Boone County Primary Candidate Forum

Again, I want to thank the candidates that came out tonight and participate. We couldn't have done this without them. A couple of the candidates did call and let me know they couldn't be here. And then we had a couple that just didn't respond at all. I have to say we're more than a little disappointed that they couldn't be here or didn't think this was important enough to show up and help escape the public on their views, but I am appreciative of the ones that did. One thing I want to point out, we had some signs up, but I'll ask anybody that brought a snack. We can't have any peanuts in the building. Our moderator has a severe peanut allergy, and if you open up peanuts and she's affected, you're going to be stuck with me as a moderator and you don't want that.

So this is being recorded. It'll be available on YouTube in a few days. We'll make that link available. We'll be able to see it on the website and some other places. And by being here tonight, we believe you're implying that you're fine with being recorded and possibly showing up here. So with that, I want to introduce our moderator, Kate Shepard over to my left. We're really happy to have Kate here. She has an extensive background in marketing communications. She is a past producer and anchor on Inside Indiana Business, was a communications director and the Indiana Secretary of State's office, was senior anchor and reporter on Network Indiana. She's been on WIVC radio as an anchor, Wish TV, and was awarded a Sagamore Law badge back in 2004. So with that.

I'm going to turn it over to Kate.

So to the candidates who showed up, thank you so much for being here. I do wanna let you know the ground rules for tonight's event. Each candidate will have two minutes for an opening statement. And then you will have, their opponents will have time to respond to questions is two minutes. Let me say that again. When you're asked a question, you will have two minutes to respond after you give your opening statement.

The ladies here in the front will have the signs. When they hold up the yellow 30-second sign, that means there is 30 seconds remaining. If you are in the middle of a thought, we will let you finish your sentence, so feel free to do that within reason, please. And then the red stop sign will be held up.

when two minutes are up.

If your opposition has said something that you would like to respond to, you will have 30 seconds to respond to that. And then the red stop sign will be held up again when your 30 second rebuttal time is up. Candidates, as I said, will be allowed to finish attendance once started, even after the red sign, so feel free to do that. I will have the final decision as to when you have exceeded your time limit. So we'll keep it as fair as possible. And I will be allowed to ask some follow-up questions, depending on your answers. So with that, I'd like to call up the assessor candidates. Jennifer Lassley, who is the incumbent, and Karina Papavathini, who I don't believe is here today.

Thank you for being here, and you are on the hot seat for the first person, so...

You'll be fine. So thank you for being here, Jennifer. Absolutely. Thank you for having me. So I want to first of all give you the two minutes for your opening statement. Okay. What would you like the audience to know?

Well, I want to say good evening. I am Jennifer Lastly. I am your current Boone County Assessor. I want to thank, first off, Kate for coming and moderating this, and I'd also like to thank everybody for coming and the Farm Bureau for having us here. I have been married for seven years. I have one daughter and I have a bonus daughter, all of which are very supportive with my decision to rerun for Assessor.

I'm a lifelong resident of Boone County. I graduated from Lebanon High School. I have a business degree from the Kelly School of Business. I obtained my Level 3 Indiana Assessor Appraiser Certification in 2016. In March of 2022, I was actually caucused into the office because the previous, my predecessor retired early. And so in March of 2022, I took over as assessor, which I had already signed up to run. And so my term started, well, my election was in 2022. I started then, I won my election and I started my term in January 1, 2023. Boone County is the second fastest growing in the county. I mean, sorry, in the state of Indiana. And with the growth, the office needs to have experience, knowledge and professionalism.

As your most qualified candidate, I will continue helping taxpayers to navigate the property tax system. I want to thank my family, all of my friends, my supporters through my first...

term as assessor and I am looking forward to being re-elected as your assessor and I will continue to make sure that the assessments are fair, equitable, and I will always be working for you.

You hinted at your background a little bit, but what experience did you have before taking this office that qualifies you to continue in this position?

When I started in the office in 2011, I had come from the- a vendor who was working personal property and so I had worked with personal property office for a year. So I actually had some personal property experience. I didn't have a lot of the real estate experience. But as I got in to the office as deputy assessor is where I started, I immediately got my level one, got my level two and started working on my level three.

So.

if I didn't.

Are you listed?

Um...

This office does require special certification, which you just talked about. Can you explain to people who may not be familiar with the level one, level two, level three, what certifications are required and what you actually hold?

Absolutely, so the level one is the first one that anyone would take, and that is for, that is teaching you how to do assessments on the residential side of the property. The level two is talking about the commercial. We are learning about the commercial side of assessing. And then the level three, those are just one test per level. The level three is a lot more complicated, and at one point I believe it's still law that as the assessor, you have to have your level three within the first year of becoming an assessor. But that is actually five different classes, and you have to take a test and pass every single test for every single class that you take.

And we know that there's never any conflict among county officials, right? But how would you handle any conflicts with other county office holders in the operations with the assessor's office?

Yeah, so this has been a very difficult situation for me lately. I have tried to remain professional.

situation for me like

I have tried to be compromising and to work with others but ultimately I will always stand up for what's right.

Thank you.

We stand up.

I will stand up for what's accurate and good for the taxpayer and because that's who elected me is the taxpayers, it's not my other elected officials.

them.

How do you-

keep yourself updated on changes in real estate trends and tax regulations.

So we actually monitor all sales that come through Boone County. And so we enter every single one of them into the system. We have to look them all up, look and see if they were listed. If they were, they have valid sale. And so we watch the market constantly every day. And then we also will break that down in the assessor's office as sales by neighborhood. So we will pull sales just per neighborhood, like when someone files an appeal in the office, we will narrow their appeal down to where we're looking at just their area, their neighborhood. And then, I'm sorry, what was the second part?

girl.

