BY BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
The appointment of Decatur’s new parks superintendent has been made official while the latest addition to the city police department soon will be joining the force.
Cara Gerber’s certificate appointment was accepted by the city’s board of works and safety at its latest meeting.
Gerber, who had been serving as a special education teacher at Bellmont Elementary, began her new duties on February 24.
A Bluffton native whose husband, Kevin, is Decatur’s chief of police, was chosen from an original field of 20 applicants for the newly-created position within city government.
She reports to the city park board.
When longtime city operations manager Jeremy Gilbert resigned a new months ago, his assistant, Matt Schultz, was temporally moved into the top spot.
Mayor Dan Rickord, however, thought the duties of operations manager needed to be thinned out. So Schultz was named to oversee the street and sanitation departments and the new post of parks superintendent was created.
Ryan Lehrman remains as the city’s manager of the REV Sports Complex, a post he has held since 2022.
A NEW MAN: Also at the last meeting, Chief Gerber told the board that the department’s newest hire, Trevor J. Newman, has passed all his PERF (Public Employee Retirement Fund) requirements.
The Fort Wayne native and Berne resident will join the department on March 16.
His appointment will keep the PD at full strength following the June 19 retirement of Deputy Chief Chris Brite.
Newman attended Vincennes University from 2022-2024 and studied criminal justice.
He has been a confinement officer at the Adams County since February of last year.
Another recent hire, Kobey Eaton, 22, has been sworn in and has been doing his field training since February 2.
Still another new officer, Conrad Dyer, is currently in training at the Indiana Police Academy in Plainfield. He is expected to graduate at the end of April.
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