The two Republican candidates for Bargersville clerk-treasurer bring different types of financial expertise to the table.
Incumbent Nancy Kehl is in her second term as clerk-treasurer, a position that works closely with the town council to manage the town’s finances. She will take on challenger Dustin Doyle, who served on the town council from 2019 to 2022, owns an investment company and currently serves on the town’s redevelopment commission.
The winner of the primary election on May 2 will move on to the general election on Nov. 7. No Democrats have filed to run for office at this time, though the local party still has an opportunity to slate a candidate.
The two candidates discussed their financial experience and goals for the office in an interview with the Daily Journal. Here is what they said, edited for grammar and length:
Why are you running for this office?
Doyle: I served on various boards since 2016 in Bargersville and most recently on the town council. The biggest thing I want to do is be able to put my private sector knowledge of the bond market into the public sector. I’ve done it since I graduated college in 1997. I own an investment company, Doyle Investment Company, that partners with clients to invest their 401k, from people just starting investing to those retiring. I want to work for Bargersville and bring that expertise to Bargersville. I’m a number junkie. I enjoy going through numbers. Being on the council, I was able to see how a lot of that worked and wanted to put that to use in Bargersville.
I was on the council from Jan. 1 of 2019 to Dec. 31 of 2022. It was a decision (to leave) with kids as young as mine who are in sports. The council does a lot of things after hours when track, cross country, softball and basketball games occur. I loved being on the council and being in service to Bargersville, but in my life, I will put family first over a job. (Clerk-treasurer) is more of a nine-to-five job, even though some days will be longer.
Kehl: I like the people in the town. I’ve been clerk-treasurer for seven years and I’ve been with Bargersville (government) a total of 18 years. For 11 years, I was in different positions with the town so I know utilities, I know the town and Steve Longstreet, the previous clerk-treasurer hired me away from the utility superintendent and street department. I went to work for him and became his chief deputy. He sent me to classes and I became interested in being a clerk-treasurer. When he resigned I went through a caucus, finished his term and then got elected.
We have introduced internal controls to the town, the segregation of duties so you have your checks and balances. One of the things the state wants for the cities and towns is internal controls. We have instituted a capital assets program, we instituted that this year that tracks our assets and depreciation. When we purchase vehicles and things like that, land, everything depreciates. Everything the town owns we have in a spreadsheet so we can track what it is where it is, sewer lines, water lines.
What are your top priorities if you’re elected?
Doyle: Creating a targeted budget for every department, sitting down with department heads, going over what they want and what they need. Having the expertise in budgeting, what budgets are, how they work and how you can mesh the needs and wants of each department head, prioritizing the budgets of each department to grow Bargersville to what they want it to be. Working with the town council, utilizing the funds the council wants to put where, and being a sounding board for them, giving them advice as to where I think or where we think we can put money, like building parks and trails.
Number two will be working with the town council on how to utilize cash in those accounts and not letting it sit there. It would be nice to see a laddered portfolio where if don’t need money in a certain department for three months, we can put it there until it comes due. Interest rates are anywhere from 4 to 5% and we can utilize those funds to gain some interest. Three would be creating an atmosphere of unity with the town government. The nice thing about Bargersville is you’ve got a lot of good employees who love their jobs and love the communities they serve. It’s just continuing that unity, keeping the doors open for the council, employees and clerk’s office, and having a well-oiled machine.
Kehl: I’d like to continue what I’m doing and improve the office. I want to make sure the town and utilities have a streamlined budget. There is a lot of infrastructure and they always need money to make sure everything is booked where it’s supposed to be, when they go for bonds, or when town manager or utilities manager asks council for money for projects, we have to make sure it comes out of the correct funds so it doesn’t cross over and get the town in trouble.
One of my priorities is updating our internal control policy. I would like to get the budget to be more transparent, to get it online for the citizens so they can click a link and see the budget. If they have questions, I’ll ask them to come to a meeting, call me, email me. I want full transparency with the financials of the town. We owe that to citizens and taxpayers. I want to make sure we have a simplified budget. The regular citizen that’s never sat down with a budget might not understand why we put money in certain places. If it’s streamlined and simplified, they can see tax dollars are going over here and utility money is going over here because they’re separate.
What experience do you have with financial management?
Doyle: I started working for City Security, which was the number one underwriter for Indiana municipalities. It was bought by Stifel, but I worked there 1997 to 2001. With Goelzer (Investment Management) from 2001 to 2005, I was on the trading desk. It was the most fun I’ve had in the investment world. I had two phones to my ear talking to Chicago and New York for two years trading securities. Then I went to the boutique investment area, working with high-net-worth clients with short-term investments or college planning until I started my investment company in 2005.
