Procedures regarding a caucus to replace two town council members in Leesburg recently raised some eyebrows in the town.
However, the caucus is being handled according to procedure, despite what some may have believed earlier in the week.
On Monday, residents of Leesburg learned that both Jay Weaver and Ryan Robinson had resigned from the three-person town council.On Tuesday, Republican Party Chair Randy Girod announced that a caucus would be March 25 to choose new board members, and that Harold Jones would make the decision on the appointments since Jones is the precinct committeeman for the district that includes Leesburg.
One of the issues in question about the caucus was how one person was allowed to choose the members of the council.
According to Jim Gavin, a spokesman from Secretary of State Todd Rokita's office, if there is only one precinct committee member in the district, the county chair of the party makes the appointment. If the county chair so chooses, he/she may delegate that responsibility to someone else.
In this case, Girod delegated the responsibility of choosing the two new board members to Jones.
Another question that was raised in various discussions was how Jones could be the precinct committeeman for Leesburg when he resides in another town.
According to the Kosciusko County GIS system, Jones owns commercial properties at 106 and 110 W. Van Buren St., Leesburg, and a residential one-family dwelling in North Webster.
Gavin said there are no residency requirements for precinct committeeman in a district and that Jones may appoint the two new members of the Leesburg Town Council.
The caucus will be March 25 at 7 p.m. at the Leesburg Town Hall.
Anyone interested being a town council member must be a resident within the town boundaries of Leesburg.
Interested candidates must file a declaration of candidacy with Girod no more than 72 hours before the caucus begins.
Declaration of candidacy forms (CEB-5) will be available from the Kosciusko County Clerk's Office, 121 N. Lake St., Warsaw, beginning Wednesday.
The section of Indiana Code governing caucus member eligibility is 3-13-11-5.