How do you keep up with the changes in tax legislation? So that is difficult because it's constant. But I actually was nominated to be the West Central District Assessors Liaison, so to speak, for legislation this year. And so we have a group that monitors anything that's going on, what's being talked about, if there's anything that comes out of that.

We don't think it's good, it's not going to work out well for our office, we don't like it for the taxpayer, I'm not afraid to reach out to my legislators.

I'll see you next time.

Obviously this would not be your first term, what do you hope to accomplish that you haven't been able to already?

Um.

Ultimately, I like the interaction with the taxpayers. I like to be able to sit down because nobody likes taxes. Nobody likes their assessment and everybody says it's too high. I love sitting down, talking with individuals, explaining to them exactly how we got where we are. And so for me, explaining to the taxpayers and them understanding the process better is definitely something that I want to continue to expand on. I am going to try to reach out to, and I'm sure one of my legislators here, I've reached out to several times and he probably doesn't want to hear this, but I'm going to reach out to them more and let them know of some more things that I have idea-wise.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

We are the individuals on the front line who get the phone calls from the taxpayers.

with everything that's going on. And so it's our job as your elected officials to go on to the legislators and try to help get things fixed or better for you.

you are facing a challenger.

a challenger.

What do you, who is not here today, they are in this room. What do you bring to the table that maybe your challenger does not?

Thank you.

experience, the knowledge, transparency. I have answered questions. I have definitely reached out. If I've been in contact, I will respond. And so I feel like, as I said, Boone County is the second fastest growing county and this job is not something that

Thank you. Good night.

anyone can just walk in and do. You really have to have an understanding of the market. You have to have some experience. And so I feel that that is why.

Thanks for watching!

I'm the most qualified candidate.

Any closing remarks that we didn't touch on?

I don't think so. I thank you very much all for coming, like I said, and I appreciate your vote. And thank you for those out there who have supported me through my first elect, my first term, and the troubles and trials that I have gone through as assessor.

But I take every day and everything as a learning opportunity, so I appreciate each and every one of you.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

All right, now I would like to call the county clerk candidates to the stage. Lisa Bruder is the incumbent and Yvonne Martinez is the challenger. And I don't believe Yvonne is here tonight.

Are we good now? Yeah. Excellent.

And Brayden Daggett is doing a wonderful job swiping out the names.

Thank you, Brian. All right. Lisa, thank you so much for being here today. Tell me a little bit about the roles and responsibilities of the county clerk. For those who may not be familiar with the county

We'll be right back. Thank you.

The county clerk actually holds so many different responsibilities. A lot of people think that our big portion of what I do every day is elections, but it's actually so much smaller. It's like juggling hats, so many different. We do from traffic tickets to marriage license to divorces to helping people that have been suspended because they haven't paid a ticket from Thorntown 10 years ago to signing these tickets, to taking over the court system that have closed down, to coming in. Most people that come through our office are there on their worst day. They're filing for divorce, they're paying a criminal. It's showing compassion to those people. It's making sure that they understand that everyone makes mistakes, but we're just here to serve you as public servants.

And I just realized I did not give you the chance to make an opening statement. So my apologies for that, but if you'd like to go ahead and make one now. Do I get four minutes?

Yes, I do talk a lot, don't eat out of your room, I do have that in common. My name is Lisa Bruder, I've been married to my husband for, I had to set a weird count since January 14 years. We have three beautiful children, Kara, Nathan, and Phoebe, and I have a beautiful brand new grandson. He might be perfect. And I have the most amazing parents that support me through everything, and I'm so blessed with our family.

We were.

beyond blessed that I was raised with my grandma as the

the head hot show of the family and she always installed the family comes for God comes first the family and our family shows up for everything. I have the best team that you could ever imagine it's taken me a while to get them but they support me through everything. I'm always about having fun but we are there to serve the community and do the best job that we can.

Um.

I grew up in a small community. At eight o'clock at night, I would ride my bike over to my grandma's.

I've been small.

eat popcorn or whatever and that's what even though that's not the situation that we have, I still want to embrace the growth that Boone County has and offer that.

Thank you.

Thank you for that. And thank you for your grace with the moderator. I appreciate that. Tell me a little bit about your background and qualifications before you became county clerk.

I graduated with my associate in political science as a paralegal and I started out in circuit court being the bailiff. And then I went on to work for defense counsel where then I was hired by Penny Bowman and then became first deputy under Jessica Phelps. So I've been mentored very well and I've been in the office for 20 years. And my degree as a paralegal helps with the legal, all the different legal things that go through our office.

You obviously have a challenger, even though they have not attended tonight, for whatever reason. But what skills do you have that maybe your challenger may not, or what makes you the right candidate for this job?

God's will will be number one, if this is where he wants me. Number two, deafness experience. The experience that I offer, it's not an office that you can just come in and just be like, oh, I think I'll try this. There's so many things that you have. The retention schedules on everything. Staying up on all the different laws and how things change are huge. So, I mean, I think experience and common sense. I'm a common sense candidate. There's far left and there's far right and then there's left and there's right. And I just want to be the person that we can get together to figure this out.

together.

So when I was in the Secretary of State's office was the year that we had the hanging chats.

for the voting and the presidential race.

And I'll see you in the next one.

Thanks.

What are the pros and cons of paper, ballots, and electronic voting machines?

I will tell you, there are no pros to paper ballots. I personally requested that the state come out and do a audit. In the biggest election, 2024 presidential election, I was the first county to reach out to them to say, hey, can we do an audit? We were 99.9% accurate.

The only reason we were not 100 percent was because I chose for them not to do every seat, like they randomly picked the candidates, but we just did contested races. Since we didn't have that many contested in the primary, they didn't need to do all of them.

How do you plan to tackle any issues with

electronic voting machines.

