Candidates and members of the public filed into the Monroe County Public Library Sunday afternoon for the Meet the Democratic Candidates forum in preparation for election day Nov. 4. Susan Sandberg, city council member and vice chair of the Monroe County Democratic Party, served as the emcee for the event.
U.S. House of Representatives
Bill Bailey, District 9
“Never in my lifetime have I seen congress so completely broken,” said Bailey. The former mayor of Seymour, Ind., said his key points of interest are raising minimum wage, raising wages for women, improving women’s health care and making college more affordable, among others.
County Commissioner
Patrick Stoffers, District 1
Stoffers has more than seven years of experience as a Monroe County commissioner and said he believes a lot has been accomplished his two terms in office. Stoffers said one of his main goals is a $1.4 million project to improve infrastructure in Monroe County.
County Council
Shelli Yoder, District 1
“I value efficient, transparent and effective government and responsible fiscal management of our county’s resources,” county council member Yoder said. This former nonprofit director and faculty member at the Kelley School of Business said she hopes to assist in maintaining and improving the safety of county, funding roads and bridges, creating and making accessible sidewalks and trails and continuing to bring high-quality, fair wage jobs to Monroe county.
Ryan Cobine, District 2
Cobine said his platform is all about openness, collaboration and realistic support for county services. Cobine discussed the difference between making information available to the public and making it accessible. He also highlighted other areas that require attention such as providing fair wages and adapting to the changing demands of the environment and economy.
Jeff Carson, District 3
Carson ran for office in 2012, but he said he wishes to support the county as member of the county council. He has years of experience as the owner of a barbeque business and said he wishes to apply this experience to public office.
Rick Dietz, District 4
Dietz is a liberal democrat who has served on the county council for three years. He said he wishes to create a just, humane and fair society where the budget is an articulation of values. “The budget is how the county government turns public aspirations into action,” Dietz said. His key areas of focus are helping those in the community who need assistance, promoting a healthy and diverse economy with fair waged jobs, continuing the conservation fund and improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of county government.
County Clerk
Linda Robbins
Robbins’ candidate statement was read by City Clerk, Regina Moore in Robbins’ absence.
Robbins was elected in 2010 for the first time, and her goals focus on fiscal responsibility. As the county clerk, Robbins has digitized a lot of records to make them available through electronic means, improving the efficiency of the office and expediting court processes.
Recorder
Eric Schmitz
A graduate of the School of Library and Information Sciences at IU, Schmitz has both academic and professional experience in public management. He has served on the township board for six years and is exploring options to make some public records more accessible through digital delivery.
Assessor
Judy Sharp
Sharp has served as county assessor since 2001. She has an extensive background in management and public service, and she helped transform the antiquated assessment system into a market-value system. Sharp said she wishes to continue making fair and equitable assessments, as well as streamline and improve the efficiency of assessor’s office.
Prosecutor
Chris Gaal
Chris Gaal, the current prosecutor for Monroe County, said he hopes to improve the community’s response to violence. Gaal said he understands the challenges faced under Indiana’s new criminal laws. As prosecutor, he has established the Get a Ride drunken driving prevention campaign, helped improve elderly care standards, created a sexual assault response team and helped establish a child advocacy center called Susie’s Place.
Sheriff
Brad Swain
Swain grew up in Monroe County and has been in the sheriff’s office since 1985, working under five different sheriffs through the years. A graduate of the FBI National Academy, Swain hopes to restructure the sheriff’s office and put more deputies back on patrol, increase the visibility of patrol cars by putting sheriff markers on unmarked cars and create alternatives to incarceration to solve jail overcrowding.
Judge
Alphonso Manns, Circuit Court III
If elected as judge, Mann said he hopes to find a means to effectively and efficiently develop an electronic filing network and a teleconferencing system for communication between judges and lawyers, which he said will help reshape the justice system in Monroe County.
Elizabeth Cure, Circuit Court IV
This Maurer School of Law grad is seeking a second term as judge for the fourth circuit court. Cure practiced law for 17 years and has years of multicultural experience and a love of law that she said she believes will make her a good judge. She also hopes to reduce recidivism rates in the county and give protection to those who need it.
Valeri Haughton, Circuit Court VIII
Haughton, who said she wishes to bring fair, conscientious judging to Monroe County , said she is an avid supporter of mediation as an alternative means to trial. “We’re experiencing an increased number of court filings and people representing themselves,” Haughton said .
Township Trustee
Michelle Bright
Bright was absent at the forum. She has been a resident of Benton Township for 18 years and has been involved in several church and youth activities. Bright has spent eight years as a volunteer firefighter and has been a trustee for the last 4 years. She said she wishes to enhance fiscal responsibility by streamlining bills and balancing budget, as well as increasing the transparency in the office by making info easily available.
Dan Combs
Combs, a Perry Township trustee with 28 years of experience, is a retired teacher from Monroe County School Corporation. He has been a trustee for nearly 20 years and has heard 25,000 individual requests for assistance. “Poverty is not standardized,” said Combs, who seeks to assist nonprofits and provide for those in poverty.
Vicki Swarenson
Swarenson is running for reelection as Indian Creek trustee. She said her goal is to provide informative leadership and keep ‘trust’ in trustee.
Lilian Henneger
The Bloomington Township is composed of 44,000 people and has a $2.5 million budget. Hennerger said she wishes to provide sustainable and sufficient funding for fire and medical services and address the widening income gap as Bloomington Township trustee.
Amy Swain
Looking to be reelected to Indian Creek Township Board, Swain said she is aiming for accountability and transparency in local government. According to Swain, one of the biggest challenges the township faces is I-69, which will bisect the Indian Creek Township, necessitating services protection for the area.
Mary McInerney
McInerney said she believes her experience as a licensed Indiana funeral director will give her a certain skillset that other candidates for Benton Township Board might not possess.
State House of Representatives
Jim Mann, District 46
Mann, a government teacher at Terre Haute North Vigo High School, said he wants to advocate for working men and women. Mann’s statement was read in his absence at the forum.
Daymon Brodhacker, District 60
“I chose to run because I feel there are representatives in the state house with a bitter agenda that conflicts with interests of everyday Hoosiers,” Brodhacker said at the forum. This 34-year public servant said he plans to author and sponsor bills that benefit public schools and public servants. Brodhacker said he also plans to raise minimum wage, support school budgets, not punish schools because of test scores and help women and children. “Women are the backbone of our society and our families,” he said. “When women earn more, have more education and have upward mobility in their jobs, we all win.”
Jeff Sparks, District 62
Sparks has 35 years of experience in public education, and he said he plans to use this experience to make education a priority. He also said he plans to stop the war on the middle class and provide better jobs and benefits for middle earners. Sparks touched on issues of discrimination. He does not believe we should condone legislation that discriminates against anybody, he said.
Matt Pierce, District 61
Pierce is running on a platform that includes economic opportunity for all, strong public schools, affordable access to higher education, and clean environment. He said he believes wages for working families in Indiana lag behind the rest of the nation, and this can be solved by raising minimum wage and expanding benefits. On the topic of the environment, Pierce said the legislature has refused to admit that climate change is a problem.
