Filing period opens Wednesday for Greencastle primary election

With the most elected positions up for grabs in the history of the City of Greencastle, the filing period for the 2015 city primary election opens Wednesday, Jan. 7.

Candidates in the two major political parties, Democrat and Republican, can file a declaration of candidacy for any of those nine city positions in the Voter Registration Office (Room 21) at the Putnam County Courthouse from 8 a.m. Wednesday until the deadline of noon Friday, Feb. 6.

The primary election is scheduled for Tuesday, May 5, during which time Greencastle voters will choose their party's candidates for mayor, clerk-treasurer and -- for the first time ever -- seven City Council seats instead of five.

Voter registration clerk Stacia Gibson said potential candidates can pick up a packet of information from her office any time during office hours (8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday).

Candidates in small-town elections at Bainbridge, Roachdale and Russellville run as independents, Gibson said, and can also obtain a packet at any time. Their deadline for completing the process, however, is noon June 30.

Town of Cloverdale candidates, meanwhile, traditionally have been selected at party conventions rather than through the primary system, she added.

So the Feb. 6 noon deadline really only affects those running for city office as Republicans or Democrats.

Those thinking of making an independent bid for any of the available city spots will need to go through a petition process, Gibson noted, with a June 30 deadline to complete and file the necessary documents.

For Greencastle, at least five new faces are assured among the nine city government positions destined to take office on Jan. 1, 2016.

On the 2015 city ballot for the May primary and November general election for the first time will be two additional at-large seats added by virtue of Greencastle topping the 10,000 population mark. That means Greencastle will seat a seven-member Council in 2016 and beyond.

Of the current City Council members, only Democrat Adam Cohen, the Council president and First Ward representative, and the Council's longest-serving member, Republican Mark Hammer, Second Ward, have said anything publicly about running for re-election.

And Republican Tyler Wade, the newly appointed Fourth Ward councilman, seems likely to seek the seat in next May's primary.

But Third Ward councilor Jinsie Bingham and the City Council's lone current at-large member, Phyllis Rokicki -- both Democrats -- have said they do not plan to seek re-election.

City Clerk-Treasurer Lynda Dunbar, a Republican, has said she will seek a second term.

Meanwhile, Mayor Sue Murray has been adamant about serving only two terms, leaving the mayor's office up for grabs after her tenure expires on Dec. 31, 2015.

Thus far, the only announced candidate for mayor of Greencastle, is Republican Jim Wright, the former street commissioner who said he will officially file on Wednesday, the first opportunity to do so.

City Republicans are hoping to break the Democrats' 28-year City Hall stranglehold on the mayor's office that began with two terms of Mike Harmless (who took office Jan. 1, 1988), followed by a record three terms of Nancy Michael and two of Mayor Murray.