CLAYPOOL — As elections approach, five candidates are competing for three seats on the Claypool Town Council. There are also two candidates running for clerk-treasurer.

Paul T. Berkey, Republican and Elizabeth Heiman, Democrat are competing for the center district, while Larry D. Neher, Republican and Thomas Burnworth, Democrat are competing for the southern district. Niki Miller is running unopposed for the northern district.

The clerk-treasurer position is being contested by incumbent Connie Morgan, Democrat and Elizabeth J. Brewer, Libertarian.

The Candidates

Berkey, 45, has lived in Claypool for 16 years. He is a father of two, and describes himself as”highly motivated to help the town look beyond the ‘right now.'”

Morgan has over 20 years retail management experience. She is a store owner, mother, wife and Claypool resident. She was appointed to the clerk-treasurers position in October, 2012. From then until to now, she has attended several classes put on by the state board of accounts and Indiana Association of Cities and Towns. Morgan has “a set of standard and I challenge myself to raise that standard every year to make this a better town. My goal taking on the clerk-treasurer position was to help this town clean up the financial records and to set in place a set of standard for each clerk treasurer after my position is over.”

Attempts to contact Elizabeth J. Brewer, Niki Miller, Elizabeth Heiman, Larry Neher and Thomas Burnworth have received no response.

Response To Questions

“In what way do you think you can bring business to Claypool that is not already there?”

Berkey- “First, we need to consider how to create fertile ground for anything to grow. There is too much micro-management of the smaller issues going on. I am motivated to help the town look past the ‘right now,’ and move on to talk about goals for the future. The town simply needs a longer vision.”

Morgan- “I would think the first question would be how do we get people to buy houses in Claypool and why the residents are moving out of town. But to answer your question, we need to focus on the trains and embrace the following:

“Claypool is an awesome spot to train watch and a business to flourish in town would need to cater to those customers. A business like an antique store, train history or theme store. I own Red’s Sweets and we work with the visitors bureau and have bus tours where we talk about the history of Claypool, trains and demonstrate how to make cakeballs.”

“What is the primary responsibility of someone on the town council to his/her town?”

Berkey- “They need to maintain the status quo, and have set vision and goals. I’ve lived here for 15 years and couldn’t tell you the council’s current goals. I could only tell you the current issues.

“The town council has a responsibility to have integrity. They don’t have to be perfect, but they need to be accountable for decisions that have been made.”

Morgan- My thought is “the town council has a voice, a voice that has to speak for the community and have a voice loud enough to be heard.” Claypool is a family-enriched community where people rely on each other and everyone knows each other. My role as financial officer is to assist the council is achieving these goals: to bring people to town, increase the property values and help to maintain the infrastructure.