By a vote of 4-0 Monday night, Glen Werling was chosen to fill a vacancy on the Ossian Town Council.
Werling is no stranger to the council, having reported on its actions for several years for the News-Banner. Now he’ll sit at the council members’ table rather than alongside it.
In making his case for a seat on the council, he referred to a somewhat complicated presentation by Jim Breckler of Engineering Resources concerning a redesign of the town’s wastewater collection system.
“I understood every word of that,” he said.
Werling, 430 Shady Lane in Ossian, was one of four individuals to submit applications for the appointment.
The only other one to show up was Melissa Woodworth, who represents the town on the Wells County Area Plan Commission. She is employed by Allen County and was seeking to better serve the community.
The other two candidates were David Bass and Nathan Dennison.
Werling said he had covered the town of Ossian as a reporter for several years. “I’m pretty familiar with what is going on in the town,” he told the council. “Now that I’m no longer employed by the Bluffton News-Banner, I’d like to continue to help Ossian.”
He will take the oath of office at the council’s next meeting.
Werling will replace Brad Pursley on the council, who resigned effective March 31. To serve past Dec. 31, he must file to run for the office in the general election.
The four members active on the council— Josh Barkley, Stephanie Tucker, Jason House, and Dennis Ealing — voted to accept Werling as Pursley’s successor. Since Pursley did not declare a political affiliation when he ran for council, the council — rather than a political party caucus — chose the next council member.
— Dave Schultz
