Beech Grove, Indiana - Government

Government

Although geographically completely surrounded by Indianapolis, Beech Grove maintains its own police, fire, public works, and parks departments and operates its own public library and senior-citizens' center.

Beech Grove's government was first organized as a "Town Board" system on November 12, 1906. The system remained until 1935, consisting of three elected Ward representatives and a Clerk-Treasurer. From 1911 to 1939, Board members were elected as representatives of locally-organized political parties (e.g., Progressive, Citizens's Ticket, Peoples's Ticket).

Upon legally becoming an Indiana Fifth-Class City in 1935, its first mayor and four city council members were elected (three district members, and one at-large). Beech Grove achieved Indiana Fourth-Class City status in 1961. The present city council consists of five district members and two at-large members, plus an elected clerk-treasurer.

The mayors, their political affiliations, and their terms of office, have been:

• Charles Adams (Progressive, 1935—1938); (Democratic, 1939—1942)
• E. Allen Hunter (Republican, 1943—1948 and 1952—1955)
• Richard H. Byland (Democratic, 1948—1951)
• David D. Finney (Democratic, 1956—1958)
• Elton H. Geshwiler (Democratic, 1959—1991)
• J. Warner Wiley (Democratic, 1991—2003)
• Donald "Joe" Wright (Republican, 2004—2011)
• John Jennings (Republican, interim, 2011)
• Terry Dilk (Republican, 2011)
• Dennis Buckley (Democratic, 2012)

Mayor Joe Wright announced his resignation from the office as of January 14, 2011; CIty Councilman John Jennings was named as Interim Mayor, until the appointment of Terry Dilk on January 25, 2011 by the Marion County Republican Committee to fill out Wright's term through the 2011 elections. Dilk was defeated in the November 8, 2011 election by former City fire chief Dennis Buckley, who became the first Mayor to have been the child of a former candidate for the same office (his father, Robert Buckley, was defeated in the 1967 election).

The 1951 Mayoral election featured Democrat Alice Stratton, one of Indiana's first female candidates for such an office.

The city flag was not adopted until the 1970s, when a competition was held in which citizens were invited to submit designs. The winning designer was Mike Hart. The flag features an orange, black and white logo on a blue field; the logo shows the profile of an old-style railroad locomotive, in orange, with a white circle superimposed in the center. The circle contains a depiction of the tower complex of St. Francis Hospital, and bears the name of the city, the year "1906" and the motto "Where Tradition Welcomes Progress."