The new member of the Franklin City Council has spent a lifetime in public service, in the military and as a sheriff’s deputy.
Danny Blankenship, a retired Johnson County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant who now provides security at the Johnson County Courthouse, was picked as the newest member of the city council in a caucus this week.
He was selected in a 4-2 vote by Republican precinct committee members. Josh Prine, an IT director for a Greenwood company, received two votes. Lori Prince, a deputy prosecutor for the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office, was the third candidate.
Blankenship’s appointment brings to a conclusion a two-month vacancy after resignations due to public concerns over the actions of two council members.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryBlankenship said his philosophy in life has been to let his character speak for itself, and his philosophy in helping govern and set priorities for the city will be to listen.
When speaking before the caucus vote on Thursday night, he shared a story about his last day as a sheriff’s deputy when he stopped a speeding vehicle, and the driver remembered him from years earlier, when the man had been suicidal and Blankenship had given him hope.
Blankenship said he has always tried to do his job, and do the right thing.
As a member of the city council, he plans to walk the neighborhoods to meet the people he represents in District 1 and learn about their needs and wants and what matters to them.
“I listen to people. I always have,” Blankenship said. “That’s probably the best quality a person could have, you listen to people and their concerns and try to figure out solutions for them.”
He said one of the top issues facing Franklin is the development on the east side of the city. He is familiar with the plans and pleased with the direction, especially the addition of a hotel to the city.
“I think Franklin’s future is extremely bright,” Blankenship said. “It’s just a great place to live. It always has been. It’s just getting better.”
Blankenship has lived nearly his entire life in Franklin, and is a veteran of U.S. Air Force and the Army National Guard. He’s worked as a civilian employee providing security at the courthouse for about 11 years, since his retirement from the sheriff’s office. He has two grown children and three grandchildren, and is a member of the Franklin Elks Club, the Masonic Lodge and the Fraternal Order of Police.
He was immediately sworn into office as a member of the city council.
The District 1 seat on the Franklin City Council has been open since January, when longtime member Joe Ault resigned due to public concern about a derogatory post he shared on Facebook. A caucus was conducted to replace him, and Stephen R. Brown was selected among five candidates, including Blankenship. Brown’s 2016 arrest and criminal charge for domestic battery was not widely known until after he was appointed, and the president of the city council and a precinct committee member called for his resignation, and this week’s caucus was planned.
Blankenship is now a member of the seven-member city council tasked with setting the city’s budget or increasing any services or staff, such as adding police officers or firefighters or setting aside more money for street projects. Council members are paid $7,374.35 this year.
