Lemon squeezed out in at-large City Council voting

Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Gary Lemon

As an economics professor, Gary Lemon knows more than enough math to realize the at-large Greencastle City Council race wasn’t going to add up well for one of four Council incumbents.

Lemon, fellow Democrat Dave Murray and Republicans Mark Hammer and Tyler Wade were all on the ballot with Wade giving up a virtual sure-thing for re-election as Fourth Ward councilman to vie for an at-large seat in a crowded field.

“There were four of us running who were incumbents,” Lemon said after vote totals were announced at the Putnam County Courthouse shortly after 7:30 p.m., “so one of us was going to be out, and it happened to be me.”

City voters cast ballots for three at-large candidates. For the second straight election Hammer was the leading at-large vote-getter with 696 votes, followed by Wade with 544 and Murray with 530.

Lemon fell short with 516 votes, followed by Democrat Matt Cummings with 484 and Harry Maginity at 388.

So after one four-year term Lemon is out. In the 2015 election, he earned the third most votes behind Hammer and Murray.

“The three people that were elected are good people,” Lemon praised. “Well, for one thing, my Thursdays are free now.”

“Thirty votes separated the three of us,” Murray said of Wade, Lemon and himself. “That says a lot about the voters.

“I look forward to serving one more four-year term,” Murray added, explaining that “in some small way, I hope to continue the momentum that my wife (Sue), the former mayor, and the team had done.”

Hammer who has served 24 years on the City Council in what may be the longest Council tenure on record in Greencastle, said he did some heavy last-minute campaigning this time.

“I heard early voting was up,” he said, “so I hit the doors all weekend.”

Wade, who was in Washington, D.C., on business Tuesday, tried to explain via phone the bold move he made in departing his Fourth Ward seat for a run at at-large spot on the Council.

“I enjoyed some of the things we were able to do in the Fourth Ward,” Wade said, “and I wanted to be able to take that approach to the city at large.”

His move also gives the Republicans a majority on the City Council for the first time in decades at 4-3.

“I had not even realized that was a possibility,” Wade said, “until I was out putting up signs and talking with Mark Hammer and (Clerk-Treasurer) Lynda Dunbar. I don’t remember the last time we had a Republican majority on the City Council.”

Meanwhile, Murray in congratulating Wade, said he wished the Republican had stayed put in Third Ward.

His decision to seek an at-large seat “cost us Gary Lemon,” Murray said. “Gary will be missed. He’s a very talented, insightful guy.”

Wade agreed.

“It’s sad losing Gary,” Wade said of Lemon. “I really have enjoyed his perspective and the knowledge he was able to bring to our discussions.”

Wade joins fellow Republicans Stacie Langdon, who was unopposed for re-election in Second Ward; Cody Eckert, who defeated fellow newcomer Steve Snyder, 126-79 in Fourth Ward; and Hammer as an at-large representative.

Democrats on the Council are President Adam Cohen, unopposed in First Ward; newcomer Veronica Pejril who defeated Haywood Ware in Second Ward by more than double, 166-81; and Murray at-large.

Unopposed Clerk-Treasurer Dunbar led the ballot with 867 votes, while Mayor Bill Dory was unopposed for a second term with 828 votes.

Voter turnout was announced at 22.33 percent, but that was the percentage of all voters eligible to vote on Tuesday (including those in Cloverdale, Fillmore, Bainbridge and Roachdale). Voter turnout for just Greencastle was unavailable Tuesday night.