There should be no issues with electronic revolutions. In Indiana, micro-boat is an amazing...

company. We are not connected to the internet. We are not getting hacked. We program the machines with nothing that can be connected.

I mean, I'm not worried about that. Okay.

What are the responsibilities of the county clerk pursuant to the election board? What are you supposed to do? And then what are the roles of the election board? How do those differ?

My role on the election board is secretary. So I take all the notes and I do all that. I schedule, set out all the scheduling and make sure that we're going to go. And then if we have.

I'm the person that brings any filings that come in late, I notify the election board of that. Our job as the election board is to make sure that everyone's upholding their end. For instance, every candidate that's out here, our CFA fours are due April 18th.

At noon, at 12 o' one.

Sorry, 17, yes, so it's over, it ends on April 10th.

So, and you can fax them or email them.

Thank you.

So, mail-in vote voting has been a hot button issue on the national scale.

What are your views on mailing ballots?

I think no one else.

for the people that need them are great. We offer other options. We have like the travel board that goes out. I've sent numerous emails and I've contacted every one of the either retirement homes, assisted living, nursing homes so that we can help them.

so the traveling board can go out there. Some people just want a paperback, like not a paperbelt, they want.

they can't make it into the polling site. So those few people, I think that's absolutely fabulous for. But in general.

No.

What do you hope to do during this next term that you haven't been able to accomplish?

Thank you.

Like, I am just getting my feet under me. I'm becoming the leader that I want to be. And I always tell everyone, you lead by leadership.

I want to.

Everyone says...

What changes do you want to make? I'm not opposed to any changes, because the world's going to bring that to us, and you have to be able to adapt.

changes to your

but I'm not looking to make changes if it's not growing. Why fix it?

I'm not.

Do you have a final statement?

Anything you'd like to add we didn't cover.

I just want to thank all of you guys and I want you to realize one vote does matter.

Going out and voting, sometimes we get in a habit where we think, oh, it's just a primary and it doesn't matter, but the primary is where it does count. And I encourage everyone to go out and vote in May, show up in November, let our voices be heard. Like Jennifer said, we are the second fastest growing county in the state of Indiana. And we can't make the changes that you guys want unless you voice your opinions to us. And you're always free to email me, text me.

I responded about anything. A lady just called right before I pulled in here and I called her back and she said it's after hours and I said there are no hours, that's my family. So, alright, well thank you so much, I appreciate you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Okay, we are moving through this pretty quickly. I'd like to call the commissioner candidates to the stage now.

Tim Byer and Jason Plunkett.

on the other side of the other.

What the hell?

I can inform him and share. Yeah, that's fine.

Okay. Thank you so much. So, Mr. Byer, you're the incumbent, correct? And then J.C. Plunkett is the challenger.

Thank you so much.

Um, let me start off with the incumbent, um, how, if you'd like to give your opening statement, we've got two minutes to tell the audience.

Is this working? Yes. Okay, my name is Tim Byer. I'm your current Boone County Commissioner for District 1. I was elected in 2022. I've lived with my family in Boone County since 1998. I have three children who are all adults at this point. I'm a civil engineer and land surveyor with 30 years of experience, and have worked with governments since 1996. In addition to civil engineering and land surveying firms, I've worked for a nationwide real estate developer, contractors performing pipe, dirt, and pavement work, and a sewer utility, and all of this experience is relevant and very useful for the job of a county commissioner. Most importantly, since August 2021, because of what was going on at that time, I've also been studying the Indiana Constitution and meeting with people to help address issues. This is important because the Indiana Constitution is the supreme law of the land in the state of Indiana, and it is a contract that the people have with government officials establishing permanent fundamental principles that government is obligated to provide.

Running for office is really a job interview and candidates should treat that treated that way. So I'm going to share some of my accomplishments during my first term. I've saved millions of tax dollars by implementing processes to identify wasteful spending and promote competitive bidding. Such as I've saved $1.8 million by canceling the fuel station project that would not break even on costs for more than 80 years. I've proposed to preserve a state bridge at I-65 exit 141 for reuse by the county that will save millions of tax dollars. And I've saved at least $150,000 simply by inviting proposals for property and casualty insurance. I led a collaborative effort for the town of Zionsville to address community road and drainage needs in a developer abandoned project called Inulook of Zionsville. And I coordinated maximum use of nearly $3 million of remaining federal ARPA funds that included funding for volunteer fire departments and additional county road, bridge and drainage projects.

All right, Mr. Plunkett.

Alright.

All right.

I can't shut it off on me. All right, well good evening. It's good to see so many familiar faces here tonight. You know, as Lisa mentioned, family around here. My mom's here. This might be the first time my mom gets to hear me speak in public like this. My name is Jason Plunkett and I'm running for Boone County Commissioner. I want to start by thanking the Boone County Farm Bureau for putting this on, allowing everyone to have access to the candidates. And for all of you for coming out tonight, Tim, thank you for your service, all the other candidates for deciding to run. Most importantly, I'd like to thank my wife Brittany for her support, her passion for serving the community. Without that and without her guidance, we wouldn't be doing this. She's the campaign manager, social media coordinator. Last one in defense when I want to respond on social media. She's my level set. Helps me not to, but she's always good.

I was born and raised in Boone County. My parents bought a small farm outside of Advance, as my dad would say, to give him something to do when he retired and keep his kids out of trouble. And I would say that it did just that. My mom still lives on the farm. I went to school at Western Green High School. I lived and worked here my entire life. My wife and I have been married for over 12 years. We have an eight-year-old daughter, four-year-old son. And we're expecting our third child in July. We attend Traders Point Christian Church and have served on the Zion Hometown Council for over eight years, the last five as president. In my lifetime, I've seen our county evolve. Some changes have been positive, while others have raised serious concerns. I'm running for this office because I care deeply about our community, and I want to ensure that we're planning responsibly for our growth and development. And at the same time, I'm committed to protecting our resources and preserving the character of Boone County for future generations. Again, my name is Jason Plunkett, and I would appreciate your vote on or before May 5th.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

So this question is for both of you. I'll start with Mr. Byer. How do you see your specific skills as an asset to this office? What do you bring to this?

