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By JOE SMEKENS
Thirty-three years ago, a young James Phillabaum was coaxed into running for a seat on the Common Council of the City of Bluffton.
It was 1975 and then-Councilman the late Don V. Harris, called Phillabaum and talked him into being a Democratic candidate for council.
Fast-forward to the present day and we find Phillabaum in the first year of his NINTH term on the council.
“I had no idea it would last this long,” Phillabaum said of his 33-plus years on the council . . . the longest in Bluffton’s history.
And not only does he hold the record at the local level, he also is closing in on the state record for longevity by a city councilman. In fact, if Phillabaum seeks and wins re-election in 2011, he will be the state’s longest consecutively serving city father.
Defeated in last fall’s Fort Wayne general election, former councilman Don Schmidt served 36 straight years on council there.
“Don Harris was my mentor. He’s the one who talked me into it,” Phillabaum said of his initial venture into city government.
In his first of nine successful attempts at election, Phillabaum beat Republican Dennis Houlihan for the District 3 seat which was being vacated by Floyd Minnich, who, in 1975 decided not to seek re-election.
Over the ensuing years, Phillabaum was to win a seat to council as District 3 representative, as the at-large representative and as the council person from District 1, in which he now lives with his wife, Joy, on Summit Ave.
During his first term, the Phillabaums and their three children, John, Jill and Jada, lived on West Wiley Ave. in District 3.
Over the years, Phillabaum has served on the council with 23 other people and four different mayors, William Fryback, John Flaningam, Fryback again, Everett “Tuck” Faulkner and current Mayor Ted Ellis.
He was first elected as president of City Council in 1985 and has held that post almost every year since.
Phillabaum is retired from North American Van Lines, where he worked for 31 years beginning in 1971.
Out of Bluffton High School in 1959, he attended Indiana Business College while working downtown at the Haiflich & Morrissey Shoe Store. He later went on to serve in the U.S. Navy then worked a brief stint at Corning Glass before joining North American Van Lines as a driver counselor.
He retired with the position of risk manager and vice president of insurance subsidiaries.
Phillabaum has seen giant strides in the City of Bluffton over his long term on council and while he has played a part in improvements while thoroughly enjoying his role, he credits others for the advancements of the community.
“Progress in basic city government has been really good over the years. We’ve done a great job with our infrastructure and our basic services,” Phillabaum said, pointing to the various city departments and the excellent leadership in those departments.
“Our electrical distribution system has tremendously been upgraded over the years. Our finances are solid because we made the decision to maintain our own electrical distribution center. This gives us avenues to do things that other towns can’t do,” Phillabaum said in references to the solid status of the city.
“Credit Ed Davis (water and electrical supt.) for his meticulous dedication to maintaining the infrastructure,” Phillabaum said. “Ed is very particular, he’s always been a top-notch guy. He is always on top of things and has a wealth of knowledge,” Phillabaum said.
“A big concern during the time John Flaningam was mayor was our water supply. We activated some old retired wells and now we have a fresh water development program that is one of the best anywhere,” Phillabaum said.
“Our water is as good as it gets. We are a lot better off than lots of other places,” he said.
“Our streets, for the most part, are in good condition, and we have a wastewater plant that is state of the art,” he added.
“You have to credit good leadership over the years, good people to fill those positions of management. Sometimes it’s easy to take those things for granted. We are really very fortunate,” Phillabaum said.
“One of the unique things is the way we cooperate with county government in so many ways,” Phillabaum said, pointing to the animal shelter, emergency dispatch center and fire protection.
“Communication has really improved over the years. The county-wide paging system has been good and brought lots of mutual cooperation,” Phillabaum noted.
“I’m proud of the way we have been able to provide emergency health services. Our police officers are trained beyond the status of a first-responder. We’re very fortunate to have such people,” Phillabaum said.
“Our police and fire personnel are the best. Our firemen are as well-trained as some full-time departments,” Phillabaum said pointing to the solid staff of paid on-call firefighters.
“Other towns are envious of what we do here with our parks system,” Phillabaum said.
“At first, our parks department was sort of a summer thing, but now it’s year-round and has expanded its services to people of all ages. This is something I pushed hard for over the years. We provide nice facilities for other people in the county,” Phillabaum said, referring to the community swimming pool and other recreation activities offered.
He saw the upcoming splash pad as Pickett’s Run, which is due to be completed soon, as a further solid addition to activities available here.
“Our parks department also has a good way of connecting with the schools. Pam Vanderkolk has been a great leader in all areas,” Phillabaum said of the parks superintendent.
In his early years on council, Phillabaum said his constituents’ biggest concerns seemed to be about roaming animals, garbage pickup and interruption in power services.
Now, complaints in those areas are few and far between, because of the upgraded services, Phillabaum noted.
While Phillabaum is a great ambassador for what’s good about Bluffton, he also is aware that things are not perfect. Things could be better . . . some neighborhoods could be tidier, and a more-bustling downtown would be a good thing.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to inspire pride in people,” Phillabaum said, referring to some neighborhoods and residences which are in a state of blight.
“This is America, so there’s only so much we can do. A man’s home is his own property. Some people have different perspectives on what looks good and what doesn’t,” he said, noting that the building safety code enforcement has helped in some areas.
“The downtown is not where I’d like it to be, but we are still strides ahead of others. We don’t have a great deal of retail downtown, but we have more than some,” he noted.
Phillabaum credits Mayor Ellis for many of the good things that are happening in the city. “He is an excellent mayor. He’s a good leader and has good people skills. I might have aspired to run for mayor if we didn’t have someone like Ted in charge,” he noted.
As president of council, Phillabaum has been the interim mayor on more than one occasion over the years, including the period following the death of John Flaningam, and more recently in times when Mayor Ellis was out of the city for extended periods of time.
He was at the city helm at the time of the flood of 2003 when the mayor was out of town.
Bluffton’s effort to become an “all-inclusive” city is strongly endorsed by Councilman Phillabaum.
“Becoming all-inclusive has been a good process. Our community is changing all the time, and that’s good that we are addressing those changes and making people feel welcome,” Phillabaum said.
Although retired from North American Van Lines, Phillabaum is hardly removed from the work force as he keeps busy in many ways.
In addition to serving on council, he also is on the three-member Board of Public Works & Safety which meets weekly. He was first appointed to the board in 1980. He also maintains his insurance sales business, and assists on a regular basis at Thoma/Rich, Chaney & Lemler Funeral Home. Also, he is a regular volunteer with Kate’s Kitchen and the Wells County Alzheimer’s Support Group.
Phillabaum is also an avid bicyclist and for almost 50 years has been a loyal follower of Bluffton football and basketball teams.
He and his wife, the former Joyce Wenger, have been married 45 years.
Their son, John, is in his 21st year with the U.S. Army and is a pilot stationed in Korea. Their daughter Jill lives in Fort Wayne and recently went back to school to become a nurse while daughter Jada lives in Peoria, Ill., and works in management for Caterpillar.
joe@news-banner.com