Councilmen, New Deputy Sworn In At Winona LakeWINONA LAKE – In less than six minutes Thursday evening, the sixth Winona Lake deputy town marshal was approved by the town council and he and two town councilmen were sworn in.
Town Marshal Joe Hawn introduced the new officer, Riley Arvanitis, to the council.
“We recently went through a hiring process ... and we came up with this young man sitting right here,” Hawn said.
Arvanitis, 24, comes from Schererville, where he was born and raised. He is a recent graduate of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and will be moving to Winona Lake this weekend.
He is pursuing his bachelor’s degree at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio, and expects to finish in April. While at Walsh, he played football.
“My father’s been an officer with the Schererville Police Department. I’ve always wanted to (be an officer) and it feels great to be able to achieve that,” Arvanitis said after the meeting.
The council approved the resolution appointing Arvanitis as a deputy town marshal and town attorney Adam Turner gave him the oath of office.
At the start of the meeting, Turner gave the oath of office to councilmen Rick Swaim, District 5, and James Lancaster, District 3.
Swaim was unopposed and re-elected to the council in the 2018 election. Lancaster was unopposed, but replaces Bruce Shaffner, who didn’t seek re-election.
Filing for the 2019 primary begins Wednesday and ends at noon Feb. 8. Up for election in Winona Lake will be the clerk-treasurer and town council districts 1, 2 and 4. Incumbents for those positions are Kent Adams; Tecy Banta, 1; Denny Duncan, 2; and Heather James, 4.
