A resident of the Village of Winifred, has filed to run for the District 1 Sumter County Commission seat.
Deb Butterfield officially filed paperwork Wednesday with the Sumter County Supervisor of Elections office. She will be running for the seat currently held by Villager Roberta Ulrich, who has not indicated if she will be running for another term.
Butterfield has been a resident of The Villages since 2012 when she purchased a small retail business in Colony Plaza, which she later sold in 2016.
Butterfield is the president/owner of Deb Butterfield Communications and has worked with many local government, non-profit and business clients in her hometown of Valparaiso, Ind. She was also appointed and then elected to serve on the city council there and held numerous leadership positions on several boards and commissions, including the State of Indiana’s Ivy Tech Community College Board of Trustees.
In addition to her role as an elected official, Butterfield was also a Chamber of Commerce executive in Indiana for 15 years.
“I understand the needs of businesses, particularly small businesses, and what it takes to survive,” she said.
She also worked for the county’s hospital and led the community engagement and transition process as it was sold to a large national for-profit healthcare system.
“Change is not easy, and that was not an easy process, even though it was necessary,” she said. “Working with the county officials, hospital employees and residents as this transition was made was definitely a challenge.”
Butterfield is currently an independent editor/writer for the Property Owners’ Association monthly Bulletin. She said this has allowed her to become immersed in local government, regularly attending meetings of the Villages District residential boards and committees, as well as Sumter County Commission meetings. She has researched and written about issues of importance to residents throughout Sumter County, which she said has made her knowledgeable of the issues and qualified to hold the position of Sumter County Commissioner.
Butterfield said she will:
- Work to keep taxes low.
- Work with, and listen to, every resident in Sumter County.
- Balance the interests of residents and business.
- Make decisions that will maintain a high quality of life for all residents of Sumter County.
After being a full-time caregiver for her mother, who passed away in 2022, Butterfield said she now has the time to devote to public service again.
“Public service is in my blood,” Butterfield said. “I just can’t sit on the sidelines while important decisions that affect every resident’s quality of life are being made.”
Butterfield said she stands for Fairness, Integrity, and Truth, making her “FIT” to represent the people of Sumter County’s District 1 and all of the residents of Sumter County.
