Cummings seeks District 3 county council vacancy

Thursday, April 5, 2018
Matt Cummings

Citing a “passion for community development and a desire to make local government more transparent and accessible,” Matt Cummings, a Democrat, has announced his candidacy for the Putnam County Council District 3 seat.

“Being a young family and a resident in this community has been a real rewarding experience,” Cummings said, “from meeting new people across the community at the dog park, Ridpath events like Tuesdays with Teachers and First Fridays, along with playing in band that plays at events like Taste of Putnam and Parkfest.”

As a member of the council, Cummings hopes to prioritize Putnam County and bring more online transparency and access to local government as well as advocate for the school system that continues to have increased demands and less funding coming to the district and emphasize school safety. Additional priorities include addressing some of the county’s infrastructure issues and increasing high speed internet access to rural communities and starting dialogue and action around the public health issues facing the county.

Further, he would like to see a more aggressive approach to fixing the county roads.

“I would like to start bringing proactive vision and a fresh perspective to the council,” Cummings said. “I want to hear from the people in this community what are their hopes, vision and dreams for the place they choose to live and how can local government serve as a bridge to some of those hopes for the future.

“I further would like to bring the voice of young working families to these political entities because there currently isn’t a lot of representation from our perspective in county government.”

Cummings, a Bloomfield native, points out that his graduate background and urban studies and experience in the non-profit sector give him the necessary skills needed to analyze issues related to economic and community growth along with his extensive knowledge in digital marketing that would help local businesses expand to the global, digitally-connected economy.

“If Putnam County wants to continue to remain competitive for state and federal funds, we need to elect people who understand the grant writing process, who can quantify outcomes and have the ability to bring resources to this community,” Cummings said. “I have successfully obtained over $200,000 in foundation grants, private donations and corporate grants with my experience in the non-profit and higher education industry and would like extend these skills to county government to help build stronger communities.”

Matt is married with two kids, Jasmine and Sage, at Ridpath Elementary. He works at DePauw University. He can be reached at mattforputnam@gmail.com or www.mattforputnam.com. Voters may also reach Matt via Facebook at www.facebook.com/mattforputnam/.