District 4 Resident Bill Gustafson was determined to be the new Knox City Council Member when a caucus was held at City Hall Tuesday evening.
Gustafson was in the running with two other candidates, Cyndi Mann Kidder and Linda Barker Schwarzlose. During the caucus, each of the candidates took a few minutes to explain why they were interested in filling the open City Council seat.
After they provided their speeches, Mayor Dennis Estok mentioned that while this position will be secure for the remainder of the term, once it runs up, the winning candidate will need to run again and the other candidates will get another shot at the seat.
The Precinct Committee Members deliberated shortly and then cast their ballots anonymously. The ballots were drawn from a box and counted by Starke County Democrat Vice-Chair Brenda Crase. Democrat Chairman Kenny Wallace then declared that Gustafson won the vote.
He was then sworn in by Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston and attended his first meeting as a council member.
Gustafson said he’s lived in District 4 for most of his life. He mentioned that he formerly taught at North Judson-San Pierre for more than 38 years and noted that he holds degrees from Ball State University and Indiana University.
The audio from Tuesday night’s caucus will be included in this week’s Kankakee Valley Viewpoints program which airs every Sunday at noon on K99.3 WKVI.
