Final Board of Works meeting ends 12-year run for DeBaun, Finkel and Williams

Saturday, December 30, 2023 at 8:29 AM

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After 12 years together and approximately 600 meetings, the trio of Tom DeBaun, David Finkel and Bob Williams closed out their final City of Shelbyville Board of Works and Public Safety meeting Friday morning.

DeBaun’s three-term run as mayor is ending and Finkel (photo, left) and Williams (photo, right) will not be returning to the Board of Works under new mayor Scott Furgeson, who has appointed Val Phares and Tom Reaves to join him on the board that meets weekly at City Hall.

Williams is a former police chief and mayor of the city while Finkel has served on city boards for 32 consecutive years. He ran for the Republican nomination for mayor this year and lost to Furgeson, and has not ruled out running again in a future election.

The Board of Works closed out the calendar year with no old or new business to attend to at the meeting.

“This is the grand goodbye so I want to thank everybody for their patience and attendance and all the work we’ve done,” said DeBaun (photo, center) to those in attendance at the meeting, including many of the city’s department leaders. “Collectively, average 50 meetings per year for 12 years, we’ve had 600 of these things and in 30 years I’ve attended about 1,500. It’s time to go.”

DeBaun was the city’s Plan Director for 18 years before becoming Mayor.

The trio serving for 12 consecutive years is unmatched in city history. The board also consists of two Democrats and a Republican (Finkel), which Finkel believes is rare, if not unheard of, in the state of Indiana.

“I have never worked with two people who cared more about the city of Shelbyville,” said Williams at the end of the meeting. “I appreciate that very much.”

Photo courtesy of David Finkel

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