MOUNT VERNON — In the sole contested county race, voters returned Bill Pursel to his seat on the Knox County Board of Commissioners.
Pursel garnered about 75% of the votes tallied, according to final unofficial results from the Knox County Board of Elections.
“It is always, always important for me to share my thankfulness for my supporting wife, Peggy Pursel, and for my family and good friends who constantly lift me up in their prayers and provide other valuable support,” Pursel said. “We live in the beautiful county of Knox, which is filled with creative and loving people. It is the Knox County residents who have honored and blessed me by allowing me to be a servant to them.
“I send my special ‘thank you’ to the members of my community who supported me through the placement of signs and voting for me,” he continued. “You can trust that I will do everything within my power to live up to the faith and trust that has been placed upon me.
“Thank you for your support! Be blessed and be a blessing!” he added.
Democrat challenger Roger Munday congratulated Pursel on his win.
“It was my first time running, so it was very interesting,” Munday said. “For my supporters, I will be running for mayor.”
Munday said that based on the vote disparity, he did not think he made any inroads getting his message to Knox County’s Republican base. He reiterated that he was worried that Republican control will lead to fascism.
“Let’s get some other voices in Knox County government and more people running for city council,” he said, putting a general call out to his supporters to get involved.
Of his future plans in the commissioners’ office, Pursel said “there are a boatload of items” that need done in the next four years.
“Certain things have a primary role, such as finding the best Knox Area Transit director for our public system and for directing the construction of our new facility,” he said. “We will become a transit system that other similar-sized communities will want to model.”
Second on the agenda is improving the Knox County Memorial Theater ventilation system for better comfort in the heat as well as the cold.
“This will allow the Mount Vernon Arts Consortium to continue bringing top-notch performers to our family and friends in the surrounding area, performers that Experience Mount Vernon and the Knox County Visitors Bureau will be proud to showcase,” he explained.
Pursel said that continued capital improvements such as the courthouse will be in the center stage of maintenance.
“We have assembled quality workers who will see that our properties will be well maintained and that the age of ‘band-aid repairs’ is a thing of the past,” he said.
Finally, he said, Intel is knocking at the door and the county must prepare for the future.
“We must be sharp and shrewd in our endeavors. People come to Knox County because of who we are, not because they want us to be something else,” he said. “We will continue to be a strong, supportive Knox County family who welcomes hard workers and people who want to experience great county life.”
Pursel noted that this list is not exhaustive, but it will be an excellent opening for the things yet to come in Knox County.