Kehl: I’ve served seven years as clerk-treasurer. Before that, I got my associate’s degree in paralegal studies. It takes going to classes through the State Board of Accounts, going to budget classes and seminars. Last week I was in Muncie for a full week going to clerk-treasurer classes. I live in this town and I want to know what’s going on, and it piqued my interest. When I wasn’t in the clerk-treasurer position, I paid my utility bill like all the other customers. I knew I had tax dollars coming into the town, but this is just a different mindset. I like a challenge.
I have all my certifications. I have an accredited Indiana municipal clerk certification and an international clerk certification. I’m working on my last certification: master municipal clerk.
What would be your approach to the town’s fiscal policy?
Doyle: I think one of the biggest things on the utility side, it’s almost required now to happen with the number of people moving in, it will increase the amount of water we’ll need. With the sewer, we’ll need the capacity and we have to be able to build things. What we already did, which was phenomenal, we got lucky when we issued bonds, we saved the town hundreds of thousands on bonds by investing before 2022 when interest went higher. Being able to go back to the bond market with a AA- bond rating, that’s phenomenal for a town our size. Going into it, we were hoping for A and at worst BBB.
I have full anticipation we’ll be able to do that a few more times with the need for water towers to be put up and probably a new sewer plant. When we talk about that, we’re talking tens of millions (of dollars) that will have to be in the bond offering. It’s about taking my experience in the private world and bringing that to the public world as well.
Kehl: Working with the council and department heads. The utility manager has a handle on what the utilities need along with the council. Our office would be working with consultants on the financial numbers.
Public safety should be number one as fast as we’re growing. We have to make sure we have enough police officers, parks and pathways. We have to make sure there’s enough things that set the town apart to invite people to come live here and know it’s a safe community. I think the legislative body moving forward has got a good approach to the town, where it’s growing and what it needs.
How would your work with the council to accomplish its financial goals?
Doyle: If I’m fortunate enough to be elected, I’ve been on the side of the council, and I know how to talk with them. I have very good relationships with all the council members, the thing that set me apart was my experience in the investment world, being on the boards and the council in Bargersville for the past almost eight years. I was on the board of zoning appeals from 2016 to 2018, then on the plan commission from 2018 to 2020, council president in 2020. Currently I’m on the redevelopment commission; I started that as soon as left the council.
I’d work with (Utilities Manager) Kevin Killinger. There’s a learning curve, but Kevin is great with that.
Kehl: As always, the town would hire the consultants and our office would work with them.
I talk to the town manager. I have a staff of four and we always have meetings. We have outside consultants we have meetings with regularly, including a certified public accountant. The council has been doing a good job on that, they really have.
What else should voters know about you?
Doyle: I want to make Bargersville a place my kids can live once they graduate college. My goal was always when people think of Bargersville, it brings a smile to their face and they want to be there, build a home there. I hope when my kids graduate college, they can live here and work in Bargersville, Greenwood or Indianapolis.
Kehl: They should elect me because I’m me. I am honest, I talk to the citizens and try and help citizens out when they need help. I have numerous citizens that talk to me when they come home from work, and I try and keep the citizens informed about what’s going on. My passion is the elderly and children, and the elderly have to have more to do in this town and more accessibility to the parks. The council is doing a good job getting them the accessibility they need.
About the job
What: Bargersville Clerk-Treasurer
Term: Four years
Pay: $63,000
Duties: Keeps track of invoices, receipts and utility payments, takes minutes at council meetings, files reports, uploads bank statements and financial records, and prepares a budget and presents it.
The Doyle File
Name: Dustin Doyle
Party: Republican
Age: 48
Family: Wife Danielle, three children
Occupation: Owner, Investment Manager, Doyle Investment Management
Education background: Eastbrook High School, Indiana State University
Political experience: Bargersville Town Council, 2019-22.
Memberships: Bargersville Plan Commission, 2018-20, Bargersville Board or Zoning Appeals, 2016-18, Bargersville Redevelopment Commission, 2023 to present, Sigma Chi Indianapolis alumni chapter, Redeemer Bible Church finance deacon
The Kehl File
Name: Nancy Kehl
Party: Republican
Age: Not listed
Family: Husband Mike and four children
Occupation: Bargersville Clerk-Treasurer
Education background: Martinsville High School, Ivy Tech Community College
Political experience: Bargersville Clerk-Treasurer, two-term incumbent
Memberships: Accelerate Indiana Municipalities, Indiana League of Municipal Clerks and Treasurers and the Institute of International Clerk Treasurers
