Candidates Face Off in Public Forum Monday Night

Winona Lake Town Council candidates debate at forum

By Josh Neuhart

WINONA LAKE, Ind. – The Winona Lake candidates for town council and the clerk-treasurer position faced off in a candidates’ forum on Monday night hosted by the Kosciusko County Silent No More group at the Winona Lake Senior Center.

Two Republican candidates from each of four wards were represented. In Ward 5 incumbent Randy Swanson has no opposition, although he was present and participated. Retha Hicks (incumbent) and Kent Adams are running for clerk-treasurer. The candidates will be voted upon in the May 3 primary election.

The forum, which was moderated by Dr. Michael Harstine of Grace College, allowed for each of the candidates to have a two-minute introduction followed by a series of answers to questions provided by Silent No More regarding social, character and local event issues. Each ward’s candidates responded to the same question back-to-back to allow the approximately 75 people in attendance an opportunity to compare answers. After the nine question-and-answer segments, each candidate issued a one-minute conclusion.

According to Silent No More co-founder Monica Boyer, the forum’s purpose was to provide a fair and balanced debate in order to educate voters. Boyer and Jim Heierman, the group’s other co-founder, opened the forum before the event was turned over to Harstine.

Dan Daggett and Philip Hood represented Ward 1. Daggett, in his first race for political office, offered to bring fresh insights and ideas to the town council. He desired to bring about a stronger police department, fire department and street department through his seat by giving them the resources they needed. He also stated the need to maintain the current $5,000 limit for unauthorized spending for the department heads in the town. “There’s a bright future out there for Winona Lake. We just have to keep moving in the right direction,” he said.

Hood, on the other hand, did not necessarily think that there needs to be a limit to the amount department heads can spend as long as they stay within their budget. He stated the importance for the town to work with Warsaw, Grace Village, Grace College, and Winona Lake Restoration to foster and protect the resources of the town. He also believed there is a need to maintain the quality of the streets in the town to ensure it stays “a wonderful place to live and work.”

In Ward 2, John Boal is attempting to upend the incumbent Terry Howie. Boal’s vision included a plan to enhance the existing community through finishing the Greenway project and preserving Winona Lake. He also recommended having a quarterly, joint town council meeting with the Warsaw Common Council to eliminate fences between the two areas. He believed that his ability to make decisive decisions in a timely manner set him apart from Howie. He insisted that the number one priority of the town council is to attract new businesses. “If we don’t attract new businesses, the only option is raise taxes, and that should not and can’t happen in Winona Lake,” he said.

Howie maintained that his community experience was invaluable. His ability to speak face-to-face with leaders in the community as a resident since 1964 allowed him to understand the issues. His next plan would be to complete the Greenway project and work toward eliminating the pollution of Winona Lake. He opposed Boal in the need to sustain the $5,000 spending limit for department heads. “In this economy, I think we need to do better micromanaging. We have to see if your tax dollars are being spent wisely,” he said.

Bruce Shaffner is the incumbent in Ward 3 and is running against Jerry Nelson. Shaffner believes he can provide common sense solutions with a simple approach to not let spending exceed the income. He discussed furthering partnerships between the public and private sectors and government institutions in the community in order to understand and resolve the local issues of the town.

Nelson maintained that his most important asset is his involvement. He said he is a regular attendee of town council meetings. His next project would be to make the town much more recreational in order to give the people of Warsaw more opportunities to utilize Winona Lake. He also issued a strong desire to get rid of the “abandoned factory as you enter or leave Winona Lake,” referring to the Gatke Building at 2321 South McKinley St., Warsaw.

In Ward 4, current town council president Sue Gooding squared off with Greg Winn. Gooding displayed a commitment to continue the work the current town council was performing, specifically in regards to the Greenway project and in preserving Winona Lake. One area she maintained that would set her apart from Winn was in work experience (28 years compared to three for Winn). As far as attracting new tax-paying businesses to the community, she claimed the town needs an area to put the businesses. “We are at a terrible lack of places to put businesses. Get a place to put (new businesses), and then we can put them,” she said.

Winn, on the other hand, desired to partner with and support the existing businesses in the town. He believed that completing the Greenway project and cleaning up Winona Lake would attract new entities. Furthermore, he issued plans to make the town into a bicycle and pedestrian-friendly community. He also made mention of creating an open-air market in the town, which could expand the type of culture that the Village of Winona currently creates.

The incumbent Randy Swanson is running unopposed for the Ward 5 seat. He stated a need to make the town council more than simply a “rubber-stamping mechanism for certain proposals.” He said there is a need to be reasonable in dealings with reputable existing businesses (such as allowing the three-way liquor licenses to BoatHouse Restaurant and Cerulean Restaurant) but to not allow new organizations into the town to lower the status of the community (such as a carryout or bar). He mentioned land along Highway U.S. 30 that would be suitable for industry development.

The final race was for the clerk-treasurer position between the incumbent Hicks and Adams. Hicks maintained that her level of commitment to the town has been proven over time, which distinguishes her from Adams. She supported Boal’s idea of a joint Warsaw/Winona Lake meeting for the councils and also stressed the need for home rule and unfunded mandates in local government to give the town more say in local affairs. “Legislation that…can increase our time or financial commitment to accomplish is crippling to a small community,” she said.

Adams pointed to his diverse work experience as a CFO in school corporations to a town trustee to a state trooper to working in the Indiana General Assembly as a definite separation from himself and Hicks. He had several ideas the council could explore including: posting the town’s monthly financial reports online, filing electronically all town council reports to ensure accuracy and establishing a system to make sure all contracts are renewed in a timely manner. “I want to provide fiscal application of all the public tax dollars that come into this office,” he said. “I feel I’m qualified, and I think my candidacy this year offers voters for the first time in 18 years a choice.”

The candidates differed only slightly and agreed overall that a three-way liquor license for Boathouse, Cerulean was deserved since both restaurants were reputable. Most candidates also mentioned that not-for-profit organizations in the community were valuable entities that do not need to provide additional money to the town.