By: Contessa Hussong

Election day is just around the corner for Blackford County residents, with Montpelier polls officially opening Nov. 7 in the city’s Civic Center.

On the ballot this year is Brad Neff, a real estate business owner-turned mayoral candidate running unopposed for the position. With personal ties to Montpelier and its political history, Neff is excited to take up the title of mayor on Jan. 1, but will have to earn his official designation through the polls this autumn.

Yet Neff’s greatest challenges are far from behind him.

Andy Dudelston, Republican county chair, emphasized how small towns often struggle to find mayoral candidates, due to low pay, policy and budgetary headaches, and the difficulty of convincing someone to work solely for the greater good of the community.

“It’s a monumental time commitment,” he said. “You’re asked to do things out of your control.”

Nonetheless, mayor-elect Brad Neff has chosen to take up the challenge and is sharing his story to invite residents into his vision for a better, brighter county future:

H: What has it been like to run for mayor as someone who has lived in this town for so long?

N: I really want to make a community that they [Neff’s adult children] want to live in and they want to raise their kids, and that’s my goal. And I know that’s the goal of many other people. So that was my purpose in running for mayor. I want to build up our community and start making a place that my children will continue to live in and other people want their kids to live here as well.

H: What do you see as the vision not just for the city (of Montpelier), but for the county as a whole?

N: Montpelier has a lot of attractive features. We’re safe. You know, we’re a place where there’s not much crime, there’s not — I mean, it’s safer than the larger cities to live in. It’s a place where kids can still ride their bikes all over town. We still have low housing prices and a close-knit community. But what I would really like to build into Montpelier is making it more family-friendly, even so, maybe more activities for children and for families.

…

We’ve got a lot less farming families in our community and we lost a lot of our population through manufacturing to where there are just a lot less manufacturing jobs. This affected this whole region, not just Blackford County. 

But in the future, where it’s getting more and more easy to work [virtually] from wherever you want to work and live wherever you want to, I want to make Montpelier and Blackford County a place where people want to live when they have the ability to choose where they want to live. 

H: What are some of the perceived strengths and weaknesses that you see in yourself as a leader taking charge here?

N: I have a lot of experience — business experience and also grant writing experience. I’ve got the education. I’ve got the ability timewise to do an excellent job. I don’t have much political experience. That’s certainly, you know, something I’ll have to grow in, to get to know the ins and outs of the political world. But I’ve certainly got a background [in] which I think I feel confident that I’ll be able to do an excellent job.

H: What will you be doing over the next couple of months?

N: I’ve been meeting. Basically, [I’ve been] going to all the meetings in the city council, Board of Works and redevelopment commission meetings. [I’ve been] meeting with all the city leaders. I’ve got a lot of pieces. I’ve actually got a lot of appointments to make. So, you know, just trying to get ready, trying to educate myself on, you know, the government as a beginner, this is kind of a new thing to me, but just how it works. It’s not really challenging as far as just how the government works, but it’s definitely something to be aware of.

H: You seem to have a strong faith and some strong values. Would you mind talking a little bit about how that has translated into the business world?

N: My faith in God is my guide. It’s my purpose. I feel like my purpose is to serve others and to be a blessing to people in my community. My wife and I came to Montpelier, and we felt like it was our mission to build up Montpelier spiritually and economically. We’re doing everything we can to get it up and make it. We would love to be known as the City of Joy.

. . . 

With his goals, his plan and his faith firmly in place, Neff is taking advantage of the time leading up to his term. And while the polls have yet to make the decision official, county chair Andy Dudelston explained Neff’s move to the general ballot will send him through to the mayorship without anyone to run against him.

 Moving with him, however, is the whole of Montpelier itself, a battered city in need of the hope and joy Neff promises in his campaign. Moving from outgoing Mayor Kathy Bantz’s imagery of a phoenix rising from the ashes, Montpelier has risen, and Neff hopes to see it continue to soar. 

Nov. 7 is election day in Montpelier, with a voting location available at the Montpelier Civic Center. Early voting is already underway. Visit the Blackford County Election Office’s website for more information.