A ‘Meet the Candidates’ Night was held at the Knox Community Center yesterday evening.
The event began at 6pm Central Time and was hosted by The Leader, the City of Knox, the Chamber of Commerce, and WKVI. Candidates were called up by position they were running for and invited to share an opening introduction, and then to answer questions that were submitted prior to the event.
The event was moderated by Starke County Chamber of Commerce President Jerry Gurrado, who opened the event stating that this year’s candidate event received nearly 170 questions. He stated that this amount of interest in local government is fantastic, and that local officials have more influence on our day-to-day lives than bigger forms of government.
A total of 27 candidates participated and either introduced themselves, answered questions, or both during the 4-hour event.
School board candidates for both Knox and Oregon-Davis answered questions and spoke about their connection to the community. School budgets were brought up multiple times, as were things such as class sizes and staffing issues.
School board candidates who attended the event include:
Mary Lynn Ritchie, Julie Berndt, Raymond Edward Stephenson, and Erin Duff for Knox
Kyle Burch and Holly Leinbach Richwalski for Oregon Davis
Township Trustees were invited to the stage next, with 2 of the 11 trustee candidates appearing at the event: Both Thomas Schouten and Dr. Steven Clark Bradley, who are both candidates for Center Township Trustee, answered questions regarding the duties of trustees.
There is another pair of township trustee candidates who are running against each other; Suzie (Donna) K. Woods and Richard L. Wendel are both running for the Wayne Township Trustee seat, though neither took the stage at the event.
Of the 37 candidates for township board positions in Starke County, two participated in the event, including Bonita Beck. The second candidate did not identify himself by name during his appearance.
Candidates for Clerk of the Circuit Court took the stage next, which included Stocc Holton and Cathy Norem. Holton and Norem agreed on answers to many of the questions, which focused mainly around following guidelines and rules set up by the office.
Both candidates for County Auditor Michaelene Houston and Bernadette Manuel introduced themselves and answered audience questions next, followed by Recorder candidates Christine Lotter and Jennifer Shepherd Madsen.
County Sheriff candidates Brack Rowe and Jack Rosa took different stances on many of the questions posed, including in regards to the level of patrol in the county and the Department’s take-home vehicle policy. Rowe stated he would like to see more patrols and that he would change the take-home vehicle policy for officers, while Rosa stated the department doesn’t currently have staffing to increase patrols and that he was not interested in changing the vehicle policy.
When each Sheriff’s candidate was asked what made them a better candidate than their opponent, Rowe answered that his health and ability to respond quickly set him ahead, while Rosa focused on his experience and contacts he has made during his time as acting sheriff.
One point of agreement for both candidates was that they both stated they had no intentions of firing anyone, though Rowe did mention a plan for conducting employee interviews.
Candidate for County Assessor, Michelle Houston Schouten, introduced herself and conceded her time given that she is running unopposed and the event was running late into the evening. She did state that she would be available after the event for questions. Later in the event, unopposed candidate for Prosecuting Attorney, Autumn C. Ferch, did the same.
Both candidates for County Commissioner, Bryan Harold Cavender and E. Todd Leinbach, were at the meeting, and both answered questions from the community regarding things such as data centers and solar farms. They were asked about their plans if elected as Commissioner, and about how they might deal with specific situations.
County Council candidate for District 2, Howard A. Bailey, Jr., introduced himself but also conceded his time as his opponent was not at the event.
Finally, Candidates for State Representative in Districts 16 and 20 spoke: Kendell Culp, Ashley Hammac, Laura Liskey, and Jim Pressel.
The full livestream video of the Meet the Candidates event can be found on WKVI’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/wkviradio
