Jack Negley
BUCK CREEK TOWNSHIP — Three Republicans are vying for the ability to lead a township striving to keep public safety on pace with the area’s rapid development.
The 36 square miles making up Buck Creek Township on the county’s west side include Indianapolis Regional Airport and a stretch of the Mt. Comfort Corridor that’s drawn dozens of large industrial buildings over the past few years.
One of the township’s main responsibilities is providing fire protection and emergency medical services, which it does through the Buck Creek Township Fire Department. The township is also responsible for pioneer cemeteries and assistance for township residents in need.
Incumbent Jack Negley faces challengers Kenny Simmons, a longtime Hancock County resident; and Micki Simunek, who has the support of a political action committee established by the county’s firefighter union.
Jack Negley
Negley, a former Buck Creek Township Advisory Board member, was caucused into the trustee position last year following the death of longtime trustee Melvin Branson in January 2021.
In a statement to the Daily Reporter, Negley notes he’s the only candidate who has served as a township board member, board chairman and township trustee.
During his time in office so far, Negley has contracted with a payroll service that he said has improved financial accuracy.
“I have streamlined our budget process and have re-allocated the township budget to be more focused on fire protection and emergency medical services,” Negley said. “These changes have allowed the fire department to better serve the citizens of Buck Creek Township.”
He added the township has also acquired a new ambulance, remounted an existing ambulance and obtained other equipment upgrades without using township taxes, but rather through fundraising efforts and funds from the Hancock County Redevelopment Commission. The township continues to apply for other grants and opportunities to help with funding equipment and resources with taxpayers in mind, Negley also said.
Much of Buck Creek Township is in one of Hancock County’s tax increment financing districts, which funnel taxes from new development for use by the county redevelopment commission. The commission can allocate tax increment financing funds for public safety purposes like the Buck Creek Township Fire Department, but only for capital needs like equipment, not operational needs like additional firefighters.
Negley said he has developed a five-year plan to address the economic growth in the township.
“One of my goals is to take advantage of opportunities to adjust compensation for our career staff to keep competitive with surrounding townships,” Negley said.
Negley and his wife, now a retired teacher from Greenfield-Central Schools, raised their family in Hancock County since 1987. Their three children graduated from Mt. Vernon High School. Negley graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and has worked in technical sales and sales management throughout his career. He’s been involved in community youth basketball and recently served as president of Zion Lutheran Church and School.
Kenny Simmons
Simmons, who was born and raised in Hancock County and has lived in Buck Creek Township since 1998, formerly served on the county sheriff’s department and now works as general sales manager of Stanley Chevrolet in McCordsville.
“I’m just at that point now in my life where I’d like to give back to the community,” Simmons said. “I know it’s given so much to me.”
He said if he’s elected, he would work to increase the staff on the fire department to keep up with the township’s growth. Simmons described the Walmart fulfillment center in Plainfield that went up in flames earlier this month as an “eye-opener” for ensuring public safety in Buck Creek Township is as prepared as possible for something similar. Walmart continues to develop a fulfilment center in the township that’s even bigger than Plainfield’s — over 2.2 million square feet.
“I think the citizens are starting to suffer from that now that actually live in the township,” Simmons said of all the industrial development. “I’m going to try and help to get some help there for the citizens because that’s who lived there first.”
Simmons thinks his background has prepared him well for the role.
“I think my time in retail business, my time with the sheriff’s department — I already got a good start of what we need,” he said.
He said while there’s little wiggle room for the township to secure more tax revenue, he’d be an advocate for ensuring it gets the biggest piece of the pie that it can.
“The township gets what it’s going to get,” he said. “But somebody’s got to help by being in front of those people — either at the local or state level.”
That goes for county decisions that have been fostering all of the industrial development as well, he added.
“I just don’t know how much the township has been able to be involved in the decision-making for some of this,” he said. “I don’t think they’ve totally listened to all the citizens that live in the township.”
Simmons and his wife, Lisa, have a blended family of five children.
Micki Simunek
Simunek grew up in a firefighter family on Indianapolis’ east side, with her father, grandfather, uncle and great-uncle all serving in the profession.
“Obviously that doesn’t make me a fireman, but what I do understand is the brotherhood, the culture, some of the challenges,” she said.
Simunek’s mother was a Republican precinct committeeman and Simunek became one after turning 18.
She has a bachelor’s degree in political science and an associate degree in criminal justice from the University of Indianapolis. Simunek has worked in former Indianapolis Mayor Steve Goldsmith’s administration in transportation and health. She and her husband, Tom, raised three sons who are now grown. Simunek has also worked on multiple Republican political campaigns in the state and Hancock County, including for Gov. Eric Holcomb.
“When they say ‘All politics is local,’ township government is as local as you’re going to get,” she said. “Something at this level makes a lot of sense to me.”
The Hancock County Professional Firefighters Local 4787 Political Action Committee endorses her candidacy.
She said the relationships she’s established at multiple levels of government in the state will aid her in developing solutions for the challenges Buck Creek Township faces.
“I think that my passions and my interests and the timing for this office all kind of came together at the same time,” Simunek said. “If you would write a job description — it’s me; I’m perfect for it.”
Simunek said if she’s elected, she would engage firefighters in efforts to develop solutions, prioritize those solutions and adapt as needed.
“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel here,” she said. “We got issues that people have been dealing with for a very long time, and they are solvable. They’re going to take some serious work and attention.”
She has concerns over the way the fire department uses its resources outside of the township, including deployments for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Simunek also has concerns over Negley’s leadership. She noted at the township board’s February meeting that he had not been posting meeting notices 48 hours in advance as required by Indiana law. She also pointed out the board did not meet for its organizational meeting on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January, also outlined in state law, nor did the board meet on dates outlined in state law for approving an annual report and organizing as a board of finance.
Negley did not respond to a request for comment on those issues, but acknowledged at the meeting that he had not been posting meeting notices and that settling into the office has come with challenges.
“None of them last year were posted at all,” he said. “And just to be clear, we didn’t know we were supposed to. When I got appointed as trustee … I was drinking from a fire hose.”
