With the resignation of Lee Childers, who was elected as Morgan Township Trustee in the November election, a vacancy will soon exist on the Palmyra Town Council. Lee has tendered his resignation effective December 31, 2022 at 11:59pm.
As Lee was elected as a Republican, Indiana Code says the Republican Party is responsible for selecting someone to serve out the balance of his term, which will end on December 31, 2023.
In most circumstances, elected official vacancies are filled by a caucus of precinct committee members for the area which elected the position. However, as the Town of Palmyra is entirely within one precinct and there would be only one voting precinct committee member, Indiana Code dictates the vacancy is to be filled by appointment of the Republican County Chairman.
In order to ensure a broadly representative process, an interview committee has been created composed of Republican precinct committee members from the four precincts of Morgan Township, including the Palmyra precinct, and outgoing Palmyra Town Councilman Lee Childers. A majority of these five individuals are from the Town of Palmyra.
Individuals interested in filling the vacancy should send an email to palmyra.council.vacancy@harrisongop.com before Friday, January 6 at 5:00pm. They will be supplied with a brief questionnaire and will be scheduled to have a meeting with the interview committee. After the interviews are complete, the committee will make a recommendation to the Republican County Chairman, who will appoint their recommendation.
We hope to conduct the interviews during the first weekend in January and make an appointment based on the interview committee's recommendation shortly thereafter, allowing the new town council member to participate in the first Palmyra Town Council meeting of January. This swift timeline will fill the vacancy well ahead of the thirty-day window set in Indiana Code.
Lee Childers was an excellent and thoughtful town council member, and he will be a great trustee for Morgan Township. This process will ensure that his successor on the Palmyra Town Council is someone who will continue his record of thoughtful, conservative representation for the people of Palmyra.
