A longtime Leesburg resident who has served with the fire department for 45 years filed for the Leesburg Town Council seat being vacated by Doug Jones.
Mitchell “Mitch” Rader, 64, filed with Kosciusko County Republican Party Central Committee Chairman Mike Ragan on Friday. He was the second person to file after Darrin Lincoln, 57. A third person - Amanda Brookins-Bibler - was unable to comment over the weekend on her candidacy.
Jones resigned from the Leesburg Town Council, effective Dec. 31, after serving about 14 years.
“Just being Leesburg born and raised, I want to work with the current board members” to help the town, Rader said. He wants to spend more time working on getting federal, state and local grants for economic development for Leesburg, he said. “In general, I want to see what is out there for the town.”
Rader said he’s lived in Leesburg his entire life except for four years.
Rader served as the clerk-treasurer for Leesburg for four years in the 1980s, he said.
A 45-year firefighter, he served 30 of those years as an officer.
“I’m kind of familiar with government budgeting and funding,” he said.
Rader is a department superintendent at Dalton Corp. in Warsaw.
Asked what makes him the best candidate for the position, Rader pointed to his work experience, experience with budgets and he was born and raised in Leesburg.
Eligible applicants for the Town Council must be a resident of the town of Leesburg and a Republican in good standing, according to a previous news release from Ragan, who will appoint a person to the position. The appointed person will fill the remaining unexpired term of Jones.
Declarations of candidacy and statements of economic interests are available at the Kosciusko County Clerk’s Office, and must be notarized and filed with Ragan no later than 72 hours prior to the appointment (3 p.m. Dec. 24). Ragan’s phone number is 574-265-1430 and email is mragan@sprintmail.com.
