Widner finds new opportunity, resigns City Council seat

For the second time in 19 months, the Greencastle City Council finds itself with a vacancy on its seven-member panel.

Jake Widner, who in June 2020 was sworn in to replace at-large Republican member Tyler Wade as the youngest member of the City Council, has himself resigned the position.

Presented with a chance to pursue new opportunity that will likely affect his residence, the 25-year-old Widner chose to resign from his position as an at-large city councilor for the City of Greencastle. Rather than risk dividing his time and attention he would otherwise put toward his public duties prior to a potential move, Widner chose to make the difficult decision and announce his resignation so the process could begin to seek his replacement.

Widner was appreciative of his time spent on City Council as one of four Republicans on the seven-member Council, giving the GOP the majority with Council President Mark Hammer, Vice President Stacie Langdon, Fourth Ward Councilor Cody Eckert and Widner’s seat.

“I’m grateful to have had the chance to represent the citizens of Greencastle and serve my neighbors in local government,” Widner said. “It’s a labor of love to look after claims the city pays out and make sense of the nuts and bolts of city government. I’ve enjoyed listening to concerns folks shared with me and advocated for them the best I could. I’d love to continue doing that, but unfortunately I feel I have to pass the torch at this time.”

Current president of the City Council, Mark Hammer, understood the decision and noted his appreciation of Widner’s service.

“I appreciate Jake agreeing to serve the citizens of Greencastle as a city councilman at-large when Tyler Wade unexpectedly moved out of state for his career,” Hammer said. “Now Jake has a similar opportunity, and I certainly understand the position he is in. I believe I speak for the entire City Council in that we wish Jake success in the future, and we appreciate his service to our community over the past year and a half.”

Widner was caucused into the seat left open by Wade, upon his resignation in May of 2020. Widner assumed Wade’s role as the youngest member serving on the City Council. The term expires at the end of 2023.

Putnam County GOP Chairman Beau Baird expressed his gratitude for Widner’s service.

“Stepping up and serving in a public role in the middle of a pandemic brought a host of challenges for Jake, and he faced it all head on, which is no small feat,” Baird said. “We need more people like Jake who are willing to bring their talents to bear on behalf of the public at large.”

Statutorily, a caucus of GOP precinct committeemen is required to fill the seat within 30 days of Widner’s resignation.

Widner’s parting message urged those with a desire to positively impact the community to throw themselves into the arena as active participants in council and commission meetings, or to simply reach out to their elected officials and become more involved.

“Local government is gratifying because you can directly help your neighbors, or have earnest conversations about policies that directly affect the community,” Widner said. “You usually don’t have the opportunity to bump into your U.S. senator and strike up a conversation, but you can go into city hall and ask the mayor or city attorney, ‘Hey, what’s going on today?’ More people should.”

Besides the four Republican members of the Council, also serving are Democrats Adam Cohen, Dave Murray and Veronica Pejril. The next city election will be conducted in November 2023.