Former Madison Township Board member James Johnson is back on the board after being selected by the six township precinct committeemen Wednesday night to fill the spot of former board member Angela Turley.
Turley resigned from the board in October.
She, along with current board member Amy Russell, defeated Johnson in the 2018 election.
Johnson has previously served on the board.
He replaced board member Kelly Alcala, who resigned from the board to be the township’s clerk.
Alcala, herself, recently resigned from that position.
It took three rounds of votes by the committeemen before Johnson received the four votes necessary to secure the position.
James Dallas Hayden had submitted his name for consideration for the position.
Both candidates each received three votes in the first two rounds.
On the third vote, Johnson received four votes, while Hayden received two.
Had neither candidate received a majority of the votes, it would have been up to Morgan County Republican Chairman Daniel Elliott to break the tie.
Before the vote, both men had a chance to address the committeemen.
Hayden said he and his family had moved to Madison Township around seven months ago.
Hayden, who is a deputy sheriff, said he wanted to make sure the township was able to provide service to its residents.
Johnson said he wanted to keep the residents in mind when preparing the township’s annual budget.
He felt it was not the time to be raising taxes on residents.
Johnson will be sworn in at the next board meeting.
He joins Larry Ellis and Russell on the board. Scott McDonough is the Madison Township Trustee.
Future caucuses
Elliott said he has four more positions to fill before the end of the year.
There are two spots open on the county council, one spot on the Mooresville Town Council and one spot open on the Brown Township Advisory Board.
Elliott said he plans to hold multiple caucuses on Dec. 10 at the Morgan County Administration Building, 180 S. Main St., Martinsville, to fill those positions.
Bryan Collier, who represents District 1 on county council, was recently elected to the Morgan County Board of Commissioners and Collier’s council seat will be open.
The spot held by District Four representative Dave Zoller became open after his passing and will have to be filled.
Jessica Hester’s resignation from the Mooresville Town Council will have to be filled.
The Brown Township Advisory Board also has an opening after Christopher Hester’s recent resignation.
~ By Keith Rhoades | Reporter | Published November 27, 2020 in The Reporter Times