Vigo County Council elects Steve Ellis as 2026 president, delays rule changes for 30-day review

Steve Ellis was elected council president for 2026 at the Vigo County Council’s reorganization meeting, and the council agreed to keep its existing rules in place while staff and members review a proposed 2026 rules package over the next 30 days.

The council opened nominations for president, an unidentified member nominated Steven Ellis and another seconded the nomination. After nominations were closed, a roll call vote approved Ellis 5-2 (Ayes: Randy Gentry, Nancy Alsop, Steve Ellis, Vicky Wager, Brad Anderson; Nays: Brenda Wilson, David Thompson). Following the vote, the presiding official turned the meeting over to the newly elected president, who led the next items on the agenda.

Councilmembers then nominated and elected Vicky Wager for president pro tem. A motion to nominate Wager was seconded and approved by roll call, with the same 5-2 margin recorded for and against the nomination.

The meeting moved to consideration of the council’s proposed 2026 rules. An unidentified councilmember asked whether the body should adopt the rules now or use the 60-day window to investigate highlighted changes. County Attorney Mister Wright said the proposed changes had been circulated after being discussed at the November meeting and that rules can be amended later, though changes made after 60 days would require additional steps per the rules. Citing concern about creating a “gray area” with no rules in effect, Councilman Randy Gentry moved to amend the motion on the floor to specify that the existing rules remain in effect until the council formally adopts a new rule set. The amendment was seconded.

After additional procedural discussion and clarification about Robert’s Rules, the council approved the amendment and agreed to return in 30 days to revisit the proposed 2026 rules, with the prior-year rules remaining in force in the meantime. The transcript records roll calls at multiple points during that discussion; the council concluded it would not adopt the new rules at the reorganization meeting.

Separately, the council approved a tentative 2026 meeting schedule by roll call. The president announced that appointments to boards and commissions will be deferred until the February meeting; he said he plans to conduct interviews over the next one to two weeks and make appointments at that time. The meeting adjourned following a motion and second.

The council did not take final action to adopt the proposed 2026 rules at this meeting; the matter will return to the council after a 30-day review period. Appointments were deferred to the February meeting, and the tentative meeting schedule for 2026 was adopted.