Kosciusko County Republican Central Committee Secretary Austin Rovenstine, right, gives James Pecsi, left, the oath of office Monday as the new member of the Jefferson Township Advisory Board. Pecsi was selected by a Republican caucus over Amanda Jackson to fill the seat vacated by the resignation of Robert “Bob” Riley. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.

By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW — In a quick decision Monday night, Feb. 19, a Republican caucus elected James Pecsi over Amanda Jackson to serve on the Jefferson Township Advisory Board.

Pecsi takes over for Robert “Bob” Riley, who resigned from the board effective immediately in January. The advisory board is up for re-election in two years.

Each candidate had up to three minutes to speak to the three precinct committeemen who made up the caucus. As Pecsi filed his declaration of candidacy first with Kosciusko County Republican Party Central Committee Chair Mike Ragan, Pecsi spoke first. Pecsi also was one of the three members of the caucus.

He said he was qualified to serve on the board.

“I’ve been, since I left the service, for 50-plus years I’ve worked in quality management, and that means I had to work with customers, suppliers and people in the plant,” Pecsi, 77, of Nappanee, said. “One thing I learned most of all is communication with people.”

He said he would walk the plant floors at least once a day and talk to all the operators, who knew him. If the operators, customers or suppliers had any problems, Pecsi said he would help them resolve the issues.

“So communication has been something I’ve learned. How to deal with people and deal with them … in a manner that we could work out a solution to the problems,” he stated.

He talked about the different places he worked and how he had to learn new technology. “Being an engineer, I knew how to pick it up and do it. But the key thing here, again, is working with people to resolve the problems and issues,” he said.

Pecsi served in the U.S. Navy from 1964 to 1968. He and his wife, Diana, have been married 55 years. Along with their daughter and son-in-law, their family includes two grandsons.

In her comments, Jackson said she’s lived on CR 400W in Jefferson Township for over 20 years. Her husband, Eric, has lived there on the farm as the fifth generation of his family.

“We know the community, we know the people and we know them well,” she said.

She has three children, two of whom are in college with the third aspiring to go to Indiana University. Jackson said she graduated from IU with a degree in public health.

“Public interest and public health in general is very high on my list. I worked in that industry for many years in the Syracuse and Milford communities. After that, I joined Wawasee Community School Corporation as their superintendent administrative assistant and worked in the education industry for many years,” she said.

Currently, she’s working at their church.

As to why she feels she’s qualified for the position, Jackson said not only does she have an interest in the community living there, but she also feels it is important to give back.

“And, while I feel I have all the qualifications for the position and I don’t have the opportunity to cast a vote for myself tonight, I hope that you take all the considerations in at hand,” she said, adding that she will continue to give back to her community either way.

The caucus included Vice Precinct Committeeman Ryan Reed, substituting in for Tony Ciriello, for Jefferson 1 precinct; and Precinct Committeemen Cory Benz, precinct 2, and Pecsi, precinct 3.

Counting the votes were Ernie Wiggins and Steve Foster