A seat on the Nashville Town Council has become available, and after a change made to town ordinance this evening, any registered voter who lives in town limits could put their name in for it.
Council Vice President Alisha Gredy tendered her resignation on June 16. It was announced at the start of tonight’s council meeting at Town Hall. President Jane Gore read from an email from Gredy that said she is moving her family to a home just outside town limits, so she will no longer be eligible to serve as a town council member.
“It has been a pleasure to serve with you and all of my fellow town council members and an honor to be elected by my peers to represent them at Town Hall,” Gredy wrote. “I wish you all the best.”
At the same meeting – after waiting a month to receive public comment – the council voted 4-0 to no longer have council districts. Currently, three members are elected from Districts 1, 2 and 3 and the other two are elected at-large, able to live anywhere in town limits. This was a concept that District 1 representative Nancy Crocker introduced at the May meeting, suggesting that it would allow more candidates to become eligible to run and would simplify the process overall.
The town isn’t large enough to have the concept of council district representation matter in practical terms, said member Anna Hofstetter, who holds one of the at-large spots. All town voters vote for candidates from all districts anyway, Crocker added. And after council members are elected, they serve all town residents, not just those from their district, Gore said.
Crocker said she had heard from “a couple” of in-town residents who were not in favor of this, but the majority were. Nearly all the people who had commented against it on the newspaper’s social media page didn’t live in town, she said. Gore, the District 3 representative, said that some people she talked to didn’t understand what “at-large” meant, but once she explained it to them, they were fine with changing it.
Crocker added that in the interest of full disclosure, eventually, this ordinance change could help her, as she’d been approached about selling her house. She was not elected as an at-large member, so if she moved out of her district, she wouldn’t be able to keep serving. She doesn’t know if she will sell, though, and that was not her intent in suggesting the ordinance be changed; it all happened to occur around the same time, she said.
Gredy had been elected as a representative from District 2. But because of this ordinance change tonight, the person to succeed Gredy and serve out the rest of her term – until Dec. 31, 2023 – can come from any area of in-town Nashville.
Not all people who have a Nashville postal address live in town limits. A full map is posted on the town’s website, townofnashville.org, but roughly, the town limit boundaries are Orchard Hill Road to the north; to the east, the Centerstone counseling office on Old State Road 46 and the NAPA store on 46 East (not including Salt Creek Golf Course); Treatment Plant Road to the south; and Jackson Branch Road to the west.
Candidates interested in filling the seat have until 4 p.m. Friday, July 9 to submit letters of interest. That can be done by dropping them off at Town Hall, 200 Commercial St., Nashville; mailing them to Town Hall at P.O. Box 446, Nashville, IN 47448; or emailing Nashville Clerk-Treasurer Brenda Young at [email protected].
Any statements of support which in-town Nashville residents have for candidates whom they know are applying can also be sent in, or residents can show support at a special meeting set to discuss the candidates. That meeting will take place at 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 13 at Town Hall.
Candidates should be prepared to attend that meeting and speak about their qualifications and interest for the job.
The council must appoint a replacement within 30 days of the vacancy being determined, which happened tonight, June 17.
Town council is a part-time, paid position, which requires members to attend multiple meetings of the council and other boards per month, oversee the day-to-day management of town government and services, and communicate with residents about their wants and needs for the town. The town council is the both the legislative and fiscal body of town government, which is separate from county government.
Town council members typically do not affiliate with a political party, but they can do so. Gredy was elected as an a nonpartisan, so a caucus does not decide who fills her seat; the town council does.
Members serve three-year terms on a staggered schedule. The person to fill Gredy’s seat would be appointed, by a vote of the other council members, to serve until Dec. 31, 2023; then, that person would be up for election by all in-town voters in the fall of 2023.
During the time the council has just four members, Clerk-Treasurer Young will cast tiebreaking votes if necessary.
