Wanda English Burnett, Editor

WANDA ENGLISH BURNETT PHOTO Bill Dramann, democrat candidate for sheriff, (center) talked with Republican candidate for sheriff, Tom Grills, (right), after the Meet Your Candidate Night event held at South Ripley Elementary School Monday night. Dramann's wife, Martha, (left) looks on.

Those in attendance at the Meet Your Candidates Night Monday, heard from 15 prospective candidates for the fall election. The event was sponsored by the Ripley County Chamber of Commerce and moderated by Cathy May.

Each candidate was given a minute for introduction and then given a question that also was allowed a one-minute response.

Dr. Eric Schansberg was the first to take the stand. He is the US Congress candidate for District 9 on the Libertarian ticket. The 15-year professor of Economics at Indiana University spoke to the critical need for social security to be preserved. He was asked what he thought about changing government workers (like those in the private sector) from guaranteed (and expensive) pensions to a 403b plan. The father of four sons said pensions and retirement plans have to be changed. As a professor of economics, he said the whole system of planning for the future needs to be preserved with some revision.

Lane Siekman, Rising Sun, is the Democrat candidate for State Senate District 43, challenging long-time incumbent Republican Johnny Nugent.

Nugent was asked if he was in favor of the Major Moves project of leasing Indiana Highways to foreign investors. Nugent replied that after careful research on the proposal he was definitely in favor. He said the road was not “sold” but “leased” to an Australian and Italian consortium who manage toll roads. He noted that 30 percent is owned by US citizens. He said that the initial $3.8 billion was placed in banks and is now making $6.00 a second - half a million dollars every day. “We’ve made almost $60M since July 1, making Indiana the envy of every state. He went on to say this move will provide a world class road system creating thousands of jobs for years to come.

Siekman didn’t see the Major Moves bill in the same light as Nugent. He said a 75-year lease is the same as a sale. He said it was a done deal before legislators voted on it and that the money will be spent before the lease is up.

Nugent’s comeback was, “Too bad Mr. Siekman doesn’t understand the program.” He said the money will not all be spent and if the company fails to keep their end of the bargain there are safeguards in place. “It’s a win-win situation for every taxpayer,” he noted.

Next Martin (Marty) Voegele, independent candidate for State Representative District 67 said he had lived his whole life in Batesville. When he was asked a question about what could be done to help small businesses with the overload of paperwork, especially reports, he said he didn’t know the answer, but would be glad to research it. He does know about small business, due to his family owning a parts store since 1958.

Incumbent State Representative District 67 Republican Cleo Duncan said huge changes are coming to the area. She has been in office since 1994 and says she will continue to work on issues such as property tax reform, balanced budget, and affordable and accessible education beyond high school for all. She was asked about what the government can do to help alleviate the high gasoline prices. A suggestion was to get rid of the .18 cent-a-gallon Indiana gas tax. Duncan was against doing away with the gas tax saying it goes to the upkeep of local roads, streets, and bridges. She went on to say it isn’t that much compared to other states.

Voegele responded that he felt Duncan was right, that roads needed to be kept up. He just questioned if we need more roads when we can’t keep up the ones we have now.

Duncan, who said she is the chair of the Roads and Transportation Committee, noted that there is $500M in savings with the interest accessed every five years for road upkeep. She said, “good roads bring good jobs.”

Robert Bischoff is the incumbent candidate for State Representative, District 68 on the Democrat ticket. He has held that position since 1980. He said his recent accomplishments include saving $70M of riverboat gaming money, which would have affected our area if it had been taken away. His question pertained to a .50 cent tax hike on cigarettes. He said he would never vote to increase taxes on cigarettes because it would have such an impact on tobacco growers in southeastern Indiana.

Opposing Bischoff in the fall is Bill Ullrich on the Republican ticket. He said, “It’s time for a change.” When asked what the most important issue before the state will be in the next two years, Ullrich said the first priority should be to have a real balanced budget, make government more lean, have less unfunded mandates and have property tax reform. He said, “There is no simple answer.”

