Local News 

Council District 4 candidates differ on roads, garage funding

John Clark
Lynne Fleming
Jorge Morales

Voters will be choosing from a handful of contested races on the Nov. 6th Bartholomew County ballot.

In the southwestern portion of the county, voters will be deciding between Republican incumbent Jorge Morales and Democrat Lynne Fleming in the District 4 County Council Race.

Morales, 74, retired from Cummins after 30 years. He is married. He has a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. He is a member of the Rotary International and serves on the Mill Race Center board. He has held the County Council seat for two terms and ran for Bartholomew County Commissioners two years but lost in the Republican primary.

Fleming, 65, is a retired school teacher who worked for 38 years in Bartholomew Consolidated Schools. She is married to Dan Fleming and they have three sons. She holds a masters degree from Indiana University. She ran for County Council at-large two years ago.  She is the vice president of the Bartholomew County Board of Health.

We asked the candidates:

  • How should the County Council provide enough funding to maintain the county roads?

Morales said that the state has helped with road repairs.

Fleming said the county should consider allocating some income tax money to the problem.

  • Is a new highway garage for the county needed and do you support the $6 million bond proposal to pay for it?

Morales said the existing garage needs replaced.

Fleming said that the county has neglected the current garage and agrees it needs replacing.

Early voting is going on now at the Bartholomew County Courthouse voter registration office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. Voting at the satellite early voting centers is from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. Those satellite locations are at Donner Center, Flintwood Wesleyan Church and at German American Bank on Jonathan Moore Pike. Early voting ends at noon Monday at the courthouse. Polls are open from 6 to 6 Tuesday, Nov. 6th.

Indiana BMV hours will be extended on Monday and Tuesday to issue ID cards and driver’s licenses for voters. Branches will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, and on Tuesday, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.