Education
MA English, PhD Business/Information Technology
Campaign Email
vote@nancy4penn.com
Crisis can happen to anyone. Applicants in a state of emergency have heightened senses of anxiety and vulnerability. Assistance must begin with reassurance that help is available, it’s NOT too much to ask, and that there’s someone at hand who can guide them through potentially confusing but legally required steps to get the help they need. As trustee I will keep an open door policy: the front door will be unlocked during business hours. Applicants will be welcomed by knowledgeable staff who are ready to help. Since there are strict rules about eligibility for bill-paying assistance, staff should also be knowledgeable about community programs available to residents that may help where the trustee can’t.
Affordability of basic family needs such as housing, fuel, groceries, medicine, and clothing is getting worse instead of better--not just in the township, but throughout the county. At the same time, essential services like the county health department office in my township was closed last fall because of funding cuts by the state. These changes just make the security of families and the community more fragile. To shore up critical services, and to help people who find themselves in distress, the Trustee must find ways to join forces with other state and local offices to maximize resource utility. Many Penn Township residents aren’t aware of services available through the Trustee’s office. I will make our mandate and mission known. Excellent outreach and accessibility to the trustee’s office are key to a safer community.
In March of this year, Penn Township quietly and hurriedly joined a Fire Territory Expansion, raising residents’ property taxes and ceding leadership of our Fire & EMS to Clay Township. This Territory will be governed by a new Executive Board. Although Penn has the population of the other member townships combined, and has five square miles more than the areas of the other townships combined, Penn agreed to share equal voting weight with two other townships on the Executive Board. As trustee, I will place our excellent (and now displaced) Fire Chief, Mike Gerndt, on the Executive Board if eligible, and will place myself, if eligible, on the Board as well, to ensure that management of the new territory will meet all our township’s needs. I will insist that Penn's resources remain in Penn, including our talented EMS workers.
With a PhD in business, I have the accounting and budgeting skills that may have defined the Trustee’s job in 2010. But in 2026, powerful, user-friendly financial tools are available to everyone—so the trustee’s focus should be on serving people, not spreadsheets. The trustee must still ensure compliance with reporting laws, and Penn Township already employs a Municipal Financial Advisor to do just that. I won’t cut clerical staff or consulting support throughout a complete annual reporting cycle. Far more important to the trustee’s job than accounting is building relationships with residents and partnerships with agencies and private organizations to improve community health and safety.
Time required for record keeping has changed significantly with the emergence of electronic tools for data collection and management. As a computer science teacher I taught kids to create data collection apps using voice recognition on tablets. As trustee I will ensure that record keeping tasks are properly modernized and that data is accessible online. Today many state-mandated reports are uploaded into Indiana’s .gov site, Gateway, and accessible to all. Most local reports can be downloaded from the Trustee’s website, and I will ensure that all appropriate records are optimally accessible both in acquisition and readability.
Today, many Penn residents don’t know what their township is or does. Free, open, two-way communication is essential to the success of both the township and trustee. In our fragmented media landscape reaching residents is challenging, so the trustee must use multiple platforms to share and receive information. The website should be updated to support better communication, offering clear, engaging updates on activities and events, and collecting continuous feedback from visitors. Social media, including Facebook and Instagram, along with a regular newsletter, should provide timely information on all township matters. Residents should be able to connect easily by phone, email, social media, and in person. I would make myself available for calls and walk-ins during regular business hours to ensure accessibility and responsiveness.
As demand for food and utility assistance will surely increase, the trustee should draw on the millions of aid dollars that have been accumulating in township coffers over the past dozen years. In addition the trustee should work with city partners and with the community to build out the township’s pantry services. Food insecurity crosses all demographics. To try to anticipate hunger problems and prevent individual crises, I would reach out to schools to determine whether assistance is needed to provide services such as kids’ summer lunches. Where I find allied public institutions are unable to help because of their own budget cuts, I will seek out private charitable organizations for ways to collaborate on assistance. This is an issue that will require real creativity and persistence of the trustee. It is a very high priority.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