Well, okay.

Turn it off. Turn it off.

I kind of covered that in my opening, but a lot of the experience that I gained, you know, through my civil engineering, land surveying, contractor, sewer utility, the county is considering, or is in the process of forming a sewer utility, well I work for a sewer So I bring unique expertise towards that.

So, and then of course, we all, everybody who works in government is sworn to the Constitution and must abide by it, and we're bound to actually the terms of what that says, and so that's another unique skill I bring.

because of what was going on prior to my first term.

And

I decided to start studying that, I started studying it as part of a group. Somebody else brought it to me and I was like, well if I'm going to swear enough to this, I'm going to know what it says, so those were the weak skills.

Yeah, the same question to you, Mr. Plunkett, what do you bring to this office?

Yeah, thank you for the question. It's a great question. So, you know, having been on the council to design time council for over eight years and being a part of the growth and development in the direction of vision for the town, I think gives me a little bit of a unique set of qualifications for this position. I think one of the jobs as the county commissioner is to recruit and retain economic development, and I've done that. If you go into Dinesville right now, you go to Graham Reinhold's facility and work directly with Graham to bring a state-of-the-art $25 million project into Creekside Corporate Park, which then springboarded a number of other development opportunities into Creekside. The significance of that is it puts the development where it's supposed to be, which then relieves some of the stress in the rural areas of the county, because it's where it should be and it's where you prepare for it. So, you know, I've worked with, gosh, I've worked with three mayors and 15 different counselors over my eight years on the council, and, you know, when we needed to, we'd put political differences aside. They weren't all Republicans, so when we needed to, we put political differences aside to provide new services for the residents of Dinesville, and I would intend to do the same thing for the county.

Good.

We asked the community for their input on questions and some residents have expressed concerns regarding the conflict that can arise between county officials and their offices. Can you please explain how you plan to work through any disputes and mitigate the impact to the residents of Boone County? And I'll start with you.

Sure. We have three branches of government for a reason. They serve as a check and balance, right? The commissioners primarily, it's kind of interesting, the commissioners serve legislative functions and executive functions, which is a bit odd, but primarily we serve an executive function. And one of the things we do and we're responsible for is receiving bids and approving contracts. So,

uh...

And

Our job, anybody in government's job, is to do things that benefit the people. So when there's, my loyalty is to the people, of course we're going to try and work those things out when there's controversy, but at the end of the day, I will always stand for what is for the benefit of the people who are being carried. And if that leads to a conflict, then it's going to lead to a conflict because that's where my loyalty lies.

Thank you. When you say conflict, you mean conflict of interest or conflict between?

Conflict between members.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's really important to make sure that we have a clear line of focus on, you know, to Tim's point, the commissioners have executive authority, the council has fiduciary authority, but elected officials have autonomy. I mean, they're elected by the people, right? So I don't believe the commissioner's role would be, let me back up, in situations of conflict, I guess what I would say is probably need to just search a little bit deeper and find out where that conflict's coming from because the reality is the commissioner should come along, department heads, elected officials, and help them with their departments and help them understand what's going on, which should, in theory, alleviate conflicts' arising.

You should.

Do you have a rebuttal?

I would just like to rebut the, that there's nobody in government that has autonomy, right? Nobody in government can do whatever they want, and that's the reason we have our three branches is for a check and balance against that kind of thing, so that would be my

Boone County has seen the rural character and agricultural landscape change really over the past several years. How do you plan to balance that rural character, Boone County's history, the agricultural needs, and county growth? How do you do that?

We'll start soon. Yeah, sure.

Yeah, happy to answer that. And there's farmers in this room that I've worked with to stop a 1,600 acre solar farm growing in design zone in 2021. I mean, I think it's important that, having grown up on a farm, lived in Boonecatch my entire life, I think it's important that we embrace the fact that we are a rural agricultural community. I realize we're growing, we're growing rapidly, but I think we have the opportunity to make sure that that growth takes place in a certain area. I would say that we need to work with, work with farmers, work with landowners to make sure that they're involved and engaged in comprehensive plan process, to make sure that they're involved in the zoning process, to make sure that we're...

saving and preserving some of that productive farmland to make sure that we continue to embrace the agricultural roots of this community.

Yeah, there was some questions asked by the newspaper on this, so I'm just going to read the answers. One of the questions was, how will you manage the county's rapid transition from an agricultural community to an industrial and suburban hub? Very similar to what you just asked. My response to that was, first, I believe it's important to acknowledge that the comprehensive plan anticipates most of the county's unincorporated areas remaining agricultural for the foreseeable future vision that I support. Additionally, I will advocate for creating a process where people decide on controversial development projects through a special election. Kind of the LEAP project that's in state land has kind of fueled a lot of distrust in government.

I'll see you next time. Bye.

Thank you so much for joining us.

additional

So if, when there's, not all projects are gonna be controversial, right? But we do have them. And so if we can create a process for a special election, it gives people a direct voice. And I'm sure Jason well knows, but these developers that propose these projects sometimes spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. And so if we had a process like that, it could also provide relief for the amount of upfront dollars that developers spend before they even know if they have a project or not.

Would that require legislature? Sure. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I certainly, you know, developers spend money in advance of projects, but I think if we are adhering to zoning standards, land uses, and comprehensive plan, comprehensive plan to guide them, so if we're adhering to, you know, zoning efforts and land use, then those developers should know in advance what is available, what's not. I mean, I'm certainly sensitive to the fact that they're going to spend money in advance of these developments regardless, but I think we could do a better job of communicating, you know, what the vision is for the county before they spend all that money.

