Raike appointed to village council

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By Frank Lewis

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At Tuesday night’s Village Council meeting, Donnie Raike was appointed to fill the unexpired term of William “Junior” Williams, who was recently named mayor of the village to replace the late Jim Warren.

Raike was chosen over Johnnie Steele, whom — if no one files as a write-in candidate — come November, will become the newest member of the council in 2016. There are four positions open and only four people on the ballot, three of which, are incumbents. They are Jon Mills, Mike Payton and Dan Fetty.

One might think that by applying to fill the vacancy, Raike was signaling he would challenge Steele as a write-in candidate. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“No. I haven’t give it any thought,” Raike said. “I spoke with Johnnie Steele last (Tuesday) night and he congratulated me on this appointment here for five months and as far as I’m concerned, I’ll do the five months and then it can be John’s. That’s not me. That’s not how I work. Not this time anyway.”

Raike said he is looking forward to serving the people of the village.

“I think it will be an experience,” Raike said. “I was sitting on the other side for 29 years because I was employed by the village for 29 years and I think it will be a fun experience. It will let me test the waters and see if it’s something I may want to do down the road if a vacancy comes up or something. For five months I can get a good feel for if it is something I really want to do or not.”

Earlier in the year Raike retired from the New Boston Fire Department just before then-chief Chris Bender announced his retirement as well.

Reach Frank Lewis at 740-353-3101, ext. 1928, or on Twitter @franklewis.

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