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Whitestown council fills multiple boards; president’s appointment of local builder employee draws conflict concern
Summary
Council approved a wide slate of board and commission appointments, including planning, redevelopment, fire and police boards. President’s appointment of Nathan Messer — an employee of a builder that has worked for the town — drew acknowledgment of potential conflicts and a pledge to rely on disclosure and recusal procedures.
The Town of Whitestown confirmed a large set of appointments to its boards and commissions, filling seats on the Redevelopment Commission, Planning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, police commission, fire board and Discover Boone County Board.
For the Redevelopment Commission (RDC), council filled two council appointments and three presidential appointments. Council confirmed Mark Pasquerella, Adam Hess, Michael Garrett III and Eric Moore to council‑appointed seats with recorded roll‑call votes. President announced his presidential appointments to the RDC, naming Councilwoman Cheryl Hancock, Michael Garrett III and Nathan Messer; he acknowledged concerns raised about Messer’s employment with a building company that has performed work for the town and said disclosure and recusal processes would manage any conflicts "and if we have issues...we can have a review for cause." The president invited council comment but no councilmember moved to block the appointment on the record.
Planning Commission appointments included citizen seats and employee/elected seats. The president nominated Jason Forsyth, director of public works, and council voted Forsyth onto an employee seat 4-1 after discussion about the value of retaining a public‑safety resident presence on the commission. Sergeant Chris Gibson, nominated to retain or fill an employee seat, and Tobe Thomas were also confirmed. Philip Snowberger was appointed to the Board of Zoning Appeals (presidential appointment) and Nathan Harris and Andrew McGee were named to citizen seats on the planning commission.
For the fire board, council confirmed voting members Councilman Dan Patterson and Dan Plantanga and approved advisory nonvoting member Ken Kingshill (Kingshill passed 4-1). The president noted Worth Township trustee advisory member Casey Copeland will continue and thanked Michelle O’Connor for her prior service.
Police commission appointments were contested: Sam Sorter and Kevin Foley were nominated and both passed 3-2; some councilmembers cited statutory partisan‑balance constraints and differing levels of prior vetting in explaining their votes.
Discover Boone County seats were filled by Doug Weisheit and Councilman Courtney Smock. The meeting closed with unanimous adjournment.
