GOSHEN — Dixie Robinson is settling into a third career.

After working at Johnson Controls for 44 years and Meijer stores for seven years, the 75-year old can now prepare for a second term on Goshen City Council.

Robinson won re-election over Democrat Nathan Mateer Rempel Tuesday night in a battle for the Goshen’s 3rd District City Council seat, which represents much of the city’s north side.

Robinson was among five city council incumbents who were re-elected and her victory helped Republicans hold onto a 4-3 majority control on the council.

Robinson collected 365 votes while Mateer Rempel had 319 votes.

Instead of mentioning a specific issue she thought might have made a difference in the campaign, Robinson pointed to serving her constituency.

She said she treats it like a full-time job.

“A lot of people like to work with me,” Robinson said. “They like to call me when they have problems. I do like working with the department heads. It tells me personally that I must be doing a good job.”

She said traffic should be the top priority over the next four years.

“That’s been a problem for ten years,” Robinson said.

Mateer Rempel, 37, said he hadn’t had time to try and assess the campaign and was unsure what made the difference.

“We met most of our goals in the campaign,” he said. “I don’t know what made the difference, I haven’t thought about it yet. We certainly engaged the voters. We got quite a bit higher turnout than 2007.”

Off hand, he wondered if the WFRN radio commentary over the weekend hurt the campaign. Mateer Rempel and other Democrats were upset with the radio station’s claim that Democrats plan to resurrect an amendment for the human rights ordinance to included sexual orientation.

Mateer Rempel expressed concern in his campaign about joblessness, the need for consistent ordinance enforcement and vacant properties.

Rempel owns Rempel Construction and worked previously as a carpenter with Hope Builders Group and as a construction manager with LaCasa of Goshen for six years.

District 1

Jim McKee was elated to win and also humbled by his capture of the District 1 council seat.

“I am really humbled by that — people willing to vote for me,” he said while hosting the Republican election night gathering in his reception hall, Bosco’s Place. “I really respect their support.”

McKee defeated Daniel Grimes, 606 votes to 460.

He said his involvement in the community and his retail business background, where he honed his people skills, were assets in this year’s election.

“I was raised here and worked hard... I like to think I have a feel for the people,” he said. “I have been going to the council meetings for 10 years. I have always been interested in what is going on in the town.”

Grimes was busy shaking hands and meeting friends after listening to Mayor Allan Kauffman’s victory speech. Despite his loss, he had a big smile across his face.

He reflected why he had sought to regain the seat he filled for eight years before losing an At-Large bid in 2007.

“I have been on the council,” Grimes said. “It was a gift to me for eight years. I wanted to get that gift back.”

Grimes said his campaign was hurt in the final days by WFRN commentary.

“They broke the Ninth Commandment,” Grimes said of the station management. “They bore false witness against their neighbor.”

McKee, 61, ran for the district’s seat in the Republican primary in 2007 and lost to Darryl Riegsecker. When Riegsecker was elected to the Elkhart County Council, McKee again sought the seat in the Republican caucus. He lost out to Riegsecker’s brother, Don, who ran for mayor this year, leaving the seat up for election. McKee is a member of the Goshen Plan Commission, a board member for Downtown Goshen Inc. and is owner of Bosco’s Place, the former American Legion building that is used to host gatherings and receptions. He is a former Goshen firefighter, former manager for Sam’s Club and is the former owner of McKee’s Irish Pub. He and his wife Angie have three adult sons.

District 2

Republican Edward Ahlersmeyer II defeated Democrat Nina Mishler for the District 2 seat on the Goshen City Council. Ahlersmeyer accumulated 716 votes to Mishler’s 466. It was a key win for the Republicans as they retained the seat previously held by Republican Harlan “Chic” Lantz. In the spring Lantz made a bid for the Republican nomination for mayor, but lost in the primary to Republican Don Riegsecker. Therefore, Lantz was not eligible to seek re-election in the district.

Ahlersmeyer, 37, is a sales and quality control supervisor for Seating Technology Inc., and had worked as a Realtor-broker for a time. He earned a bachelor of science degree from Purdue University in 1999.

“I really feel good about the opportunity the voters have given me,” Ahlersmeyer said Tuesday night. “I look forward to working with Mr. Kauffman and the council.”

He explained he was encouraged about a year ago when Don Riegsecker said he wanted to run for mayor. Ahlersmeyer said he would do anything he could to help Riegsecker, and then joined the Republican team and the ticket as the GOP candidate for the 2nd District seat.

“I still feel like we are a team of leaders in the community,” he said of the city council. “I just speak from the heart. As I communicate, I believe what I am saying. You’ll know where I’m at. Maybe that’s why I’m a good fit.

“I’m not a rock star, but I am someone you can depend on,” Ahlersmeyer said.

District 4

Democrat Julia Gautsche credited strong teamwork in a campaign that earned her a third term on the City Council. She accumulated 855 votes to defeat challenger Kelly Huffman who had 518 votes.

“I’d like to say thank you to all the people in the 4th District who so graciously welcomed me at their front doors,” Gautsche said at the Democratic celebration at the Wine Cellar Supply on Main Street. “They talked with me and asked me questions. That by far was the most important part of this race for me.”

Gautsche, 58, who is completing her second four-year term on the council, is a nurse practitioners with Fairhaven OB-GYN and a certified nurse-midwife. She earned her undergraduate degree from Goshen College and post-graduate degrees and certifications from IUPUI and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Huffman, 53, was one of the more vocal members of the Republican party during this election, even challenging Mayor Allan Kauffman on occasion. She will remain a member of Goshen’s Board of Zoning Appeals, but said her life will become “more normal” now that the election is over.

“My life goes back to my normal job at Nuway Construction,” Huffman said while at the Republican celebration at Bosco’s. “Nothing will change much in my life except I’ll have more time for scrap booking.”

District 5

Everett Thomas held on to his District 5 council seat Tuesday, holding off of challenge from GOP contender Brett Weddell. Thomas garnered 1,045 votes to Weddell’s 848, or 55 percent.

Thomas, first elected to the City Council in 1991, said Weddell is the toughest opponent he’s faced in 20 years.

“If I would have had to lose to somebody, it would have been an honor to lose to him,” Thomas said. “He’s a fine young man.”

Thomas said he’s grateful for the support of voters in his district and said he hopes to represent them as he has in the past with the same values and focused on the same issues. Number one on the short list is traffic, specifically the location of the peripheral road.

Weddell indicated it’s too soon to say whether he’ll make another bid for office.

“Ask me in three years,” he joked.

Weddell said he felt he and Thomas conducted positive campaigns.

“We each spoke about the qualities that we had to offer, and that’s how a campaign should be run,” he said.

Thomas is the editor and chief executive officer of The Mennonite, the national magazine for the Mennonite Church USA denomination.



Goshen News staff writers Michael Wanbaugh, Roger Schneider, Scott Weisser, Dan Spalding and Rod Rowe contributed to this report.