Mr. Beyer, I had a follow up to your idea. Would that require, would your idea to have a special election require Indiana General Assembly approval?

Well, so they could certainly weigh in and provide guidance, but it's actually part of our, so our constitutions are based on about six or seven hundred years of history, right? And as I spoke about in my opening, they're based on fundamental principles. Well, one of those fundamental principles that we took from England is that the king is the arbiter of commerce. Well, in America, the people are the king.

in America.

To continue providing necessary services for everyone in the county, Boone County needs to build out its tax base. How do you plan to build such a base?

Clem.

in the future.

Thank you very much.

Could you repeat that again?

Sure, to continue providing necessary services to help the residents of Boone County.

The county needs to build out its tax base. How do you plan to build such a base?

Well, certainly by commercial development, that's organic, will certainly assist. But I think, as I alluded to in my accomplishments, there are certainly more reforms that are needed to correct the spending and the lack of competitive bidding that we've had in the past. And I know, because I've already had conversations with people that there's millions more dollars that can be saved over what's already been saved over.

No.

safe.

Yeah, I think what's really important, having served at the local level, is local officials certainly have a vision for their individual areas. Mayors have visions, councils have visions, and I think it's the job of the commissioners to help with those visions. With that being said, the way you improve your commercial tax base, or improve your tax base, is by allowing that growth to happen from the urban areas out. I think it's really important to make sure that we're looking at urban areas out. We shouldn't be leapfrogging development. We shouldn't be doing spot development. No, but I mean, this is not, it doesn't make sense. It's expensive, and it doesn't allow the local municipalities to capitalize on the vision. So I would say you improve your tax base by working collaboratively with mayors, councils, the county council, and you gotta be able to communicate and work with county council too. So you gotta be able to work with those folks to help implement their vision from the urban areas to the rural areas.

Mr. Breyer, do you have a work out at all?

Okay, that completes my questions. I'll give you each about 30 seconds to make some final remarks if you'd like.

I'd just like to thank everybody for coming out and just mention it's been a great honor to serve the people of Boone County for the past three or so years and I look forward to the opportunity to continue to do so and I just want to thank you for placing your trust in me as an elected servant and I look forward to receiving your vote on May 5th.

Uh, so yeah, so as I mentioned before, I believe, um, you know, cooperation, communication are some of the unique traits that I've been bringing to this office. Uh, I've worked with, as I mentioned before, different mayors and counselors. I've been able to put politics aside to make sure that we're doing the best thing for the residents. For more than eight years, I've listened to constituents, understood their concerns, consistently advocated for this in our community, bring a proven track record of cooperation, responsiveness and results. And I'm committed to same approach of county level. Uh, again, Jason Plunkett would appreciate your vote on before May 5th and I got signed on my truck outside.

All right. Thank you both for being here tonight. We really appreciate it.

We are going to take a 10 minute break, so if you want to get some air, use the restroom, and meet back here in about 10 minutes, that's great.

All right, thank you, Brian. I'd like to introduce Gretchen Smith and John Ham. They are running in the County Council District 2, which is an open siege, correct? Because of her retirement. So, let me first let you give your opening statements. You each have two minutes as a refresher on the rules. Who would like to go first? I'll let you choose to sign.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I don't usually need a microphone. Give it a go.

Thanks for watching!

Give it a go.

Can you hear me? Can you hear me now? I'm Bridget Smith. I have been married for 37 years to my high school sweetheart. I have two children and three awesome great children. And one on the way, I can announce that now. I was raised on a farm, small farm west

Yeah.

out by Westerville, West of town, Jefferson Township. I raise both my children out there, and now they're raising my grandchildren out there, so we have our own little community, I think, out there. We raise show pigs. I love my rural country life, sitting on the porch and looking at the fields and my soybeans and corn, so I kind of appreciate that. Now I have bright lights, and I kind of think Chicago's nearby, but.

That's okay, I can still see the football lines at Western Moon and hear the sounds, so I like that.

That's it. I talked really fast and I apologize, so we will get out of here sooner, right? Or not at all.

We're not not out.

Thanks for watching!

Mr.

video.

My name is John Hume. I'm a lifelong Jackson Township resident. I've been married to my wife Cindy. We're going on 35 years. We've got two boys. They just turned 19 and 16. I've been a farmer my whole life. I've worked for a neighbor farmer and have been farming since the mid-80s. I'm also an ag mechanic. I've worked some various other jobs. I've worked in the utility department for the town of Bad Vance. So I've had a lot of experience on different aspects of the community.

Okay.

Um...

Since this is an open seat, I'm gonna ask each of you, why are you pursuing this office?

clearly we would work well together.

And.

Actually, the open seat is being left by someone who I respect highly and John Reiner and I discussed this and he said he would support me for this seat and I chose to run for this. I had served before in the capacity in the county and I currently am on the advisory board for Jefferson Township and so to continue serving for Bloom County I opted this because my background is as an auditor, included the budget and more of the process that I thought was familiar with the county council so I felt like my skill set would be better served as a councilman and so when the seat became available I felt that that would be where I would be able to best serve the community.

available I felt.

Basically the same, I want to serve the community. I previously was on the council before Mr. Reiner for one term. And I feel like that's given me a lot of good experience on how the council works. And I will say the first time on the council I realized how much the auditor really does that it affects the council. So I want to give those props to those people. Basically serve my community and look out for the best interest of the District 2 people, which is basically all rural Boone County. Bring that perspective, bring the rural perspective to the council.

You

Obviously this is a leadership position. What leadership skills do you have and how would they help in this role?

We'll let Mr. Hume start.

Well, I've held various offices and clubs and organizations.

