Published: November 21, 2008 09:38 pm         

Harrison Township trustee to resign Dec. 1

TERRE HAUTE — Harrison Township Trustee E. Nick Peters has submitted a letter of resignation, effective Dec. 1.

Peters, a Democrat, was last elected in 2006 and his current term expires Dec. 31, 2010. He has held the largest township office in Vigo County since January 1983. Prior to that, he served on the Terre Haute Fire Department for more than 25 years.

Peters, 79, said arthritis in his knees and hips has made walking and driving painful.

“My health is not too good and so I thought I would just resign. I can’t do the job like I used to, so I would just get out of it,” Peters said Friday.

He plans to spend time with his grandkids and stay active in party politics.

Peters submitted a letter of resignation to the Vigo County Clerk’s office Thursday and on Friday, mailed out letters to precinct committeemen, who will select his successor in a Democratic Party caucus election.

Peters said his wife, Debbie Kirk, will run as a candidate for the trustee’s office.

Kirk currently works as director of the Vigo County Voter Registration Office. Under state law, the party in a county that receives the most votes for Secretary of State in an election serves as director of the voter registration office.

Two representatives are selected by the two main party chairmen to serve a two-year term in the voter registration office. Kirk’s appointment expires Dec. 31. Kirk is also the vice chairman of the Vigo County Democratic Party.

“I have always liked township [government] and, frankly, my first political job was in the [Harrison Township] trustee’s office. I went to work there in 1974, when Paul Schoffstall was the trustee. I liked it then, but with politics, when the office changes, people do to,” Kirk said.

Kirk also worked as a chief deputy to the city clerk for Terre Haute and in January 1985, former Democrat party chairman Robert L. Wright appointed Kirk to the Voter Registration Office as the Democrat representative.

“We have gone through a lot of changes. The county voter system is gone and now we are on the statewide voter registration. The trustee office is a different pace, and holding an elected office and an appointed office are two different things,” Kirk said, saying she wants to take on the challenge of an elected office.

Joseph Etling, chairman of the Vigo County Democratic Party, said he received official notice Friday of Peters’ resignation. Etling has scheduled a party caucus for 6 p.m. Dec. 1 to elect Peters’ replacement. Democrats must submit a letter of candidacy to Etling no later than 72 hours prior to the caucus. There are 44 precinct committee people eligible to cast a vote in the party caucus, Etling said.

Etling said if Kirk is elected, he will fill that position before the end of the year. Etling, himself, will face an election in March 2009, when his four-year term as party chairman expires. Etling said he plans to seek re-election.

The Harrison Township Trustee earns $39,702 in 2008, while director of Vigo County Voter Registration earns $35,553 in 2008, county records show.

Peters said one of his biggest accomplishments was to move the trustee’s office into its current building at 721 Elm St., after the former office at 131/2 St. and Wabash Avenue caught fire in 2001. “We had enough money in the reserve to buy this building and just pay cash for it. We own it. We paid $90,000.”

An audit of the township office from Jan. 1, 2006, to Dec. 31, 2007, showed Harrison Township Trustee’s office had more than $1.5 million in cash and investments, according to a State Board of Accounts examination report filed Oct. 15.

The township began Jan. 1, 2006, with more than $1.1 million, disbursing $515,845 and ending that year with more than $1.61 million in cash and investments. In 2007, the township disbursed $830,858, ending the year with more than $1.52 million in cash and investments.

The examination report “disclosed no material items that warrant a comment,” the report states.

Peters is opposed to eliminating township trustee offices. “In a big office, you don’t get any help, just the run-around, but in a small office, you get the help. We can provide anything that is a necessity of life, from utility bills, prescriptions, burials, clothing and rent,” he said.

Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.