The Marion County Board has unanimously appointed one of the leaders of the Marion County Taxpayers Association to an open seat on the board.
Josh Dunahee will fill the District Three seat vacated by Tyson McHenry who resigned last month due to a work scheduling problem.
Dunahee grew up in Salem and returned three and a half years ago to manage the XPO freight facility in Salem.
Board Chair Steve Whritenour noted Dunahee has been attending all the board meetings and he’s been impressed with him sharing positive stories, including one where he praised the sheriff for attending a special occasion at XPO.
“It was a positive, uplifting thing,” Whritenour said. “One thing I’m really hoping to change as chair is that I would like to see people like Josh tell us stories about different events that are going on around Marion County that are positive, uplifting things. It’s not all about negativity.”
Whritenour approached Dunahee after learning he lived in District Three. He also feels Dunahee balances out representation in the large district, where the other two representatives, himself and Timothy McCance, are both from the Centralia area.
Dunahee is thanking the board for the vote of confidence. He considers it a privilege and an honor to serve. Dunahee says he is also very committed to the Taxpayers of Marion County.
“I think ultimately being part of the tax group and our taxpayers and seeing the rise in taxes, specifically for myself and my home, being a part of the meetings for the past year and a half has been an eye-opener,” Dunahee said. “Not only in working with board members, but at the same time holding people accountable to new opportunities and changing the way we look at things.”
Dunahee pointed to the work of Circuit Clerk Tiffany Schicker in finding grant dollars to install a generator system for the courthouse after the taxpayers’ group raised concerns about the project as a good example of how the board can work to keep expenses down. Dunahee recently complemented the county board under its new chairman and still feels good about the board’s direction. He says his first goal is to learn the operations of the board.
McHenry’s resignation left two other openings as well. Tracy Murray was elected as the board’s new Vice Chair, and Sharon Woodward was named to be Chair of the Law Enforcement Committee.
