Republicans Richard Hill and Joseph Sayler pulled out the victory over Democrat Jacquelyn “Jaylen” Withem for the two at-large council seats on the Whiteland Town Council Tuesday evening.
Richard Hill, a general manager, joined town council via a caucus in 2022 after former council member Scot Ford vacated his seat.
He now has an opportunity to serve his first full term.
“I think we’ve got a good group of people, and we’re heading in the right direction,” Hill said in a previous interview.
Hill has served on the planning commission and the board of zoning appeals.
His top priorities include rebuilding the structures damaged during the April tornado and putting in redundancy or double redundancy on the water towers in the event of an emergency. He also wants to ensure the council maintains fiscal responsibility.
When it comes to land usage, Hill’s perspective is all about balance.
“You’re not going to please everyone,” he said. Now we do have the warehouses… we have people out there who are very interested in this location, because of the growth and because of what we’re able to do. I personally think we need to bring in jobs, to offset some of the growth that we’ve had. It would be nice to bring Fortune 500 companies to the area. Maybe we look at other housing developments. Maybe we look at some retail with some restaurants and things of that nature.”
Hill looks forward to following the capital improvement list including a focus on resurfacing roads in subdivisions. He also expressed an interest in additional roundabouts, but he would like to maintain Whiteland’s small-town feel.
Hill foresees continued growth and additional jobs.
Joseph Sayler, current council president and a local attorney, has been a member of council since 2018. Sayler asked for more time to make a difference in Whiteland, in a previous interview.
“Local government is probably the most important government in the day-to-day of people’s lives,” Sayler said. “It’s where the lights stay on, the streets are cleared, streets are paved – all those little things that people take for granted.”
His top priority is to improve and expand the infrastructure of the town, and he mentioned that the sewer treatment plant needs upgrading. Sayler would also like to develop a park system to attract more businesses and implement power redundancies for water and sewer utilities to protect against disasters in the future.
For land use, said it is important to have a transition use between some of the warehouses and manufacturing facilities near residential areas.
“I would be very interested in both widening and strengthening Whiteland Road in particular, as well as the Graham Road corridor down to Paul Hand and Tracy Road in the hopes of alleviating some of that traffic and providing an outlet for the congestion that builds up down by the interstate most days,” he said.
Saylor hopes to see a thriving park system in 5 years’ time. He also longs for new public safety infrastructure and envisions a significant upgrade to the water, sewer, and roads, along with every other facet of infrastructure.
Whiteland Town Council Wards 1, 2 and 3 were also on the ballot but were not contested.
Matthew Tim Brown, Brad Goedeker and Debra L. Hendrickson all landed seats for their respective districts.
Whiteland at-large council members serve four-year terms that pay $6,000 per year. Their duties include setting the annual spending for the town, adopting local rules and ordinances as well as appointing members to various town boards.
Melissa A. Fraser also secured her position as Clerk-Treasurer.
HOW YOU VOTED:
Whiteland Town Council At-Large
Richard Hill (R): 40.8%
Joseph Sayler (R): 39.9%
Jacquelyn “Jaylen” Withem (D): 19.3%