I'm an antique tractor collector, so I have been the past president of the National Antique Polymer Antique Tractor Collector Club. I've been a member of the Antique Tractor Collector Club here in Boone County and offices in that aspect, so...

one of the things on the council lift.

I would like to see done better is I was an FFA in high school parliamentary procedure team and Robert's rules of order if you follow that it really makes a meeting flow and work and that's one of my leadership things I would I would want to make sure that we know how to proceed with meetings correctly and it just makes so much more sense and clarity to what you want

As far as leadership, serving as the auditor, I think, gave me...

Some of the skill set that I needed to become a leader in the community as far as managing the office and the things that I had to do, I think being a parent kind of makes you a leader and hurting.

small children, and their friends, but no, I think...

I think just the passion that I have for my community.

And I think leadership is also something you learn as you go. So I would like to become the leader that it requires on the council and with everyone else that works on the council to be the leader that I need to be as a group because I do think it's a group effort to be able to lead the county the way that it needs to be financially.

Development has been such a huge issue here in Boone County. We've already heard it is one of the fastest growing counties in the state. How do you see the council's role in helping preserve the rural character, the agricultural strength, and the needs in balancing with growth?

Expansion of the county in the non-real areas has really exploded. I'd like to make sure the council can ensure that...

proper funding is allocated to those parts of the county that are not under the

control of the municipalities, we need to balance and make sure that the county taxpayers are not putting the bill basically for things that are not in our control. That's going to be a tough issue going forward. Just the balance between growth and the rural areas and make sure everybody's getting their fair share is very important.

I don't.

I'm not sure, based on John Dancer, that I understand the question completely, because I think my fear with the question that is being asked on how we can...

maybe slow down the development.

it if I'm understanding. It's how do you balance it? Not necessarily slow it, but how do you balance the history? Yeah.

And I think it's difficult because I think it's gonna take a collaboration because unfortunately we as the council cannot control the annexation of what's taking place in the other communities. So I think for us to be able to balance that, it's difficult without the collaboration. Once they annex it, it kind of becomes out of our jurisdiction. So I think we have to be careful on what we can control and not control. And of course the citizens have a right to annex if they choose to. So we can't control that part. The biggest concern I have with that growth and development that we have to somehow come to ease is the services that would then become part of what we have to financially cover in cost to everyone in the community and balance out where we're going to be able to cover that cost and how much it's going to put onto the county and balance that part out. Unfortunately when the cities and towns and everyone annexes that, we do come up to that situation of increasing the services that have to be provided as well. So that's where the balance is going to be crossed over that would concern me.

Do you need a remodel?

Okay, so that brings me to my next question. You kind of hinted at this, which is how do you plan to ensure that the county government acts as a good steward of public resources?

I mean, there's only so much money, so I'll let you. Mr. Campbell.

Well, I believe that when it comes to our budget workshops, that we need to go through that with a fine-tooth comb to make sure everything is. We're funding what needs to be funded, needs, not wants, sometimes.

In the past, it seems like we've funded a lot of things. And at this point, around the development, we've funded things for economic development that...

We may get benefit, but we may not get benefit. It's been taken out of our hands, I'm not sure that the county needs to have such a big role in economic development of funds.

That's just my opinion on that.

I do agree with John on the wants versus needs. I mean, I think we have to be careful and we really have to consider what's necessary, what we really have to have to service the community and not get beyond that to control where we stand on the budget process. As far as economic growth, I do think the location of Boone County, it's inevitable. I think we have to, if we can control, because again, it's, we have to watch what the county council is responsible for versus commissioners versus what's within our jurisdiction, as far as the city limits and town limits. So I think there's a lot of that collaboration that has to take place and what we can do and not do. But needs versus wants is very important. The services we have to be careful of because of what we are responsible for. There's a timeframe of annexation that we still are in control of until that timeframe is over. So, yeah, I think there's so many things we have to be prepared for and the legislative changes that are coming upon us are very important to be cautious of because things are changing and I don't personally believe that down in the state house, they really know what those changes are coming to at the end. And if we band-aid those as we go, the taxpayers pay the heat for that for a couple years because as you band-aid them, they don't make changes right away. So we have to be cautious of that when we do things that our taxpayers aren't going to reap those benefits of those changes for a couple years by the time it takes place. So we have to be cautious of those types of things to help them. You know, if they hurt from a law change that's taking place, we have to realize that the fix isn't going to be immediate.

you know.

I want to put myself in

the position of the voters out here.

You both have leadership experience.

What makes you different from each other?

Why should they vote for you? Well, aside from the obvious. Why should they vote for you versus your opponent? Because this is a primary.

Mr. Hughes wanna start? She's like, hold on.

Maybe I shouldn't compliment Gretchen, but I know she's very well qualified for this office with her past experience.

I believe my perspective...

I don't want to be harsh in saying this, but I'm not an insight of the politics person. I had served on the council before, but...

My perspective is maybe more of the everyday person and not the government. That may be good, that may be bad, because sometimes the everyday person doesn't realize the requirements that the government has.

Officials

get told, the county officials especially, get told by the state what they can do and what they can't do. So I think my perspective on that would make me a little different just because

You know, I haven't been in the government only one term on the council previous, so.

And we'll see you next time.

I'm not so far away from what John is saying, and I'm gonna take a little bit of what Lisa said earlier, but I do feel like I come down to a common sense kind of thing. I mean, some of this is just common sense, and I think we forget that, that you ask a question, and what is the first thing that comes to mind? A lot of times, that's the common sense answer. I do have, I started in the courthouse in 1995 in the department of the barn.

