Fort Wayne City Clerk Lana Keesling is resigning her position at the end of the year so she can continue to serve as the state’s GOP chair.
That news came out Friday after the Allen County Democratic Party demanded she do so because of "the conflict of interest" in those two positions—one taxpayer-funded.
Keesling was selected as the Indiana Republican Party Chair in February, becoming the party's fourth chair in two years. She is currently serving her second term as Fort Wayne's City Clerk, the first Republican to hold that job in decades.
Democratic party chair Chad Wierzbinski says Fort Wayne tax payers deserve a full time clerk.
“And so at this point, it's just become it's gotten to the point where she needs to decide if she wants to help the city of Fort Wayne as city clerk, or if her job is to pursue partisan politics as chairwoman, because she can't do both anymore," Wierzbinski said in an interview Friday after the press conference earlier in the day calling on her to step down.
"We didn't have any idea that there was going to be a caucus because the Republican Party of Allen County had not announced anything," he continued. "I understand that they're saying that she has projects and everything that are going on, but don't the city taxpayers deserve a full time city clerk, not someone running around to every county here in Indiana."
Keesling pushed back in a letter she shared with the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
“The Allen County Democrats are simply trying to divert attention from their party’s abysmal track record in our city, state and nation,” she wrote to Fort Wayne residents.
Allen County GOP Chair Steve Shine said Keesling’s departure was in the works since she took over the helm of Indiana’s Republican Party.
Shine said Keesling has worked diligently to fulfill the duties of what is essentially two full-time jobs.
"She has not missed a beat, nor neglected her duties and responsibilities in the office or to the taxpayers. In fact, anyone who tunes in to public access TV each week can see her fulfilling one of her many duties, that being the clerk of the Fort Wayne City Council. She is also in her office quite regularly, early in the mornings, late into the evenings and on weekends so that she can fulfill what her duties are as city clerk," he said.
He believes the democratic party’s statements were motivated by another issue.
"Basically what they're doing, is they're trying to come in through the back door to attack her on her statements regarding redistricting, and so instead of addressing that issue head on, they attack the individual and the position that she holds, rather than on the merits of the redistricting issue," Shine said.
Shine says a caucus has been scheduled for Jan. 17, and some candidates have already expressed interest in the position.
