BROWNSTOWN
Brownstown’s newest council member brings little to the job in the way of political experience.
Gregory Goshorn, however, hopes to bring some fresh ideas and perspectives to the council as he takes over for Republican John Nolting.
Nolting, the Ward 1 councilman who was first elected to office in 2011, won an at-large county council seat and will take office Jan. 1. He still has three of the four years remaining on his second term, which began Jan. 1 of this year.
Goshorn was the only person to apply for Nolting’s seat, said Melissa Acton, the county’s Republican Party chairwoman.
A caucus involving Republican committeemen from the three precincts within town limits elected him Wednesday, she said. Those committeemen were C.J. Foster, Max Middendorf and Matt Smith.
Goshorn was sworn in Wednesday at the Jackson County Courthouse in Brownstown along with other Republicans who won in the Nov. 8 general election.
Goshorn, a 33-year-old who was raised in Columbus, moved to Brownstown eight years ago after marrying a Brownstown native, Lindsey McKain.
He said he fell in love with the town.
“I went to Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio, for college,” he said. “It’s a mirror image of Brownstown. It makes me comfortable.”
Goshorn said he views service on the town council as an extension of some of the other community service activities he has been involved with in recent years.
“I’ve been coaching middle school football for a couple of years and youth soccer,” he said.
After college, Goshorn first followed in the footsteps of his parents.
“They are both educators,” he said.
While working as a special education aide at Columbus, a co-worker from Brownstown, Sherry Settle, got him a blind date with McKain. They later married and now have two daughters — 4 and 1.
After working for the Indiana Department of Revenue for five years, Goshorn went to work for Brownstown Electric Supply Co. and has now been there for three years.
He said he plans to attend the next meeting of the town council, which is for 5:30 p.m. Dec. 19.
Goshorn said he plans to approach the position with an open mind.
“I want to try to take in as much as I can and listen to people’s concerns and make the best possible judgment calls as possible,” he said.