Manker possible choice for South Jacksonville Trustee position

By Gary Scott on January 16, 2018 at 2:30pm

With the recent resignation of Steve Waltrip from the South Jacksonville Board of Trustees, the board must find a replacement.

The process for finding a replacement consists of the village president, Harry Jennings, appointing a potential trustee and the remaining trustees voting to approve or disapprove this appointment.

It appears at this time that the trustees have found a candidate that they would like suggest for appointment, Tyson Manker.

We spoke with Manker this week and asked him about the possibility.

Manker says several trustees have approached him about their want for him to join the board:

“I got a call from a couple of the trustees telling me that Mr. Waltrip had submitted his resignation and that they were interested in bringing me on board and wanted to see what I thought about it. I was just really honored that they would consider me. I think any time we have an opportunity to serve our community we should do that.

He also explains what he thinks he can bring to the board as a potential trustee:

“Well, I don’t think public service requires any kind of qualifications. However, I do feel that, you know, I was born and raised in South Jacksonville. I’ve lived here all of my 36 years, my mother lives here, and a lot of my friends and family live here. I just want to see good things for the community. I’m an attorney and a veteran, and I’d like to think I bring a wide range of experiences with me.”

Manker says that while there are no specific issues on policy he wants to change at this point, there are some things that he wants to affect:

“No in particular policy I can think of. I’d just like a return to decorum, bring some respect.I think in our national politics all the way down we’ve seen a lack of respect from both parties. I think that’s unfortunate. I think we need to raise the bar.”

The next chance for a possible appointment is at the next South Jacksonville Village Board of Trustees meeting. The next regular meeting is not until February.