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Travis Trump, 48, Winona Lake, is the fourth person to file his candidacy for the vacant Kosciusko County Council at-large seat.
He will join Republican candidates Will Stockdale, Kyle Tom and Rob Parker at the 6 p.m. Feb. 10 caucus in the old courtroom of the Kosciusko County Courthouse.
The position became open Monday, Jan. 12 after 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.
In a telephone interview Thursday, Jan. 29, Trump said that while he currently lives in Winona Lake, he was born and raised on a farm just a little bit outside of the town of Claypool. He attended Whitko High School, and then went on to graduate from Indiana University - Bloomington. He works in human resources in orthopedics.
Asked why he decided to run for the council seat, he said, “This seat in particular, because I want to serve the entire county. I know that some of the other seats are by district. It was very important to me to have the opportunity to represent the county, for some of the reasons I just listed. I’ve kind of covered different parts of the county.”
He said he wanted the opportunity to serve and be able to work in a capacity where he would be able to look out for what’s best for the entire county.
“That’s one of the things I want to do is, what can we do as a county, countywide, to pull our resources and move things forward,” Trump stated.
The county has some great resources - natural resources and kids - and some great schools, he said. “And to me, I want to continue to make this a place that people want to reside and want to raise their families. What can we do, from a council level, to make that a desirable area for people, their families? How can we partner with the resources that are already here, the businesses, schools and such? What can we do to work together to kind of move that along, to keep things moving forward? I want our county to stay relevant and I feel like this is a good time to get involved to help do that.”
The county council can help do that, if he’s elected, he said, by taking everything into full consideration when anything comes before them.
“I’m the type that I’m going to be very open to hearing both sides. I’m always the type of person that can be reached and can really take the time to listen to people - call, text, whatever they want to do. I’m not saying that anyone’s not doing that now, but this is something that is very important to me, to make sure that I’m accessible and when things come up, really take the time to look into those things and see what’s best for all parties involved,” he explained.
Trump said he believes he will have the time to serve on the county council and respond to citizens because he would make it a priority. He has served on other boards in the past - though he’s currently not - so he feels like he can make a full commitment to the county council.
He has not served in an elected position before, but Trump is the precinct committeeman for Wayne 1 in the Republican party. He wanted the other precinct committeemen and -women to know he appreciated their service.
“I think people need to realize there’s 65 of them and they put in a lot of work and I really appreciate that,” Trump said.
Trump and his wife have two children who attended Warsaw Community Schools.
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.
