WINONA LAKE - Sue Gooding is seeking re-election to the 4th district council seat in Winona Lake.
Gooding has held the seat since 2008 when she was selected at a special caucus to fill the term left by previous council member David Delp.
Gooding currently is serving as the town council president, liaisons to the Winona Lake fire and police departments and also to the Warsaw/Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce.
Gooding is CEO and co-owner of Pizza Supply of Indiana, a four-state distributor of food and paper supplies. She has been with Pizza Supply since 1983.
Gooding received a bachelor's degree from Purdue University in communication and has a certificate of executive management from the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business.
She is a member of the National Association of Female Executives and serves on the Warsaw/Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce Business Outreach Committee.
Gooding said that she has enjoyed serving the people of Winona Lake, and is proud of what the council has achieved over the past few years.
"I feel like we are opening our local government back up to the people," Gooding said. "We have had so much more participation from our residents, it is a real pleasure to be able to listen to people's needs and address their concerns."
Gooding also said that one of the things that brings her the most pride from the past few years is her insistence on purchasing locally as much as possible.
"In 2008, we purchased a $25,000 police car from a dealer in Bloomington, Indiana. In the past three months, we have spent over $50,000 in taxpayer money on new vehicles from a local dealer, and that's the way it should be," Gooding said. "If we want our local economy to grow and be strong, we must support the very people who live, work and pay taxes here."
The deteriorating streets of Stonehenge have been the one area of constant frustration, according to Gooding.
"We have been working on this issue continuously for several years and have been frustrated by a lack of cooperation from the owners of the golf course," Gooding said. "We have tried to be as accommodating as possible and we still have not been able to reach an agreement."She said Stonehenge residents deserve to have their streets fixed properly, and she is hopeful the council will be able to begin the project this year.
Gooding also is pleased with the early success of the town's sidewalk replacement program.
Gooding believes that the nearly 20 percent reduction in the townspeople's waste-water bill and the signing of a 15-year wastewater contract with Warsaw have been accomplishments.
The town passing a purchasing ordinance, the recent purchase of a new fire truck and the dedicated effort to review and resolve sewage infrastructure issues are also examples of how the council is working toward the betterment of the town, she said.
