Combs elected local Party chair

Perry Township Trustee Dan Combs was elected as chairman of the Monroe County Democratic party Sunday evening. The election was watched closely as candidates Combs and Brian O'Neill vied for the leadership position Frank McCloskey resigned from. \nCombs acknowledged that McCloskey has left "big shoes to fill."\nMcCloskey was Bloomington's mayor from 1972-1982 and later served in the U.S. House of Representatives.\nThe eligible voters in the election included all chairmen and vice-chairmen of Monroe County's 96 precincts. Eighty-one voters participated in the election Sunday evening, with Combs edging out O'Neill 43-37. One precinct committee member abstained. \nSuch a close victory leads one to wonder what made the difference. \n"Brian and I are very similar, although my approach is perhaps more grassroots," Combs said. \nCombs' plans for the Democratic party will be as closely watched as the election. He has proposed the formation of several committees to increase unity in the party, which he described as a bit unorganized as of late. Even before he set out his plan Sunday evening, he warned that he was going to "speak a bit more frankly than perhaps I should." \nCombs' frankness will address many of the problems the party has seen lately, including the ones precinct committee member Don Moore spoke about. "Democrats are divided over the development issue -- it's an issue over how much green space we're going to hand over to developers," he said. \nMany members want to strike a balance between encouraging new home construction and preserving green space, but this balance is difficult to attain, Moore said.\nDuring his candidate speech, he set out a plan that he would implement if elected. \nFirst, he said he wants to increase unity in the party. In order to do this, he said he believes the party members must recognize they will not agree 100 percent of the time, but realize that they share common ground. \nHis second action will be to evaluate the effectiveness of the party's organization. "Instead of the chairman telling us what to do, I want the members to tell the chairman what to do," Combs said. Certainly what Combs described as a "flip-flop" organization of the party would mean implementing major changes, but he said he believes the party will function better as a whole after implementing these changes.\nThe third point Combs hammered home was setting up a fund-raising committee. He said he firmly believes the Democratic candidates are very good, and a little boost in fund-raising would help win positions. \nAfter the close election, O'Neill was visibly disappointed, but he kept his spirits up. Afterward, when asked what made the difference in the election, O'Neill responded, "I think six votes." \n"Dan has great ideas, and he's done wonderful things in Perry Township." \nWhen asked what his future plans for the party involved, he quickly responded, "I want to help Democrats get elected, as I have always been doing"