run for the council’s District 1 seat, currently held by Kimberly Cates. Asked after the caucus if he would now seek the District 1 seat, Jackson replied, “I’m going to think for a little bit. I’m going to think on it.”
He admitted he was surprised a little bit with the outcome of the caucus, but not totally.
“I’ll do some thinking and praying and decide where to go from here,” Jackson stated.
Speeches
Each candidate was given three minutes to speak to the caucus, going in the order that they filed.
Jackson went first and was introduced by Kosciusko County At-Large Councilwoman Rachael Rhoades.
In her comments, Rhoades said, in part, she considered Jackson a friend and mentor.
“I witness first-hand the commitment and dedication he has demonstrated in our community. Raising a family, building a successful business and serving as our county commissioner for 28 years, Brad Jackson truly has a heart for Kosciusko County,” she said.
She listed the support Jackson received from Warsaw Common Council President Jack Wilhite, county commissioners and council members, as well as Congressmen Rudy Yakym and Marlin Stutzman, state Sen. Ryan Mishler, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, state Rep. Craig Snow, state Rep. David Abbott and Indiana Gov. Mike Braun.
“Brad has the relationships needed to represent and lead our county effectively,” she said.
In his comments, Jackson said, in part, “I love our county and I have a heart for our county and its people, and serving as a commissioner and, as Rachael said, running a business here in the county for several years, I’ve also taught Dave Ramsey courses, financial classes and I still do financial counseling, so I just have kind of a passion for numbers and finance.”
Now, the council is dealing with Indiana Senate Bill 1, which is going to bring a lot of changes to how the county is going to do business, but the outcome is still uncertain, he said. “I believe that to fill that seat, we need someone who has both government and business experience and somebody that is ready to hit the ground running and get going and serve,” he continued.
Jackson said he is a Christian, conservative, a businessman and a uniter of people.
After introducing his wife Lovie, Barrett said, in part, “I’m a local attorney and a business owner for going on 23 years. I’ve served this county in a variety of capacities. In fact, my first job out of law school was right here in Kosciusko County.”
He said he and Lovie fell in love with the county.
“What a place. What a place to raise children and build a business,” Barrett stated.
He mentioned how he and everyone in the courthouse loves Kosciusko County, but that probably wasn’t going to carry the votes Tuesday night.
“With SB 1 coming down the pipe and other challenges, with your help I think I can bring a fresh voice and a fresh perspective,” he said. “Everybody’s worked up about this SB 1 and maybe we should be a little bit, but I don’t think our state government is done with that yet, and in the long term, it does have the potential to affect county funds. One thing I’m not is a fan of raising taxes to solve fund problems, but we’re going to get through this one way or another. We have overcome bigger challenges. We’ll overcome bigger challenges in the future, and it might take some belt-tightening. Looking for funds from other sources. We need to get creative and start thinking out of the box.”
He said after looking at the county’s budget for the last 15 years, it might be time for a fresh voice.
Not a politician, he said he knows how to do a couple things: Stretch a dollar and make his voice heard down in Indianapolis.
“The goal here, after all, is to be a good steward of county funds, make sound decisions that will have a positive impact not only now, but in the long term. And if I earn your vote tonight, that is my pledge,” Barrett stated.
A Third Candidate
There almost was a third candidate for the at-large county council seat, which Ragan addressed at the start of the caucus.
“Before we begin, I would like to address something that’s been talked about in the past week. It is true that I strongly considered running for this caucus. I have been interested in the role of the county council for a long time. I’ve been coming to their meetings since around 2008 or 9,” he said.
As soon as he learned of Geiger’s resignation, Ragan said he started thinking about the opportunity to serve, which was before any of the candidates had filed for or even knew about the vacancy.
“After thinking about it carefully, I decided against running. As many of you know, I was recently diagnosed with Leukemia and that weighed heavily on my decision,” he stated.
Not long after the word got out that Ragan was considering running, he said there were accusations made that he would somehow “unduly influence the precinct committeemen that I appointed. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Ragan said when he appoints a precinct committeeman, it’s because he trusts their judgment.
“And I only expect one thing from you in a caucus: To use your independent judgment to determine what candidate is best for Kosciusko County. That is true in any caucus where I am on the ballot, and it is true in a caucus where I am not. I have never, in any appointment that I have ever made in this county, did it because I expected something in return,” Ragan said. “Most of you have served in the Republican Party with me close to a decade now, and I know that you know that already. Because it was suggested, I wanted to, and I needed to, clear the air.”
Any claim that he would bully someone into voting for him, or that anyone would blindly do as he said, “is an insult not just to my integrity, but to yours,” Ragan concluded.
