County council slate set for November election

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Brown County residents will fill three at-large seats on the county council this fall, and they’ll have three Republicans and at least two Democrats to choose from.

In November, David Critser, Glenda Stogsdill and John Price will face the two Democratic candidates, Jeff Harden and Cindy Steele.

Two other Republicans, Debbie Larsh and David Redding, did not amass enough votes in the primary to advance.

According to the Indiana Election Commission, the Brown County Democratic Party will have until June 30 to name a third nominee, if party leaders choose to.

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Critser has served on the council for 19 years. He was council president for 10 years until January, when he chose not to be nominated to lead the group.

The current council president was Redding. He finished fourth in the five-way race for the three Republican spots.

He had been appointed to the council in 2014 to finish Diana Biddle’s term when she was elected county commissioner.

Redding said it was a privilege to serve the community on the council, and he was thankful for it.

“It’s a great group of people to work with, and I feel we really made a lot of progress,” he said.

For the rest of this year, Redding said he will continue to focus on budgeting and road funding but will see if someone else on the council wants to take the lead now to help with continuity the next year.

Redding, a former Cummins executive, intends to continue his involvement on the Brown County Redevelopment Commission and a local broadband readiness task force.

“I’m not walking away from anything,” Redding said. “I’m still highly motivated to serve the community.”

Steele, a magazine publisher, previously served a four-year term on the county council with one year as president.

In the meantime, she has helped establish the nonprofit BETA teen center, served on the Brown County Convention and Visitors Bureau board and on the Nashville Arts and Entertainment Commission.

Stogsdill previously served eight years on county council, eight years as recorder and four as auditor.

Roads need to be the top priority, she said in a pre-election survey.

Critser said the biggest must-fund priority for the county is improvements to the infrastructure.

Harden has not held elected office, but ran for county commissioner in 2014. He is currently a manager at Brown County IGA.*

John Price served a term on council from 2002 to 2006; he’s currently on the Jackson Township advisory board. With many years behind him running his own construction business, Price said he wants to bring that sort of business accountability to council. He said he wants to require that anyone seeking additional taxpayer funds prove that they have exhausted all other options.

This article has been updated to correct an error from the original. Jeff Harden does not currently work either as a certified nurse nor as an EMT, as the article previously stated. Harden has been a certified nurse aid in the past, and did receive his EMT license.

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County council at-large

Republican

David L. Critser;2,053

Glenda Stogsdill;2,086

John D. Price;1,523

David Redding;1,273

Debbie Robbins Larsh;1,002

Democrat

Jeff Harden;1,175

Cindy Steele;1,465

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