A replacement for Allen County Commissioner Jim Talkington will be recommended by Republican precinct men and women and will serve throughout the end of this year.
County Clerk Sherrie Riebel told commissioners Tuesday morning the position will be included in this fall’s election. Talkington was elected to a four-year term in November 2016. He officially resigned by letter Tuesday.
Talkington’s District 3 encompasses the First, Third and Fourth wards of Iola, Bassett and South Iola Township.
A meeting of the precinct representatives has not been called, and at the moment is at the behest of Talkington, he being chairman of the county Republican committee.
Talkington told the Register he had deferred decisions about his duties as county chairman to his attorney, and “we’ll work that all out.”
If he were to resign the chairmanship, scheduling a nominating convention would fall to Vice Chairman Darolyn Maley, who also is county treasurer. Precinct representatives could petition for a meeting.
Precinct men and women are: South Iola Township, Carol Crawford and Larry Crawford; Iola First Ward, Carol Immel and Talkington; Iola Third Ward, Mary Ann Regehr and Walter Regehr Jr.; Iola Fourth Ward, Monica Norris and Tom Norris. The Third District contains all of Iola except the northeast part of town, the Second Ward, which is in the Second District, represented by Tom Williams.
IN OTHER NEWS, commissioners:
— Were told by Sheriff Bryan Murphy preliminary considerations for erection of a 500-foot tower south of LaHarpe to give comprehensive coverage for radio dispatch to medical responders and law enforcement officers were continuing. The tower was mentioned earlier by Murphy, who then said radio messages relayed by existing towers weren’t always received in parts of south and southeast Allen County. Murphy also said the old second-story jail, abandoned for incarcerations when the law enforcement center opened, was being refitted for a storage area. “The bars will be cut out and sold for scrap,” giving a county a tad of financial recovery.
— Signed on in support of a federal grant Thrive Allen County is seeking to study and help mitigate opioid abuse in Allen County. “We (the county) have a higher prescription rate for opioids than the national average,” Murphy noted. Allen County also has a high rate of HIV transmission because of, he proposed, misuse of syringes in illegal drug scenarios.
County discusses vacancy