I do have.

and served eight years as auditor and I have been involved in government software so I have been involved in offices in other counties and kept up with the law and I am familiar with DLJS and state work accounts so I have been around that and kept up with those types of things so I do

Maybe people might consider that I've been around government, maybe that's a bad thing. But I feel like I've kept up with it. So I do feel like I have the knowledge and the base to immediately come in and start the budget process and keep up with those types of questions and be a benefit to the current council members and help them out with the processes that take place, additional three probes. I understand all of those types of things as John did when he started. But I hope that that's an asset and not a hindrance as far as maintaining and having the 30 years experience that I have in the government world.

Don't

Earlier, I just want to not rebut, but Lisa brought up the common sense, and you brought it up also. My first time campaigning before, my slogan is today, common man, common sense, common good. I feel like that could accomplish a whole lot in our government.

So many times things move so fast that you don't have the time to think through all the consequences. And a common sense approach is sometimes you need to...

sit back and take a minute.

All right, that completes my questions. Do either of you want to make some final remarks? I'll let Mrs. Smith go first.

I just want to thank everyone for being here this evening. It's great to see a crowd of people that are concerned about the same things that we should be concerned about in the community and for our Bureau for putting this on and for you being here today. And the girls down here, they have the time card. But yes, I mean, this is a very important election year and as always, the things are changing constantly with legislation and.

down here, this is my part.

I'm gonna tell you right now, I've seen it in other counties and things did not change, I don't believe the way they expected change under tax bills and I think it's very important for us to keep that mind and the transparency of understanding these types of things is very important. And as the council makes decisions with your funds, it's very important to understand where all that comes from and that it's not all county, it's multiple units of government that come into this and it's very important and if I'm fortunate enough to get your vote on May 5th and serve for you, I am more than happy to sit down with anyone and answer any questions that I can and help explain these things because they are very concerning and there's been many tears shed and many words you do not want repeated.

I need to.

that have come out of many counties I have dealt with. And it's scary. It's scary for people that potentially can lose their homes. So this is your money. It is not an open checkbook. It is your money and your funds that are having to deal with all of these different things and changes and aspects. So as much as I appreciate it, I am still a taxpayer as well. And it comes down to what we can do for you to help ease that.

Thank you, Mr. Hamm.

I'd also like to thank everyone for being here. This is a wonderful crowd. I didn't know what to expect. I applaud you all for being here and getting involved in the process. Also, I want to thank Bridget for running. Primaries.

More than one candidate and having a choice is very important. I feel like we are both very well qualified for the job and I also appreciate your support in the election.

Thank you both. We appreciate you coming out.

Okay, I'd like to welcome the District 3 County Council candidates up.

I think we've got Mr. Kevin Zantorn.

I believe James Davis is absent as well as Chris.

Cheers!

You're good.

Thank you for being here. I appreciate it. You're welcome. Thanks for having me. So you are the incumbent, correct? I am. Okay. How many terms have you served? Tell the audience your experience.

Yeah.

Two terms, I caucused in, I think it was 10 or 11 years ago, and then I battled the last year, and then I was voted in unopposed, and then the second time voted in unopposed, and then this time, two in private.

Okay, thanks for giving us that background. If you can go ahead and you have two minutes for an opening statement as well.

Well, I wanted to say thank you to my two opponents here, but unfortunately they're not here. And what I wanted to say to them was, I'm reminded how 11 years ago I went to Jeremy Lamar, at that time was the Lebanon City Council member, and I lived in his district, and I went to him and I said, hey Jeremy, I'm really thinking about running for the City Council.

I said, but I want your permission before I do this. He looked at me and he said, Kev, we live in the greatest country in the world.

You don't have to ask permission.

And I wanted to let these two gentlemen know, they didn't have to ask permission. But Jeremy gave some great advice. He said, here's what's gonna happen, Kevin. And I've known Jeremy since he was five years old. Jeremy said, here's what's gonna happen. We're gonna go up there and make in the private room. We're gonna watch these ballots come in. And we're gonna get excited. One of us is gonna be excited that we won. The other one's gonna say, yeah, I had a good time. Jeremy beat me by 26 votes.

And that same election was when Mayor Matt Gentry was on the council at the time. He had to vacate his seat because he won that primary. And then that opened up the door for me to become the county council.

And with that being said, we had three minutes to introduce ourselves and talk about ourselves and I did it in 58 seconds and Debbie Otter looks at me and says, I've known you for years. I didn't know you could tell about you in less than three minutes. And with that being said, thank you. With that being said, I want to thank my beautiful wife Cathy. We've got four children, nine grandchildren, nine great grandbabies. It's been a great ride. I've learned a lot in the last 11 years. Steve Jacob told me in that first year, relax, sit back and listen and learn. And I've taken that advice and over the last 11 years I've had a wonderful time serving with my six fellow council members.

So on that point, what is the biggest lesson that you have learned during your time?

As Steve Jacob told me, you have to listen. You have to listen attentively. And for those of you that know me in the audience, you would say that is not the Kevin Van Horn that I know when I watch him in the county council meeting because I'm an outgoing guy and Steve Jacob taught me well. Sit back and listen in this first year. Don't misunderstand me, Kevin. Ask questions, but listen and learn. That is the most valuable thing that I've learned in my 11 years here is being able to listen as people from all over the state come in and give us advice, give us numbers. When I say as a council member, when it comes time for a budget session, when we get information from department heads, from elected officials, from state officials, and they come in and they help each one of us as the seven council members understand where the numbers are. And it's up to us as elected officials to make those decisions and their heart decisions.

When a department says, well, I need this much for my budget. When the elected official says, I need this much for my budget. And then the seven of us get to make that decision. Well, here's what we're gonna do for you. Now make sure you serve the people of Boone County well.

What is one thing that you would do differently, looking back on your 11 years?

I've heard you ask that question a few times tonight, and I'm sitting here thinking to myself, what would I do differently?

Thanks for watching!

What would I do differently?

