Menu
Swearing-in ushers in new year for new mayor, City Council
Before a standing-room-only crowd Monday morning at City Hall, a new mayor and a new City Council took over the reins of governing the City of Greencastle.
With the official swearing-in of Mayor Lynda Dunbar by Putnam Circuit Court Judge Matthew Headley, the local Republican Party reclaimed the mayor’s office after 36 years of Democrat rule under the administrations of Mike Harmless, Nancy Michael, Sue Murray and Bill Dory, all of whom served multiple terms.
“We’re really excited about starting off the beginning of the year,” Dunbar told the gathering in brief remarks as she became only the second Republican woman (Jane Harlan was the first in 1980) to assume the mayor’s office.
The 59-year-old Dunbar is a lifelong Greencastle resident whose parents, Gerald and Miriam Durham, joined her at City Hall for the big event, as did husband Scott Dunbar and their children.
Not only did the City Hall ceremony usher in a new mayor but presented the GOP with the largest political margin at 6-1 since the City Council became a seven-member body in 2016.
Joining Mayor Dunbar and new Clerk-Treasurer Mikayla Johnson, who succeeds Dunbar in that role after 12 years, in taking the oath of office from Judge Headley were:
• First Ward Councilman David Masten, who returns to the Council after a 24-year hiatus.
• Third Ward Councilor Tina Nicholson, making her first foray into the political arena.
• Fourth Ward Councilman Vince Aguirre, a one-vote winner who is now the lone Democrat on the Council.
• Council-at-large member Mark Hammer, the longest-serving Greencastle City Council member in at least 75 years with 28 years, four months of experience behind him and a 32-year tenure due if he completes his latest term.
• Council-at-large member Katherine Asbell, another political newcomer but the top vote-getter on the 2023 Council ballot.
• Council-at-large member Darrel Thomas, starting his first full term as a city councilman after a long tenure as a Putnam County Council member.
Second Ward Councilor Stacie Langdon was unavailable for the ceremony Monday and is expected to be sworn in for her third term prior to the Council’s first session of 2024 at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11.
Meanwhile, after 24 years -- or six election cycles -- Hammer and Masten are reunited on the Council to which both were initially elected in 1995, the first of Mayor Michael’s three terms.
Masten departed after one term as his business dealings took precedent for him. Hammer, of course, has stayed on and created a record run that shows no signs of ending any time soon.
Hammer was already on the ballot in 1995 as the Second Ward candidate when Councilman Jerry Calbert died that August and the party named Hammer to replace him. The newly retired CPA has now been elected to a third stint as an at-large representative after initially serving 20 years as Second Ward councilman.
Dunbar also swore in the city department heads, including her chosen Fire Chief Rob Frank, who also had his chief’s badge pinned to his dress uniform by his wife Dessa during the program. Frank is the lone new department leader under Dunbar, joining holdovers Police Chief Chris Jones, City Attorney Laurie Hardwick, City Planner Scott Zimmerman, Public Works Director Andrew Rogers, Park and Recreation Director Greg Ruark, Cemetery Supt. Jason Keeney and Water and Wastewater Supt. Oscar King Jr.
Mayor Dunbar also announced that Aubrey Hiatt has been named the mayor’s secretary, taking over for Linda Huber, who has retired after 36 years serving under four mayors, Harmless, Michael, Murray and Dory. New Clerk-Treasurer Johnson swore in Deputy City Clerk Melanie Welker.
Meanwhile, Dec. 31 marked the end of city tenures for Mayor Bill Dory and Councilors Russell Harvey, Dave Murray, Veronica Pejril and Cody Eckert. All are Democrats except Eckert, a one-vote loser to Aguirre.