Both Plainville and Montgomery have contested races in the upcoming elections. Candidates are all running as independents.

In Montgomery, Cindy Smith is challenging incumbent Michelle “Shellie” Fuhs for the clerk-treasurer position.

Fuhs has served in the position for three years since she was appointed to take the place of the retiring clerk-treasurer, Mary Sue Showalter. She makes sure the town’s bills get paid and helps manage grant funding.

She is currently helping administer a $525,000 state Community Focus Fund grant for sewer improvements. The town has also received a $45,000 grant from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs for downtown planning. After the sewer project is under way, Fuhs wants to help the town apply for another grant for downtown revitalization.

Fuhs has a two-year degree in business management and worked for Crane for 11 years. She also managed the books for the family-owned business, Clements Meat Locker, before it burned down. She is a member of the Indiana League of Clerk-Treasurers and is working toward her certification with that organization.

Fuhs has lived in Montgomery, where her husband Troy was born and reared, since 1995. They attend St. Peter’s Church, and Troy is a deputy with the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department. Shellie is treasurer for the Altar Society, president of Sugarland Homemakers and director of her church’s vacation Bible school.

“Helping people is one of our goals,” she said.

She plans on staying in Montgomery for a long time because her family loves the people in the small town.

Challenger Cindy Smith said she is running for the office because a couple of people in town asked her to. She said she had a lot to learn, but she has eight years of experience in bookkeeping for her son’s business, S&G; Auto. She also worked at Barr-Reeve schools as an evening custodian for two years and helped with the senior housing project.

“I’m new at this, but I’m a dependable and honest person,” she said.

Originally from Washington, Smith has lived in Montgomery for 31 years and loves the small town. Both of her grown boys graduated from Barr-Reeve, and her husband, Frank, works for the Department of Natural Resources at Glendale Fish and Wildlife Preserve. She also has two grandchildren.

Plainville Ward 3

Two people are running for the Ward 3 seat on the Plainville Town Board that will be vacated since incumbent David O’Haver has decided not to run again.

Matt Morris, who grew up in the Plainville area, is running because he likes to be active in the community and he wants to bring a younger perspective to an older town. The town is currently trying to get a grant for sewer system upgrades, so Morris feels his background in construction will help the town make good decisions as it moves forward on the project.

Morris graduated from Plainville Elementary, North Daviess High School and Indiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in business management and a minor in finance. He currently works in acquisition support for Raydar at Crane, but he spent several years in customer service at other companies.

“I feel I can work with and relate to people,” he said. “I can talk to anybody. I would like to ensure that our town remains as a safe and healthy environment to be a resident of.”

Morris is married to Plainville native Raya (Hinkle) and has two young sons. He coaches baseball and soccer and attends Cornettsville United Methodist Church.

His opponent, Kevin Shake, said he is running for the office because he thinks he “could do a pretty decent job.”

Shake attended North Daviess High School and has worked in construction and building supplies since he was a teenager. He also managed the lumberyard at Rogers Group in Bloomfield for several years, where he gained experience in accounts payable and budgeting.

Shake thinks the current town council has worked well to keep expenses and sewer rates low, and he hopes they get the grant.

“(They) really worked hard trying to get the grant for the sewer system,” he said. “They’ve kept within the budget and worked well to keep sewer rates down.”

Shake said he wants to see the town use I-69 and a new Duke Energy plant that might be built in Edwardsport as springboards to bring new businesses in the area. He also wants the town to buy some better snow removal equipment and do some upkeep at the park, if the council can find the funds.

He has a daughter who’s a junior at the University of Evansville and a son who’s a sophomore at North Daviess High School. He has been married to Angie (Heshelman) for 26 years.

Plainville Ward 2

Incumbent Richard “Dick” Heshelman has served on the town board since the first of this year, when he filled in for a former town board member who resigned. He was graduated from Odon High School and retired from Hoover after 34 years. He moved to Plainville in 1960 after marrying his wife, Sandra (Eskew), a Washington native.

Heshelman said he took the position because someone was needed, and he had the time to put in for the town. Since then, he has enjoyed the experience working on the sewer upgrades to meet new state regulations.

He said the town will know by the first part of November if it will get the $500,000 grant for sewer system upgrades, and the town will only have to pay a small amount in matching funds. He also pointed to the need for economic revitalization in the town.

“We’ve been losing a little ground, and I want to see it at least level off and start the other way,” he said.

Heshelman’s opponent, Todd Knepp, decided to run for office out of “a combination of frustration and a combination of the opportunities I see we have and are not taking advantage of,” Knepp said.

Knepp was born and reared in Epsom, attended Plainville schools and graduated from North Daviess. He lived out of town for six years but has returned with experience, having served on a condominium board in another state, and with a vested interest in the well-being of his hometown.

As a program analyst at NSWC Crane, Knepp makes sure Crane employees have everything they need to be as successful as they can be. He says he job is a cross between teacher and facilitator.

Knepp has a three-pronged vision in his race for town board. First, he wants to continue the good fiscal health the current town board has worked for. Secondly, he wants to address quality of life issues such as upkeep of private property and better access to the town’s park.

Lastly, he wants to address trash issues in town. Many people still burn their trash, even though the town has a trash pickup service and burning trash is illegal, he said. He wants to work to change behaviors and educate people on their options for trash disposal.

As for the sewer upgrades, Knepp said he has not studied the issue in depth but feels the current board done a fairly good job of maintaining the sewer plant. However, he’s not convinced they have explored all their options.

Knepp’s overall goal is to plan for the long-term sustainability of the town. He said the town needs to develop a master plan to take advantage of Interstate 69 so it can grow and expand economically. He also said the town needs more community events such as the back-to-school bash held there in August.

Knepp’s wife, Patricia, is also a native of the Plainville area. They have two sons, ages 10 and 7, who attend North Daviess schools.