Tag: Benton Township

Recount confirms Dodds for Benton Township board, election finally over in Monroe County

Benton Township board recount certificate.
From left: Judge Erik Allen, and recount commissioners Bob White, WIlliam Ellis, and Fred Turner.
Recount commissioner Fred Turner.
From left: Dave Hall, Cory Ray, Fred Turner, Bob White, William Ellis.
From left: Recount commissioners Bob White and William Ellis.
Recount commissioner William Ellis.

Republican Jake Dodds has been confirmed as winning one of the three seats on the Benton Township board in Monroe County, Indiana.

The result of a manual recount of the ballots, which concluded Thursday morning around 11 a.m., provided a 3-vote margin for Dodds over fourth-place finisher, Democrat Hans Kelson.

Before the provisional ballots were adjudicated on Nov. 18—that’s 10 days after the Nov. 8 Election Day—Dodds was up by 6 votes over Kelson. Dodds had 621 votes compared to 615 for Kelson.

The adjudication of the provisional ballots added 2 more votes to Kelson’s total. That reduced the margin to 4 votes—621 to 617. That’s when Monroe County Democratic Party chair David Henry filed a petition requesting a manual recount.

After the manual recount, Dodds had one fewer vote and Kelson had the same number, leaving a 3-vote gap.

That means the Benton Township board that’s sworn into office on Jan. 1, 2023 will consist of Dodds, and Democrats Sean McInerney and Joseph Husk. The Benton Township trustee’s election was won by Democrat Michelle Bright over Republican Josh Dodds.

Judge Erik Allen out of Greene County oversaw the recount work. On Thursday, after the recount commissioners had completed their work at Monroe County’s Election Central, Allen told them: “I observed the process from beginning to end, and I have full confidence in the job that was completed.”

Allen added, “I think you’ve been very diligent and I appreciate your work and certainly have full confidence in the result.” Continue reading “Recount confirms Dodds for Benton Township board, election finally over in Monroe County” →

Election recount paused for Benton Township board as winter storm hits Midwest

Recount commissioner Fred Turner is sworn in.
Recount commissioner Bob White is sworn in.
Recount commissioner William Ellis is sworn in.
Recount commissioner William Ellis reviews a disputed ballot with a magnifier.
Judge Erik Allen swears in the recount commissioners.
Monroe County’s Election Central on Dec. 22, 2022.

Republican Jake Dodds will have to wait until after Christmas for confirmation of his election to one of the three seats on the Benton Township board in Monroe County, Indiana.

The three-member recount commission that is conducting a manual review of the ballots got started at 9 a.m. on Thursday, but was not able to complete the work by the end of the day.

The margin for Dodds over fourth-place finisher Hans Kelson was 4 votes.

They will pick back up in a week, on Dec. 29. The election took place on Nov. 8.

The recount commission’s work day was shortened by a winter storm that led the Monroe County government to send workers home at 3 p.m. Continue reading “Election recount paused for Benton Township board as winter storm hits Midwest” →

Dems ask for recount of 4-vote margin in Benton Township board race

A recount in the Benton Township board race has now been requested by the Monroe County Democratic Party.

In the Benton Township board race, where the top three vote getters win election, Democrat Hans Kelson finished fourth, missing third-place by a 4-vote margin. The third-place finisher was Republican Jake Dodds.

Under state election law, a recount request for a township board race takes the form of a petition filed  with the circuit court. The announcement of the recount petition filing came on Wednesday from Monroe County Democratic chair David Henry.

In the same announcement, Henry wrote that the Democratic party is still weighing a possible recount request in the District 62 state house race.

The District 62 race was won by Republican Dave Hall over Democrat Penny Githens with a post-provisional ballot count margin of 40 votes. The 17-day period for a county chair to ask for a recount translates into next Monday, due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

Because Monroe County has the largest population of the three counties covered by District 62, it would fall to the county chair of Monroe County to file for a recount in that race. Continue reading “Dems ask for recount of 4-vote margin in Benton Township board race” →

4 new contested races on township level after Dems, GOP fill ballot vacancies for Monroe County

The final lineup of local candidates is still not set for the Nov. 8 general election. But after some ballot vacancies got filled over last weekend, Monroe County now has four more contested races.

The four newly contested races are all for positions on the township level of government—either township board or township trustee.

The trustee is the executive. The township board is a three-member governing body, which has seats that are elected on an at-large basis for the geographic area of the township. A key responsibility of township government is to help the less fortunate cover basics like housing, utility bills, food, clothing and medical expenses—subject to eligibility requirements.

