Town government: the president's last weeks, a ward result still unlanded — FLAGGED

Sweep of November 11, 2026 · transitions effective January 1, 2027 print as transitions

The council as it stands: the Town Council stands as the Government leg banked it — Gene Reese, President; Jeffrey Fansler, Vice President; Karol Jackson; Robert Gregory "Greg" Payne (Ward 1); and Joyce Joiner — sitting with Clerk-Treasurer Terri Buckmaster, in office since January 1, 2012 (the town's spelling; the State Board of Accounts' "Theresa" prints whole in the Government leg). Police Chief Matthew Schalliol stands as banked. The president's exit — a transition, settled: Reese's service, running since January 1990, ends on December 31, 2026. He lost the Ward 2 Republican primary of May 5, 2026 to Rick Coffman — the Clerk's official precinct summary gives the ward's two precincts 56–51 and 101–83 for Coffman — and he is printed here, correctly, as the sitting president for the remainder of 2026 and as nothing beyond it. Payne, unopposed in Ward 1's primary, holds into the term beginning January 1, 2027. Wards 3, 4, and 5 were not on the 2026 ballot; Fansler, Jackson, and Joiner stand, with their individual ward assignments among 3/4/5 still unsettled in the record (GAP-WKGOV-2, flagged, the Government leg's). The open seat — FLAGGED OPEN: the Ward 2 general-election contest of November 3, 2026 — Christy Donlon (D), whose candidacy survived an Election Board challenge in August and a Superior Court order of September 17, 2026 placing her on the ballot, against Rick Coffman (R) — has produced no result in any published return the search reached: not in the broadcast returns, not in the county's press-compiled precinct reporting, not in the county's posted documents, all of which were checked on November 11, 2026. This chapter does not guess the seat. GAP-WKGOV-1 stands exactly as the Government leg printed it, and its settler stands too: the St. Joseph County Clerk's certified precinct summary for the November 2026 general election, which will also close the same class of gap for Osceola and Granger when it posts. The standing parts: the Walkerton Lincoln Fire Protection Territory — town and all of Lincoln Township, the town as provider unit, in force since July 1, 2010 under Resolution 2010-1 and Town Code § 30.078 — stands unchanged; its chief prints at directory strength only (Kenny Eggleston; Assistant Chief John Paschen), flagged as GAP-WKGOV-5. Lincoln Township Trustee Charles Kulp (R) was unopposed on November 3, 2026 and continues into the 2027 term; the township board chosen that day — Ethan Barden, Kelsi Sheaks, and Christopher Winchell — takes its seats with the new year, and the board member's identity with the school superintendent of the same name is not established and is printed unresolved, as the Government leg left it. Two chairs stand unnamed in the record reached and are flagged, not filled: the Town Court's judge (GAP-WKGOV-3; last of record Chamberlin, 2016–2019) and the Town Administrator (GAP-WKGOV-4). The town's municipal-utility ownership — the thread Howard printed in 1907, the town's own water works and electric plant — is carried in the Government and Businesses legs; this chapter asserts nothing about its 2026 form beyond their record.

Sources

1. This build's Government leg — the roster, the primary summary, the Donlon ballot litigation, the territory, and GAP-WKGOV-1/2/3/4/5 whole.
2. WNDU election returns and St. Joe Current's precinct reporting for November 3, 2026, checked in the search — the absence of any Walkerton town race, which is the flag.
3. Town of Walkerton, Code of Ordinances § 30.078 — the fire territory standing.