Shocked, nervous and excited — those were the dominating emotions in Andi Wilson’s mind on Election Day, after results showed she was elected to Nashville Town Council.
Wilson is new to the council, but is no stranger to Town Hall, serving on four other town commissions.
Her campaign went well, she said, participating in Brown County League of Women Voters forums, advertising with the paper and speaking with residents.
“Thank you, for the people that have supported me and voted for me and believe in me, that I’m going to do something good,” Wilson said last week.
The government of the town is vested in the town council which exercises both executive and legislative functions. The president of the council is chosen from its members and conducts meetings, performs various executive functions, and is designated as the town executive.
Council members serve on four-year terms and are elected by residents in the Washington 2 precinct. Candidates are elected at large.
This year there were five candidates running for the three open seats on the council.
Three candidates were seeking re-election.
Current members Anna Hoffstetter and David Rudd were both re-elected with 138 and 186 votes, respectively. Wilson garnered 170 votes.
Nancy Crocker, current town council president, came in fourth on the ballot with 103 votes. There were 91 votes cast for Melissa Parker.
Wilson said she looking forward to council meetings, seeing progress made in different aspects of the town and taking steps forward.
She moved to Nashville with her family six years ago and works at Indiana University full time and part time at local businesses.
Wilson hopes to bring a business and marketing sense to the town council, using her background to help strengthen the council.
She said during her campaign that although elected officials make final decisions, it’s essential that residents have a more significant say in what decisions are made.
“I have a lot of ideas and I don’t know if all of them will come forward,” she said.
“I love this town.”
Nancy Crocker was elected to town council in 2018, and said last week that she had hoped her service to the town since then would have been enough for her to be re-elected.
Campaigning for Crocker was difficult, she said last week, not being able to put much energy into the campaign as her sister had just passed away.
At seeing results come in, she found herself in disbelief and disappointed that she would not be able to continue working on projects that she said would have “made this town better.”
She originally ran for office to be a representative for the business community, Crocker said in a LWV question and answer ahead of the general election.
After four years of learning and listening to the public, her motivation changed to creating policy that betters the lives of all the residents and the future of the community.
Crocker had hoped to continue with projects like redoing alleys and sidewalks, working on new light posts with INDOT, road reconfigurations in the business district, the Nashville Human Rights Commission and pouring over the town’s budget.
“I am so happy to have had the opportunity to serve the people of this amazing town,” she said last week.
“My hope is that they continue to be forward thinking and successful. I am looking at several different options that will allow me to continue to serve the community. In the meantime you can find me and my art at B3 Gallery.”
