Deer seeks District 44 state seat

Citing a desire for better efficiency, Greencastle resident Kathy Deer recently tossed her hat in with several others as a Republican candidate for District 44 State Representative.

"I would like to make things more efficient," Deer told the BannerGraphic.

Deer decided to run for the post after District 44 Rep. Andy Thomas (R-Brazil) announced he would not seek reelection, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and continue teaching at Ivy Tech Community College, Greencastle.

Thomas is a native of Brazil and was elected to the seat in 2002. He is currently finishing out his second term.

The seat serves all of Putnam County and portions of Parke, Clay and Vigo counties.

Deer is the third local candidate to file for the seat. Cloverdale resident Darwyn Nelson and Greencastle resident Ken Eitel also have filed.

A Republican Caucus is set to meet at 7 p.m., Aug. 2, at the Putnam County Courthouse Annex to decide who will run for the position.

"This is something that I've considered for a while," Deer said. "Maybe it's now or never. But it happened a littler earlier than I'd hoped."

Deer said she wants to help the area taxpayers by representing their interests in Indianapolis.

A major concern of hers, she added is a recent trend of passing on costs to taxpayers when services are no longer provided by the state, such as new reporting, record keeping and the reprogramming of software for local governments.

"There seems to be a lot of legislation passed. Just picky little things," Deer said. "Sometimes, common sense needs to rule."

Deer also expressed an interest in school programs that do not aid in educating students and that she would support a possible cigarette tax hike mentioned recently by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Deer said she believes the hike would benefit residents because of costs on the health care system.

Deer has worked for the Indiana Department of Commerce and was a certified grant administrator from 1994-2000.

Deer and her husband, Rick, have lived in Putnam County since 1977. They have five children, Andy, 28, Rachel, 27, Atley, 20, Buzz, 16, and Hannah, 12.

Several others will be vying for the spot on Wednesday, including Eitel, Nelson, along with Clay County residents Fritz Maurer, Amos Thomas, and Parke County resident Jim Meese.