By DAVE SCHULTZ
The reshuffling of Bluffton’s government offices caused by the resignation of Roger Thornton from the Bluffton Common Council is complete. Josh Hunt will succeed Thornton on the city’s Board of Public Works and Safety and Chandler Gerber will replace Thornton on the council.
Thornton has represented the 1st District on the Common Council since Jan. 1, 2020, and has also served on the Board of Works after being appointed to the board by Mayor John Whicker.
Hunt has been Bluffton’s representative on the Wells County Area Plan Commission, and he told his fellow APC members Thursday evening that Whicker had appointed him to the Board of Works and he would likely not be serving on the APC after joining the Board of Works.
Then on Saturday morning, a Republican caucus was held to choose someone to replace Thornton on the council. Both precinct committee chairs picked Gerber to serve out the remainder of Thornton’s term. The other candidate was Ron Neuenschwander.
Although Bluffton city offices — mayor, council members, clerk-treasurer, and City Court judge — will not be on the ballot until next year, Thornton announced in May of this year that he would not seek a second term and then announced last month that he would resign from the council and the Board of Works effective Nov. 30.
That led Whicker to appoint Hunt to the Board of Works last week.
It is a position that Hunt had wanted for a simple reason — if he was going to answer questions about what the board did, he wanted to be involved in those decisions.
“A lot of the questions I’ve been asked pertain to what the Board of Works had decided,” Hunt said.
The revised schedule for Board of Works and council meetings — Board of Works at 4:30 p.m. each Tuesday and council meetings at 6 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday — made it easier for him to serve, he said.
Hunt has been attending Board of Works meeting for several weeks, preparing for a possible appointment. He had asked Whicker for the appointment and Whicker confirmed his action Friday.
“I felt Josh deserved it,” said Whicker. “It’s a weekly commitment with a lot of homework, and he understands that.”
Approximately two weeks after Thornton’s announcement that he would not seek a second term, Gerber — a Bluffton businessman — said he would be a candidate to succeed him next year. When Thornton moved up his timetable for leaving office, Gerber became a candidate to succeed him in Saturday’s caucus — as did Neuenschwander.
Gerber said he has been interested in holding a position of leadership in Bluffton for the past couple of years and has been attending Common Council and Board of Works meetings so that he would know what was going on. “I felt that if I was not prepared, it would be like drinking water out of a fire hose,” he said.
He lives in District 1 and was ready with an announcement when Thornton said he would not run next year.
Gerber and his wife Rachel own Trinity Properties, a rental company, and he is also a licensed real estate broker with BKM Real Estate. The Gerbers have three children.
daves@news-banner.com