David Cheatham, Democrat challenger for State Representative, District 69, noted that one of his priorities is education. He was a school teacher for 31 years and had previously served as state representative from 1984-2002. When asked about property taxes being a major issue and what could be done to reduce this tax, he replied, “The property tax system needs total reformation.” Incumbent Billy Bright, Republican, was not in attendance.

Mary Ann McCoy, Republican incumbent for Auditor was asked what she would suggest to make the budget process easier. McCoy said that while the process is complicated, with the council, commissioners and office holders working together it has become better. “I’m proud that we have a balanced budget,” she noted, adding that was due to officer holders cutting their budgets by five percent. Her challenger David Forwalt was not in attendance.

Candidate for sheriff Tom Grills introduced himself and said he was willing to be inconvenienced to get the job done. He said his formula for success was energy and efficiency would equal effectiveness. When asked what the biggest criminal problem was in the county, he said it was drug and alcohol addictions. Those addictions lead to other crimes and it seems to have a snowball effect, he told the crowd. What could he do to change this? Grills said he plans to initiate a drug task force. He said there’s always room for improvement and he’s willing to go in and work hard to make things better.

Democrat candidate Bill Dramann was asked how he felt about the present GED program for inmates and the proposal of allowing inmates access to college classes on a computer. He said he, along with Grills and another officer had recently discussed this and he felt education was a good thing.

Incumbent Commissioner Republican Robert Reiners was asked about offices in the courthouse. His question was, “Some offices in the courthouse have lots of their relatives working there. Many companies do not allow nepotism; why is it done so often in our local government? Reiners replied that office holders have the option of hiring their own staff - that isn’t regulated by the commissioners. The second part of his question was more of a statement: “It’s even worse when we visit these offices and see them just sitting around chit-chatting. We wouldn’t need to raise taxes so much if there was some control of this type of thing.” Reiners replied he hasn’t witnessed this and feels the officeholders and employees do a good job. Challenger Democrat Lloyd Richter was not in attendance.

Juanita “DeeDee” Kaiser was asked if she felt state funds and local revenue were being used wisely by existing local government. Running for County Council, 1st district, Kaiser said she believed the money was being used wisely and the roads were well maintained. She said she wasn’t looking to change the way the council was being run, but to be a part of it.

Joseph Decker, also running for County Council was asked what he would do if elected and the riverboat money stops. His question included, “It seems that every penny has been spent rather than saving some for the rainy day when the boat money disappears.” He replied the council would be looking to the commissioners if that happened. He said they (commissioners) took the boat money and spent it on roads and other things and some of it should be placed in a rainy day account.

Reiners noted that riverboat money does not go to roads and Ripley County does have a rainy day fund - about 800 to 900 thousand dollars. He said the council is tight with the money as they should be. When asked about what he thought about a regional airport, Reiners said the commissioners would hold public meetings and get input from the public about that.

Amber May, candidate for Johnson Township Trustee was asked how she was qualified to be a trustee and why she wanted that position. May noted that she has worked in the Auditor’s Office for the past four years, giving her knowledge she feels would benefit the trustee position. She said the reason she wants to be Johnson Township Trustee is to help others. Her opponent, Joyce Samples was not in attendance.

Other candidates in attendance who are not opposed in the upcoming election include: Edward L. Armbrecht, Ripley County Council 4th District; William (Bill) J. Warren, Center Township Trustee; Jeff French, Ripley County Surveyor; Richard J. “Ric” Hertel, Ripley County Prosecuting Attorney; and Tim Taylor, South Ripley School Board.

Candidates not in attendance included Washington Township Trustee: Ronald Denton, Arlin Hooker and Ruby McDonald; Shawna Bushhorn, Assessor, who was unable to attend due to a prior commitment; Robert Garcia, South Ripley School Board, was out of state visiting an elderly parent; Baron Hill will be challenging Mike Sodrel for US Congress, neither were in attendance at the event.