Published: December 02, 2008 12:11 am         

Harrison Township votes in new trustee

TERRE HAUTE — A Democratic Party caucus voted unanimously Monday evening to name Debbie Kirk Peters as the new Harrison Township Trustee. She will finish the term of her husband, E. Nick Peters, who resigned from the trustee’s post for health reasons effective Monday.

“In these times, this office is going to be more important than it’s ever been,” Debbie Kirk Peters said shortly before the caucus of approximately 40 Democrats voted in her favor. There were no other candidates competing for the post.

Debbie Kirk Peters will serve the remainder of her husband’s term, which expires at the end of 2010.

The trustee’s office provides relief for people in difficult times, Nick Peters said. Trustees “take care of anything that is a necessity of life … from utility bills to burial,” he said.

While Indiana has relief programs, trustees can provide much more immediate relief, Debbie Kirk Peters said. “We have programs in this state. We have food stamps and we have AFDC. We have those programs. But none of those happens overnight. Assistance from townships happens literally overnight,” she said.

Debbie Kirk Peters has served as the director of the Vigo County Voter Registration Office since 1985. Vigo County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Etling will name her replacement to that post; however, he indicated Monday evening he did not yet know whom he will name to that position.

The combination of a slow economy and the approaching winter makes this an especially busy time for township trustees, Debbie Kirk Peters said. “If times are tough and your gas gets shut off in July, it’s not that big of a deal,” she said. “If your gas gets shut off in November, it’s a big deal.”

Etling, who conducted Monday evening’s caucus in the Harrison Township Trustee’s office at 721 Elm St., personally thanked Peters for “all he’s done for our party, for this office and our community.” Peters has been a “noble servant,” Etling said.

Nick Peters was the Terre Haute City Clerk for four years before becoming Harrison Township Trustee in 1983. Prior to that, he was a Terre Haute firefighter for 26 years, he said.

“It’s been a pleasure serving you and working with the Democratic Party the number of years that I’ve been there,” Nick Peters told the caucus. “Thank you.”

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.