Geesaman, Darby facing off

The incumbent Mayor of Portland is being challenged by the city’s assistant chief of police for their party’s mayoral nomination.

Randy Geesaman, who is seeking his third term as mayor, and Bart Darby are vying for the Democratic nomination in the upcoming primary election.

Geesaman, 65, a graduate of Pennville High School and Indiana University, was first elected to the position in 2011 after serving as the city clerk-treasurer for three years. Prior to that, he had a 33-year career in sales.

He mulled over the decision for several weeks before officially throwing his hat in the ring, but said he was encouraged by many people to try for a third term. He has several in-progress projects he’d like to see to completion.

Darby, 58, graduated from Jay County High School and Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. He first worked as a reserve officer for Portland Police Department and then a deputy for Jay County Sheriff’s Office. He has been at Portland Police Department since 1991, including a stint as chief from 1996 to 2004, and now serves as assistant chief.

He cited his 35 years in law enforcement as an inspiration for his campaign. As a lifelong resident of Portland, Darby said he has a vested interest in keeping the city safe and thriving.

Geesaman’s top priority if re-elected is continued flood mitigation. He has four initiatives he is working to implement, including a new project to relieve flooding in Haynes Park.

“One of the things that I think is, there’s a false sense that maybe, ‘Oh, we haven’t had any so we’re OK,’” Geesaman said. “I want to caution people that I still think that’s the No. 1 issue.”

Darby said he would continue to push the issue of flood mitigation. He would keep up with river maintenance and try to keep sewer lines clear.

“The only time we discuss it is whenever we have our representatives come to town for our town hall meetings or we get bad weather,” Darby said. “And I think they’ve done a pretty good job, but I think there could be more done.”

The city is still determining the best solution to its recycling issue. A current plan to combine trash and recycling pickup is before Portland City Council and would charge city households either $6.29 or $6.84 monthly for the service.

Geesaman said the proposal is a good compromise and keeps the city in charge of pickup. It also puts the onus on the recycling company to deal with any changes in the recycling market.

“We don’t know what’s going to be trash and what’s going to be recycling,” Geesaman said. “They’re going to decide what’s trash and recycling instead of us.”

Darby said he thinks East Central Recycling is the right choice, but he would have to see how it works out. However, he said he would make sure the city alternated purchasing a new truck every five years. The city recently agreed to purchase two new trash trucks for $167,887 each, one outright and the other on a lease-to-own agreement.

“I would go back to the five-year rotation of the trash trucks and spend $162,000 every five years instead of what they’ve done here,” he said. “I think there was a flaw there.”

The downtown revitalization plan, which is receiving its finishing touches, offers several ideas for reinvigorating Portland. Some suggestions are narrowing Meridian Street to two lanes from four and focusing on Main Street as business hub.

Geesaman said he would work to beautify the downtown area first and then move through the phases suggested in the revitalization plan. He pointed to the planned opening of HoosierBoy Smokehouse and Brew this year as the starting point for growth in the area.

Darby had a more cautious approach to the plan. He remembers a similar initiative 20 years ago, when Meridian Street was expanded to four lanes, and would like to hear more input before moving forward with any plans.

“I don’t want it to be an aftermath of the 1998 revitalization of the highway … everybody wanted this highway,” Darby said. “We need to get more people involved and the community involved.”

If elected mayor, Darby said he would focus on strengthening the leadership of the city, which he said is the biggest problem for the municipality. He cited his government experience, which includes seats on the county election board, the animal control task force and Portland Plan Commission along with his time as chief, as qualifications for the job.

“I believe that leadership starts at the top and it goes all the way down to the lowest seniority employee of the city,” he said. “I’ve made people upset and I’ve made people happy. But I consider myself a guy that tries to lead and get things done.”

Geesaman pointed out that the city’s coffers have grown since he was first elected. The assessed valuation rose by $23 million over his two terms and the cash balance by more than $2 million. If re-elected, he said he will continue focusing on flood mitigation, bringing new housing developments to Portland and attracting a grocery store.

“I really hope people believe that I’m in it for the right reasons. … I’m just in it because I want to keep doing positive things,” Geesaman said. “I’m very accessible, try to be very transparent, and I just come into work every day and do my job.”