TIMES UNION REPORTS – A second man has filed for the open Winona Lake Town Council Ward 1 seat.
David Phelps, who turned 58 on Friday, filed with Kosciusko County Republican Party Chair Mike Ragan at 3:30 p.m. Monday for the position that came open after the Aug. 17 death of Councilman Jim Zachary.
The first person to file was Austin Reynolds. Deadline to file is 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14. The caucus is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17 in the Winona Lake Town Council meeting room.
This isn’t the first time Phelps has sought the office. A few years ago, a caucus chose Peter Christos to the Ward 1 Council seat, and Phelps had submitted his name for that caucus, too. Christos eventually resigned from the Council and another caucus was held, which Thelia Banta won. About two years later, Zachary defeated Banta in the Republican primary to win the Council seat as he had no challengers in the fall.
“I care about the community, the fact that it’s kind of a family-oriented community and I wanted to really keep a focus on our lakes and the greenspaces, those kind of things, the things that Joy Lohse really cared about when she was our Council person,” Phelps said of why he chose to run for the seat again.
He said he and Zachary “had a lot of that in sync, the two of us. We were friends, we were neighbors. We lived right across the street from each other, and both cared about the trail system and finding ways to get visitors to come to Winona, taking care of Winona, all of those things. Very much in sync with the things that Jim thought about.”
He hasn’t held an elected position since he was on student council in high school.
Phelps grew up in Central Texas and went to the University of Texas at Austin. He moved here in the 1990s and has made it home since, moving to Winona Lake in 1998.
“It’s a long, personal story. I moved here to get saved basically. I moved here for some friends who had healthy lifestyles, very spiritual lifestyles. And it was clearly the spirit that moved me to move here to be honest. After visiting for several years, I fell in love with the friends and the community to the point that I came up here and worked remotely. My job was in Washington, D.C., and I lived here,” he explained.
At that time, he was the director of marketing for what would become Verizon.
He and his wife, Michelle, have been married for 20 years.
Phelps doesn’t know Reynolds, but said he was sure both of them are good candidates.
“I think what I bring to the table is a kind of vision for all of Winona Lake,” he said.
Because Michelle grew up in Winona Lake and has a heart for it, Phelps said he does, too.
“Most of my major life decisions have taken place here, in fact all of them of note have taken place in Winona Lake, at that house, at the church we go to, with our friends in Winona Lake. I don’t see us living anywhere else, quite honestly. We really care about our community. We love the trails, the greenspace, the ability to have families that feel safe in our neighborhoods, and can wonder the streets, go to the parks, spend time in The Village,” Phelps said.
Part of a councilman’s job is budgeting and watching finances. Phelps said in all of his business roles he’s managed budgets and finances, and in his current role at 212 Media Studios, he’s responsible for annual finances and budgets, salaries, taxes, etc.
“I’ve managed significant budgets at larger corporations that I’ve worked at,” he said.
Phelps said if you ask anyone else he’s served on a board with, they will tell you Phelps is very active on the boards and throws himself into the board and cares about it.
“I don’t get involved unless I’m passionate about the project or the organization or the mission that I’m going to be a partner with. I see this the same way. This is will be one of the high priorities on my to-do list, every week, every time I get into the community and meet with friends, meet with neighbors. I’m going to be thinking about how does this impact the town of Winona Lake,” Phelps stated.
