CROTHERSVILLE
Terry Richey is banking on her past experience as Crothersville’s clerk-treasurer to help in her new role.
At the start of Tuesday night’s Crothersville Town Council meeting, she was sworn in as the council’s newest member by Clerk-Treasurer Staci Peters.
Richey, 61, replaces Katie Masters, who chose a new career path that called for her to step down from the council. Masters is taking over for Taleen Baker as the town’s second deputy to Peters and will continue to serve on the town’s unsafe building board.
Jackson County Republican Party Chairwoman Amanda Lowery appointed Richey to finish Masters’ term, which expires at the end of 2023.
“Everything just came up pretty quick,” Richey said of council President Danieta Foster calling her to let her know Masters resigned. “Then she called me about a week and a half, two weeks ago and said, ‘Would you be interested in fulfilling her spot?’ I said, ‘Let me think about it.'”
Richey discussed it with her husband, Dwayne, and he encouraged her to go for it.
“One of the comments that he made was that ‘You’ve thought about running for town council before, so this will give you a chance to try it and see what you think,'” she said. “It’s something I’ve thought about. I don’t know what this will bring, if it will bring four more years after this or what, but we’ll see.”
Richey took Michele Teipen’s place as clerk-treasurer in 2013 and then ran for election in 2015 and won. She served in that role from 2016 to 2019 but chose not to run for re-election because she said it was hard doing that job along with serving as treasurer for Crothersville Community School Corp.
Even though she hasn’t worked for the town over the past year and a half, she has kept up with what’s going on.
“I’m familiar with the projects that are going on — the combined sewer overflow and stuff. I was in on the ground floor of all of that, and I understand the finances and the reporting and all of that stuff, so I just feel like I already know all of it, stayed in contact and in touch with what’s going on,” she said. “It just felt like an easy transition.”
Plus, she’s familiar with Peters and her fellow four council members, which includes Foster, Chad Wilson, Jamy Greathouse and Jason Hillenburg.
“I’m excited about it,” Richey said. “They seem to work really well together.”
She looks forward to working with them in a different capacity than before.
“Just always doing what’s right, what’s good for the public, the people in the town and making sure that everything we decide on is positive things to make the town grow,” Richey said. “I’m excited about that part of it, just getting the opportunity to get my feet wet, see if it’s something I’d be interested in doing.”
Richey is a 1978 graduate of Crothersville High School. After that, she worked for Nolting’s Super Valu in town for a while and then Home Federal Savings Bank in Seymour before being a stay-at-home mom for six years.
In 1996, she started working at the school, which is where she remains today. She started as a high school aide and then in 2000 became the elementary extracurricular treasurer before going to the central office in October 2002.
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Name: Terry Richey
Age: 61
Hometown: Crothersville
Residence: Crothersville
Education: Crothersville High School (1978)
Occupation: Treasurer for Crothersville Community School Corp. and newest member of the Crothersville Town Council
Family: Husband, Dwayne Richey; four children; nine grandchildren
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