From our Whitley News Network partner, Talk of the Town

By Jennifer Zartman Romano

At the recent THomas Marshall dinner, an important announcement was made that signals a ramping up in efforts to grow and develop the Whitley County Democratic Party.
Interim party chairman Tim Hearld announced that the new party chairman had been selected — Columbia City resident Scott Allison. In recent months, Hearld’s schedule has become exceedingly busy and while he’s stepping down from chairing the party – he’s certainly not stepping away from local politics.

“Tim’s not leaving by any means,” said Allison as he discussed his philosophy, direction for the party and goals Sunday afternoon.
Allison, a US Air Force Veteran and former police officer, was the past municipal vice chairman for the Whitley County Democratic party.
He is a current member of the Columbia City Planning Commission.
Allison is a graduate of Indiana-Purdue University where he majored in criminal justice and psychology. He is a press room supervisor for Specialized Printed Products in Fort Wayne. He and his wife, Amy, have a 12-year-old daughter, Shelby.
The Allisons are members of Community of Hope Church where they lead the church’s jail ministry – tapping into Allison’s criminal justice and psychology background – a place where he relies heavily on his strong Christian faith.
“It’s been a fantastic experience,” Allison said of working with the jail ministry. “Being a Democrat, I believe in rehabilitation. We have a responsibility to help them change the way they’ve been living and transition back into society.” Sometimes, he said, that means getting away from the people and habits that got them into trouble in the first place – and often that means finding a new place to live and leading a new life.
Allison enjoys running 5K races and plays vintage baseball as a member of the Winona Blue Laws.
“I have loved politics my entire life,” said Allison, who grew up in Northeast Indiana and graduated from Warsaw High School.
With a mutual interest in running and also raising a pre-teen daughter who also runs, Allison met Hearld during Summer Run Club and was eventually asked to serve the Democratic party as the municipal vice chair.
Then, a few weeks ago, he was asked privately to serve as the Democratic county chairman – an opportunity he did not want to pass up.
“What I lack in experience, I will make up for with passion,” Allison said. “I’ve got a good team around me. I’m willing to do what it takes to help the party.”
Already noticing a trend toward younger people taking leadership roles within the local Democratic party, Allison feels energized. In fact, all of the individuals serving on the Democratic Central Committee for Whitley County are under 45, a fact that was noted several times during the dinner Saturday night – with reference to most Democrat leaders not yet having any grey in their hair.
“We need to bring in more of the under 40 crowd,” Allison said. One way he hopes to do that – better utilize 21st century means of communication and social networking. Topping his list: a website overhaul, higher visibility on Facebook, web media and local Democrats having a greater online presence where people can become more familiar with candidates and current officials.
“We need to be reaching people who are not being reached by newspapers,” Allison said. “I think we saw just how powerful the online media was with the last presidential election.”
“I’d also like to see us reach out to the faith-based people of Whitley County,” said Allison. “People need to understand that you’re not stuck with one party – there are many, many issues of morality. It is the Democrats who help ‘the least of these’ and those who need help. Democrats have a better record of helping those in need.”
Allison, a committed Christian who is active within his church, said there is often a stigma that if you’re religious, you’d be more likely to align with one political party over another – something he feels is inaccurate.
“I look at the bigger picture,” said Allison. “There are a lot more issues on morality.”
He would also appreciate more opportunities for local residents to discuss political issues in a comfortable, relaxed way as well as offer town halls to formulate opinion on larger issues – particularly those in the local community.
“We understand that this is a Republican county in a Republican state,” Allison said, “but you have to start somewhere.”
“We are a blue collar county and we should be voting blue, not red,” continued Allison.
An immediate need for his attention will be determining candidates who will run in the 2010 elections.
“We going to have to seriously look at who is going to run for various offices,” said Allison.
Considering the grassroots efforts that have put Democrats ahead in offices around the country, Allison feels it is that same grassroots initiative that will put Democrats into office locally as well.
“I think we have a really good opportunity right now with the next generation,” Allison said of younger voters and even those who are not yet of voting age. “Just look at all they’ve seen in the past 10 years, what has shaped their mindset.”
“We have a golden opportunity to say, ‘This is what we have to offer,” he said. “We need to show that Democrats are the unified party to lead us out of this.”
“We want to keep the message out there about what Democrats stand for,” Allison concluded.