Reception honors Dory, departing City Council members

Addressing a group of community members and fellow City of Greencastle officials before the last City Council meeting of the year Thursday night at City Hall, outgoing Mayor Bill Dory shares his thoughts about the closing days of his eight-year tenure as the city’s chief executive.

Banner Graphic/ERIC BERNSEE

Greencastle Mayor Bill Dory likes to say -- not unlike the feisty 1960s cartoon character Snagglepuss -- he will “exit stage left” at the end of 2023 but fellow city officials and members of the community got to say some early goodbyes Thursday night prior to the last regular City Council meeting of the year.

The gathering also bid adieu to departing Council members Dave Murray, Cody Eckert, Veronica Pejril and Russell Harvey, while providing a welcoming for newcomers David Masten, Katherine Asbell, Tina Nicholson and Vince Aguirre, along with new Clerk-Treasurer Mikayla Johnson. She succeeds Lynda Dunbar who moves up to mayor.

Asked what he plans to do next, Dory who is completing his eighth and final year as Greencastle mayor, said he wasn’t ready to share yet publicly. “No announcement tonight,” he said.

With new and old city officials enjoying a reception at City Hall, outgoing Mayor Bill Dory (second from right) congratulates City Council members and others on their service to the community. Taking part in the reception are (from left) Fourth Ward Councilman Cody Eckert, First Ward Councilman Russell Harvey, Mayor-elect Lynda Dunbar, Third Ward Councilor Veronica Pejril, Dory and new City Clerk-Treasurer Mikayla Johnson. The election last month of Dunbar, a Republican, ended a 36-year Democrat reign in the Greencastle mayor’s office.

Banner Graphic/ERIC BERNSEE

Dory has a lengthy record of public service, initially coming to Greencastle to serve as the first executive director of Main Street Greencastle before moving on to the state level of Main Street for five years before returning to take the reins of the Greencastle/Putnam County Development Center. Next came the eight-year reign as mayor of Greencastle.

“This community has had great leadership for a long, long time,” Dory said. “I’ve been fortunate to be a small part of that.”

Mayor-elect Dunbar highlighted accomplishments from Dory’s tenure, suggesting the long-delayed development of sidewalks along both sides of Indianapolis Road on the city’s East Side and the undertaking of the wellness center/YMCA that’s going up east of Walmart.

“You’ll get to finish that,” Dory told his successor, “and hopefully for the good people of Albin Pond Road, the waterline there won’t leak any more.”

“Bill has given a lot and served a lot,” Dunbar praised. “It has been a real pleasure working with Bill.”

Dory, in turn created the City Hall mutual admiration association, noting it “has been a pleasure to work with Lynda Dunbar.”

The community, Dory said, “is so fortunate. When I meet with other mayors and hear their stories, we have much better cooperation. Are we perfect? Do we make mistakes from time to time? Certainly, but we are so fortunate to have so many good people who want to make the community better.”

In commenting on the departure of Councilman Murray after eight years -- he’s a “firm believer in term limits”-- as well as one-termers Pejril, Eckert and Harvey (completing Adam Cohen’s term), Mayor Dory said the Council brought a variety of perspectives to the discussion.

“We’ve had a seven-member Council for a while now,” he said. “I think it’s worked out well.”