BROWNSTOWN
Mark Reynolds Sr. couldn’t pass up another opportunity to serve his community.
In August 2011, Reynolds and Bill Sweeney squared off in a convention conducted by Brownstown Democrats to pick a candidate for the Ward 4 town council seat in the municipal election. State law requires a convention when two people from the same political party are running for a council seat or the clerk-treasurer’s office.
Sweeney won 32-24 and did not have to defend the seat in November because the Republican Party did not field a candidate.
Toward the end of 2017, Sweeney announced he had to resign from his seat because he was moving to Ward 5.
Reynolds found out about that and filed for the Dec. 29 caucus. He wound up being the only candidate and was sworn in by Clerk-Treasurer David Willey that night.
His first meeting as a councilman was Jan. 8.
“I’m tickled,” the 46-year-old said after the meeting. “It’s awesome to have the people come back to me and appoint me to the seat and ask me. Now, to get to do it and them having the confidence in me to represent the people, the community of Brownstown, it’s an honor to serve the people of Brownstown.”
Reynolds will finish out Sweeney’s term, which expires Dec. 31, 2019. He will have to decide in the summer of 2019 if he wants to run in the municipal election.
The 1989 Medora High School graduate has lived in Brownstown for 24 years.
He said around 2008, he developed an interest in politics.
“It’s not really much the political side as being involved and getting the opportunity to be involved,” he said. “It just happens to be it is political.”
He decided to run for the Ward 4 seat in 2011 after some people had approached him about it. Ward 4 covers the northwest part of Brownstown.
“I’ve always been a hands-on person in anything I’ve been involved in, from high school all the way to now,” he said. “I’m not the person that sits in the back and lets it roll. I want to be involved, no matter what I’ve been in.”
Losing the convention didn’t deter Reynolds from maintaining an interest in his ward and the community.
He said he attended council meetings when his work schedule allowed.
“I’ve talked with Bill between now and then … and I’ve gone to him with different things that I had seen, some suggestions on different stuff,” Reynolds said. “I kept up on what they were doing and kept interest.”
Once he decided to run in the recent caucus, Reynolds attended a council meeting Dec. 18 to get a feel for what the members were currently working on.
After his first meeting behind the council table, Reynolds said there is a lot to learn about how town government functions.
“Just like all of the different reports from all of the different departments, I asked about all of those because I had never seen them,” he said.
Fortunately, he already has the support of the other council members and Willey in the event he has any questions.
“They made me feel very comfortable tonight for my first meeting and welcoming,” Reynolds said. “I exchanged contact information with all of them not a problem. That set me at ease because I was a little nervous coming into the first meeting.”
Reynolds is ready and willing to learn.
“That’s the thing that I think is going to be awesome, just to see the behind the scenes of what actually makes the town run and being able to be a part of that to take the town to that next step or the next level,” he said.
“And looking not only at the next year but five, 10, 15, 20 years down the road to get things in order and everything in place for growth of the town and for the well-being of the community and the people,” he said. “It’s exciting to be able to be a part of that.”
Reynolds now has to balance his service with the council with his job at Brickyard Lumber in Medora, which is owned by his brother and where he has worked for two and a half years.
“I’m very much looking forward to serving the people and excited to see what this year and next year bring,” he said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Reynolds file” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Mark Reynolds Sr.
Age: 46
Hometown: Medora
Residence: Brownstown
Education: Medora High School (1989); National Hardwood Lumber Association lumber grader certification
Occupation: Manager at Brickyard Lumber in Medora; Brownstown Town Council Ward 4 representative
Family: Wife, Staci Reynolds; children, Mark Reynolds Jr., Jaelyn Reynolds, Ashlyn Fox and Colton Fox
[sc:pullout-text-end]