Winona Lake town council candidates participate in forum
By Stephen Copeland
WINONA LAKE, Ind. – Winona Lake’s 11 town council hopefuls did little to differentiate themselves at a two-hour debate hosted by Kosciusko Silent No More on Monday evening.
The meeting included candidates Dan Daggett and Phil Hood (Ward 1), John Boal and Terry Howie (Ward 2), Jerry Nelson and Bruce Shaffner (Ward 3), Sue Gooding and Greg Winn (Ward 4), incumbent council member Randy Swanson (Ward 5) who is running uncontested and Kent Adams and Retha Hicks (clerk-treasurer). Grace College faculty member Michael Harstine moderated the forum at the Winona Lake Senior Center where about 75 people were in attendance.
The candidates delivered their two-minute opening statements then addressed a number of character and social issues that Silent No More gathered for the forum. They agreed on several subjects, all expressing concern for preserving the cleanliness of Winona Lake and the completion of the Greenway project. None of them expressed animosity regarding local businesses obtaining three-way liquor licenses—unless the people of Winona Lake had a problem with it.
They also agreed that the town council was a vital instrument in attracting small businesses to the town, believed $5,000 was an appropriate amount for spending without authorization among department heads, valued the importance of non-profits such as Grace College in the community, believed “home rule” was crucial for Gov. Daniels and all valued the importance of partnering with Warsaw. Each candidate mentioned that he/she relied on God and the Bible for moral authority.
In Ward 1, Daggett, who is in his 24th year as a sales manager at Lake City Radio, believed that his experience of working with “cash flow and revenue and keeping those costs in line” on a daily basis was an important distinction between him and his opponent.
Lifelong Winona Lake resident Hood, on the contrary, a materials planner for Medtronic who is involved in a committee that completes service projects, thought his ability to “adapt and be a team player” better qualified him for the job.
Boal, in Ward 2, accused the incumbent Howie of being “afraid to make decisive decisions in a timely manner” such as the Greenway Project and the Gardens for Winona, projects that were supposedly tabled. Boal was also the first town council member of the evening to suggest a quarterly, joint town council meeting with the Warsaw and Winona Lake governments beginning in 2012. “Being a council member in Winona Lake is not about mending fences with Warsaw,” Boal said. “There can be no fences with Warsaw.”
Howie, in response, said that as a town council member, he has strived to “make proper decisions at the proper time to make sure tax dollars are being used properly and not misused or abused.” He mentioned that being a Winona Lake resident since 1964has allowed him to get to know the community and leaders of Kosciusko County.
In Ward 3, candidate Nelson prided himself on his involvement attending the town council meetings regularly for the last six years. He said he was instrumental in making the council aware of a boat ordinance that was eventually changed by the council. Nelson was also very specific in what he wanted to be known for as a council member.
“[I want] to get rid of that ugly factory when you enter Winona Lake where there was just a meth bust,” Nelson said. “My legacy would be to work with Warsaw and work with whoever we need to so we can get rid of that terrible mess and the criminal activity that goes on there.”
Shaffner said that he has lived in the community his entire life and as the president of Shaffner & Shaffner Enterprises Inc., and being in business for the last 30 years, he is plugged into the community.
“I know a vast majority of the people sitting out here,” Shaffner said. “I think I’ve always portrayed myself as an open individual who is willing to talk and listen to what your needs are…We have a public business, and it’s easy to find me.”
In Ward 4, Winn, 29, said that he is passionate about growth and improvement, evidenced by managing a cooperative of pharmacies that has recently grown from 180 to 280. The incumbent Gooding responded by exploiting Winn’s inexperience in light of her 28 years of doing business.
“Three years [of business] is great, but I tell you, if three years is equivalent to school experience, that puts you in the third grade…You’ve learned a lot, but I have 28 years of meeting payroll and dealing with customers and meeting with vendors. It’s not even close.”
Later in the evening, Winn talked specifically about his legacy project: “The thing I want to accomplish the most is the pedestrian friendly and bicycle friendly community. I believe that builds stronger communities.” Gooding said she wants to be known as a listener who “made it happen,” mentioning that as a town council member she has “gotten all of the board’s empty spots filled with fresh new people.”
For the clerk treasurer’s position, Adams mentioned that his experience—16 years as CFO in a public school corporation, 10 years as a township trustee, 16 years at the Indiana General Assembly, four years as the Kosciusko County Treasurer, being an Indiana State Trooper and 31 years in public education—separated him from the incumbent Hicks.
Hicks said that her level of commitment as the clerk treasurer separated her from Adams, alluding to a project she recently completed where a donor gave money for an art display and a garden that cost her 60 hours a week for three weeks to get it done—40 hours spent in the office and 20 hours working on the garden.
The primary is May 3.
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