Candidates seeking open city council post

Four men, including a former mayor, are seeking another open spot on the Franklin City Council.

Former Mayor Fred Paris, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office jail officer Dan Richards, Josh Prine, a network administrator who sought a seat on the council during the last two caucuses, and local business owner Josh Lewis are asking the Republican Party to consider them as candidates for a seat on the seven-member city council.

The job became open when Keith Fox resigned earlier this month because he had moved out of the city. Fox is the third city council member to resign this year. Residents who want to be considered as candidates have until Monday night to notify the county Republican Party.

Unlike the other city council positions that have been vacated this year, this position is at-large, meaning any Republican in the city can seek the post and the successful candidate represents the entire city, rather than a district.

Paris was mayor of Franklin as an independent from 2008 until 2012.

Paris said he decided to seek the city council position because he is proud of the city and it is headed in a great direction, and thought he could help.

“I still feel as passionate about the city as I ever have,” Paris said.

He ran for mayor one time as a Democrat before later being elected as an independent, but said he only ran as a Democrat because he was frustrated that the party had already decided which Republican candidate it would support in the primary. He has voted his entire life as a Republican, even seeking the county surveyor position as a Republican in 2012, he said.

Josh Lewis, the owner of Irish Brothers Pest Control, is a native of the Whiteland area and moved his family and business to Franklin five years ago and has watched Franklin flourish, he said. He wants to be a part of the progress and positive change the city is experiencing and wants the city to continue to be progressive, while not losing its small-town feeling. Leaders also have to focus on managing growth, attracting visitors and addressing the opioids crisis that is affecting the nation. As a business owner, he knows how to help manage and keep an organization moving in the right direction, he said.

Richards, who provides security at the Johnson County Courthouse, said he has wanted to be a member of the Franklin City Council for more than 15 years, but always yielded to other candidates or decided to wait. His work schedule now allows him to be able to attend meetings.

As a precinct committee member, Richards has been involved in selecting other members of the council in the recent caucuses, and said the city has a strong team working in the right direction on growth, jobs and downtown development. He is interested in the primary functions of government, such as public safety, and said he could help identify the weak links.

The next city council member will be named during a Johnson County Republican Party caucus, set for next week. Twenty-two precinct committee members will gather to cast secret ballots. The next member of the city council will finish Fox’s term through the end of 2019.

The city council is a seven-member elected board that is responsible for approving the city’s annual budget and local ordinances. For example, if the police or fire departments want to add staff, the city council must approve it. The council also makes decisions about setting aside money for an expansion of city trails, changing the smoking ban or deciding how many streets to pave each year. The council members also serve on other city boards and appoint residents to serve on boards, such as the redevelopment commission and the police merit board.

Council members are paid $7,374.35 this year.

This will be the fifth caucus to replace a Franklin official in about a year. Last year, then-mayor Joe McGuinness resigned in the middle of his term to become commissioner of the Indiana Department of Transportation, and city council member Steve Barnett was selected as the new mayor. Bob Heuchan was selected to replace Barnett on the city council.

In January, longtime member Joe Ault resigned his District 1 seat 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. 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. Danny Blankenship was selected to replace Brown.

After the caucus, five of the nine elected Franklin city officials will have been selected by caucus. City positions are on the ballot in 2019.

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Caucus to select new Franklin City Council member

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: Franklin City Hall, 70 E. Monroe St.

Apply as a candidate: Send a letter to county Republican party chairwoman Beth Boyce, 845 Richart Lane, Greenwood. The letter must be post-marked by 7 p.m. Monday.

The caucus is open to the public.

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