The results of last weekend’s caucus show that the Republican precinct committee officials in the 84th House District are really conservative.

The two finalists in the four-person field, Bob Morris and Jon Olinger, hail from the hard-right fringe of the local party. Morris, indeed, emphasized in his introductory speech that he is pro-life, anti-amnesty for immigrants and anti-teachers’ union.

The runner-up in the race, former Fort Wayne Community Schools board member Jon Olinger, was a big Matt Kelty supporter in 2007, placing him to the right of the party.

Morris will likely vote much the same as his predecessor, Randy Borror. But Borror was more like Gov. Mitch Daniels, pushing fiscal issues while downplaying social conservatism. Morris’ election marks a move to the right for the position.

Though the caucus went three rounds, it was never close. Morris was just short of a majority in the first round, with 19 votes. Derek Pillie had nine, Jon Olinger had seven, and County Commissioner Bill Brown had five, making him the first to drop out.

Morris captured 21 votes in the second round, just one vote short of a majority. Pillie, with nine votes, was ousted.

Morris then won the final round over Olinger, 26-15 (one ballot was rejected).

Morris takes office right away and will face Evan Smith, a teacher, in the November election. But the district is heavily Republican, making Morris the likely winner.

Other vote

After voting for Morris to fulfill the remainder of Borror’s term in office, the caucus voted again for a November candidate. Often, after the outcome of the first vote is clear, precinct committee people will vote unanimously for the same winner in the second vote. But in Saturday’s caucus, with Morris the clear winner, Olinger still received two votes in the second election, and Pillie received one.

A little too quiet

Another week, and still no candidates for the four Fort Wayne Community Schools board seats on the November ballot. If incumbents don’t soon send the message out they are seeking re-election, will more candidates decide to file? Are some challengers waiting until the last minute, to surprise the incumbents? Or is the position just not as attractive as it was four years ago?

On the Web

County Commissioners Bill Brown and Linda Bloom reportedly were less than excited about putting county contracts on their website, but after other county and city officials joined in pushing for better public access to government documents, they joined in. Now, just a few weeks after Commissioner Nelson Peters’ efforts to get more information to become public, both county claims and the commissioners’ contracts are on the Web.

The most recent to be posted were contracts; agreements signed in January and part of February are online now, and the commissioners’ staff is working to post more. The website is easy: www.allencounty.us/contracts.