On a map, the townships show up as a roughly 4-by-3 grid laid over the county, except that Benton Township, in the northeast corner, reflects the historical merger of two townships. That means Monroe County has 11 townships, not a full dozen.

Benton Township is also where two of the newly contested races have now emerged—after the respective county chairs filled some of the ballot vacancies.

At a caucus last week,  Republicans gave county chair Taylor Bryant the authority to put candidates on the general election ballot, if no one registered as a candidate for the position in the party’s primary election. Continue reading “4 new contested races on township level after Dems, GOP fill ballot vacancies for Monroe County” →

Benton Township now in Monroe Fire Protection District, Washington Township in queue

Benton fire chief Charley Powers.
Benton Township trustee Michelle Bright and township board member Joe Husk.
Monroe Fire Protection District (MFPD) Dustin Dillard at the Aug. 8, 2020 public meeting on a consolidation with Benton Township’s department.

At its weekly Wednesday morning meeting, Monroe County’s board of commissioners approved the inclusion of Benton Township in the Monroe Fire Protection District (MFPD). Benton Township will become a member on Jan. 1, 2022.

Sooner than that, Benton Township will start getting backup fire protection from the district for its volunteer fire department. A $450,000 contract between the MFPD and Benton Township will bridge the year between the end of Benton’s contract with Northern Monroe Fire Territory—because the two-township NMFT is dissolving—and the start of its membership in the MFPD.

The NMFT is dissolving because one of the two NMFT members, Bloomington Township, is joining the MFPD starting Jan. 1, 2021. The other NMFT member, Washington Township, is in the queue to join MPFD starting in 2022, on the same timeline as Benton Township. Public meetings on the topic for Washington Township start Sept. 30.

Last year, Van Buren Township, like Bloomington Township, was approved for inclusion in the MFPD. Continue reading “Benton Township now in Monroe Fire Protection District, Washington Township in queue” →

Fire protection in Monroe County to be a fully involved topic in coming weeks

Benton Township’s volunteer fire station on SR 45.
The map is shaded based on fire protection that will be effective in 2021 based on decisions made in 2019. Benton Township is now in the queue to be added to MCFPD. Washington is about six weeks behind the Benton Township schedule.

The Monroe Fire Protection District (MFPD) will be in the spotlight in the next few weeks and months.

Two townships in Monroe County, Benton and Washington, are looking to join the district starting in 2022, in a process that’s now underway and could be in front of county commissioners before the end of the year.

The nearly $12-million 2021 budget that MFPD chief Dustin Dillard is proposing  will get a close look from county councilors at a Tuesday, Aug. 25 work session.

Also related to MFPD and other rural departments that are looking to join the district, is a scheduled vote by the county council on allocations of public safety local income tax (PS-LIT) money.

In an early August vote by the PS-LIT committee of the tax council, Bloomington and Ellettsville members outnumbered county councilors 5 to 2, and voted to deny about $330,000 in requests from MFPD and other rural departments.

A scheduled Aug. 31 vote of the county council as a tax council member, which likely will support the rural fire department requests, is probably futile. That’s because the county council lacks sufficient votes on the full tax council to determine the outcome. But it could be the county council’s way of going on record in support of the proposed funding of rural department requests. Continue reading “Fire protection in Monroe County to be a fully involved topic in coming weeks” →

County commissioners agree to put Benton Township on path to join Monroe County Fire Protection District

Township board chair Joe Husk and trustee Michelle Bright address Monroe County commissioners Wednesday morning. Feb. 12, 2020.
The map is shaded based on fire protection that will be effective in 2021 based on decisions made in 2019. Benton Township is now in the queue to be added to MCFPD. Washington is about six weeks behind the Benton Township schedule.

Benton Township residents can mark their calendars for a meeting on March 23 or 24 or 26 at 6:30 p.m. to be held at the Unionville Senior Center next to the township fire station out on SR45.

The topic and agenda of each meeting will be the same—a proposal for the township to join the Monroe County Fire Protection District (MCFPD).

Benton Township will follow a process similar to the one that saw Van Buren and Bloomington Townships join the fire district last year. Based on decisions made last year, by January 2021, the geographic area of the MCFPD will include Van Buren, Indian Creek, Clear Creek, Perry and Bloomington townships.

Benton Township would be added to the fire district starting in 2022. Continue reading “County commissioners agree to put Benton Township on path to join Monroe County Fire Protection District” →