The Carmi Township board met briefly. Tim Scates and Shelly Buchanan were absent; Township Attorney Greg Stewart attended. With no agenda items, Supervisor Deig shared updates on financials, the audit, and election procedures.
In September 2025, Trustee Mike Baxley (Republican) resigned from the board and nominated fellow Republican Chula Fleming as his replacement. At the following month’s meeting, Cheyenne Long was nominated, chosen, but later denied the position.
“Unfortunately, we did find out, as you guys did your due diligence, there was no primary she (Cheyenne) had voted in, and we never had one contested before and had any reason to fill somebody who was not with that party.”
With only Fleming remaining, a special meeting in November saw Deig nominate Casey Coale, who was surprised but willing to serve.
Deig explained how Coale became the Township Trustee,
“Of course, as you guys know, when we have a vacancy, we have 60 days to fill that with the same party if it’s Republican or Democrat. So we take nominations by board members, but it takes three voting board members to fill that, a majority vote to fill. So, I just wanted to address that, it seemed like there was some concern, especially the night that you met with Jc, that you didn’t know why we were having that meeting. We had to bring it back to the table because it does take three votes.”
The annual Township meeting is on April 14. March 1 is the last day for board members to request agenda items.
Arlynne Davis from Botsch and Associates left the audit report for the Township. Deig presented the findings, stating the fiscal year ended in an “excellent financial position.”
In January, 20 people signed in for Emergency and General Assistance. The Township used $450 for EA and $3,192 for GA, totaling $3,642 to help families.
The next Township meeting is on March 10 at 6 pm.