Jesse Bohannon, the current president of the Marshall County Council, has announced he will be a candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination for County Commissioner in District 3. The primary election for county offices will be held on May 7.
Bohannon has been a resident of Culver and the local operator of Culver’s Bourbon Street Pizza location for more than two years. Prior to moving to Culver, Bohannon made Bremen his home in 1994 and served four years on the Bremen School Board. He is a graduate of Bremen High School and Bethel University in Mishawaka.
A proud conservative, Bohannon has been active in the Republican Party for ten years, serving twice as a GOP Precinct Committeeman, and as a delegate to the Indiana Republican Convention in ‘16, ‘18, ‘20, and ‘22.
The statement from Jesse Bohannon says:
The people of Marshall County embrace the Republican values of life, liberty, and individual responsibility. They believe in transparency, innovation, and putting first things first. That’s why I ran for the Council, and I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish so far. The people told us they wanted to stop a jail expansion, and they have made it clear that repairing our existing county roads is their priority.
I was honored when my peers on the Council chose me as their president. The new majority was elected last year to bring change, and we began immediately by moving meetings to the evenings to make the Council more accessible to the public. We now open every meeting with prayer. As the county fiscal body, the Council is primarily responsible for setting spending priorities, and we have stopped several wasteful spending proposals, while substantially increasing funding to repair county roads.
As your next County Commissioner, I will encourage real collaboration between the Council and Commissioners, which has been lacking. Because the Commissioners are responsible for the executive functions of county government, I will continue to place greater urgency on road repair from the management side.
The Board of County Commissioners has three members, and Commissioner Stan Klotz is doing great work. But he often stands alone on the issues that matter most. He often needs a second vote to move the people’s agenda forward. That’s why I’m running.
New, often unforeseen challenges confront us constantly. For instance, few people expected that we would face the prospect of industrial solar power facilities blanketing the county. Commissioner Klotz proposed a solar moratorium to allow time to retool local ordinances addressing this threat. But his proposal was rejected. On this and other key issues, the Commissioners have the power and are ultimately responsible for protecting the people. We need to retain Stan Klotz as President but change the membership of the Board of Commissioners. We need a new culture where elected leaders embrace their responsibilities and stop passing the buck to unelected boards and department heads.
As Commissioner, I will be a part of that change. I am excited to get to work knocking on doors throughout the County. That’s always my favorite part of the process: connecting with and receiving input from you.
