Wayne County Democratic Party Chair Chris Hardie today announced the details of a caucus to fill the vacancy created through the resignation of Kelley Cruse-Nicholson as Richmond Common Council District 2 Representative. The caucus is scheduled for Tuesday July 27th at 5:30 PM and will be held at the Martha Dwyer Community Center, 1417 North A Street, Richmond.
“Wayne County Democrats are committed to seating a new member of Common Council who will continue the passionate representation of District 2 residents shown by Kelley Cruse-Nicholson during her time there,” said Hardie. “We look forward to selecting the best person to fill the position.”
As a part of the announcement, Hardie also released the proposed rules for the caucus, which in addition to reaffirming state requirements for voting eligibility and balloting procedures also outline an interview process.
Interested candidates must file a notarized declaration of candidacy (using State Form CEB-5) and responses to a questionnaire with the Party Chair by Saturday July 24th, 2021 at 5:30 PM. The party has made all of the filing forms, caucus rules and a position description for the office available through its website at www.waynecountydemocrats.com. Candidates for the position must have resided in District 2 for at least six (6) months and in the City of Richmond for at least one (1) year as of July 1, 2021.
Forms may be submitted by email to [email protected] or via postal mail (to arrive no later than the deadline of Saturday July 24th at 5:30 PM) to:
Attn: Chris Hardie
Wayne County Democratic Party
P.O. Box 234
Richmond, Indiana 47375
Under state law, Democratic precinct committee persons, or their vice committee person voting as proxy, will make the selection to fill the vacancy. Notice of the caucus was mailed to the committee members on July 6th, 2021. Hardie has advised the committee members to expect a caucus lasting two hours or more depending on the number of candidates that file for the office.
The caucus vote is closed to the media and the public, but the party will hold a media availability session following the event.
Position description
Common Council is both the legislative and fiscal body of the City of Richmond. Members of the Common Council are part-time officials who serve for a term of four years and they are not subject to term limits. As individual Council members, they do not possess significant statutory powers. As the City’s legislative body, however, the Council exercises much of the power given to cities through the passage of ordinances and appropriation of monies.
Council fixes the annual salaries of all elected officials of the City and establishes the annual salaries of members of the City’s police and fire departments. It has authority to reduce, but not to increase, any other items in the City budget as submitted by the Mayor for its approval.
In Richmond, Council members also serve a dual role as Board Members of Richmond Power & Light, our municipally owned utility company.
Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays beginning at 7:00 pm in Council Chambers, with the RP&L Board Meeting following at 8 PM. There are other scheduled and ad hoc committee meetings and obligations that happen at various times throughout the year.
Whomever steps into the seat to fill the vacancy will have approximately two and a half years left of a four year term, and will then be eligible for election for the next term starting in 2024.
(Adapted in part from https://www.richmondindiana.gov/city-council)
Statement on commitment to diversity
The Wayne County Democratic Party is committed to having diverse, representative elected officials at all levels of government. We believe that our legislative, executive and judicial branches can act more effectively and with a greater concern for justice and the needs of our entire community when people in leadership roles come from many different backgrounds, experiences, traditions and identities. We acknowledge that Richmond and Wayne County’s elected leaders are at present overwhelmingly white and male, and thus that we collectively fall short of achieving that diversity in representation. We emphatically and specifically encourage people of color, Black people, women and other people from traditionally underrepresented populations to consider running for office in general and, in this case, running to fill the District 2 vacancy.
Important links and documents
- Indiana State Form CEB-5
- Candidate Questionnaire
- Proposed Caucus Rules
- Precinct Committeeperson Proxy Form
Questions?
If you have any questions about this information, please contact Party Chair Chris Hardie by phone/text at (765) 676-3367 or by email at [email protected].