And straight up, I can't think of anything I would do differently. There have been times when I'm the guy in the room that's not far right, not far left, I'm right there in the middle. I have never met a puppet on anybody's strings. I see straight from the hip. Sometimes attorneys come to me and they tell me, Kevin, calm down.

You're going to get in trouble, you're going to say something, somebody will sue you.

Be careful what you say. And as much as I would love to stand up and talk about things that need to be said, there are times in the past where I should have stood up.

I should

I'm the big believer that I go with my gut feeling, and that gut feeling usually, not all the time, but usually sends me in a drag center on that right path.

Obviously, Farm Bureau has organized this event tonight. How would you retain the rural roots of Boone County and Mallard's Grove?

I knew it was coming.

You know I did?

Two years ago, when I ran for mayor against Mayor Matt Sentry, it was one of those...

concerns for all of us here in the city of Lebanon and Boone County, Indiana.

And I made the conscious decision that I'm just going to tell the voters how I feel, which is exactly what I did. I'm for all the growth. I understand that 80 years ago, 65 was not out here on this highway, was not out here, it was all farmland.

Somebody came along and said let's put an interstate system through here

And it's worked out well 80 years later, 70 years later.

I think about the data center out here. Somebody, most of us out here have a phone in our pocket, have a computer in our home.

We use it every single day. That data center is gonna be out here and it's gonna provide something for all of us. Now it's my prayer and my hope that it's done the correct way. And when I ran for mayor, I told Matt that. I said, Matt, we gotta be open, man. We gotta let these people understand where we're coming from. We gotta be transparent. It's all about transparency. I am all for the growth of this county. We're the second fastest growing county in the state of Indiana. And it gives me great pleasure to know, thank you. It gives me great pleasure to know that with all this growth, it's gonna come jobs. There is gonna be money. The people are gonna have opportunity and this county is just going to explode with business. So I'm, put it on the record, I'm all for it in a responsible way.

I'm

Thanks for watching!

Wouldn't the transparency wide open?

How do you weigh whether to support particular developments? Do you look at the number of jobs? Do you look at the tax base it would generate? What is the criteria that you use and would continue to use?

number of

Thank you. A little bit of everything. When I think about a Eli Lilly project out here, $15, $16 billion project, and the jobs that that's gonna bring to this county, to this city more importantly, and the county, that those individuals are gonna make their homes here. Hopefully they do. They're gonna spend their money here. And the tax base is exponentially gonna be a whole lot higher than it is right now. With respect to the data center, the medicine, all that development out there, all that growth out there, it's something where, again, that word transparency has to be there to help all of us here in Boone County, Boone County, Indiana understand what they're gonna do for us. Are most of the people coming in from the outside and getting the jobs, or is it gonna be local people?

I have a son that lives out in Las Vegas, a pharmaceutical company. He doesn't want to come home, but if Eli Lilly offered him a great opportunity out there, Eli Lilly playing out there, he just might come back home.

I want to make sure that the people here in Boone County, Indiana are first and foremost when they walk in and fill out the application forms. That those individuals who run those corporations out there say, oh, here's somebody from Boone County, Indiana. They're the ones that are going to benefit from this. Don't misunderstand. If somebody comes from the outside, that's okay. But I want to see that growth out there.

Would you make that a requirement of development? Oh no.

Oh, no, no, never a requirement. An employer, when somebody comes in to Boone County, Indiana and wants to open up a restaurant, I admire those individuals, because they're risking everything they have to open that restaurant. And let's assume for a moment, they're gonna open it because they know that, excuse me, they know that growth is coming. So they say to themselves, man, I can go into Boone County, Lebanon, Indiana, open up a restaurant. I'm gonna risk everything. I'm gonna put it on the line. That employer gets to decide who he or she wants to hire and put in that restaurant and do wonderful things for Lebanon and Boone County, Indiana. I don't want anybody to tell an employer like Eli Lilly or any of the other centers out there, you have to get somebody from here. You have to. Those individuals know who they need.

I think some voters have been reporting that they would like to see change. Change is something that comes up with every election. Why should they vote you in another term rather than vote for change?

because I'm a likeable man.

It's because of my, and don't misunderstand me, I'm not the guy who's gonna stand up here and pat myself on the back, but I take pride in myself because I've done a Steve Jacob advisory 11 years ago, Kevin, listen, listen and ask questions. And I've done it, almost after every meeting, I will go to somebody, help me understand this. Help me, help me understand this. And I take pride in the fact that...

I'm not a pop-up on anybody's stream. I'll go out here and I'll listen to people's advice and then I'll make that conscious decision of whether I should go this way or this way. One of my pet peeves is, as elected official...

especially we as a council.

Sometimes they want to kick the can down the road, and it just, I sit in here and I just pound the table. No! We're elected officials. Make the decision now. We have the information. Make the decision now.

So I take pride that I'm that guy that stands up and usually the loud guy in the room that will say, no, let's do it, let's do it now, it's the right thing to do, so let's get it done.

All right.

close.

statements.

I can say much louder with a band horn.

You're out!

Thank you, thank you for giving me the honor and the privilege of serving you for the last 11 years. It's been a great honor and as Lisa said an hour ago, if it be the Lord's will, she's going to be back in that office and I'll say the same thing. If it's the good Lord's will above, then you folks need to believe that I need to be the one in this office. I say thank you and I will serve and honor you back. Thank you.

So now we'll see.

All right, and now we have reached our final group of candidates. This is the District Four County Council race. Aaron Williams is the incumbent, and Craig Melton, as well as William Arnold, who I believe is absent. If you may come to the stage, that would be lovely.

Thank you for being here gentlemen, we appreciate it. We each have two minutes to give an opening statement. And let's start with the incumbent, Mr. Williams.

Thank you. Well, good evening everyone. First I want to give honor to the Lord, Savior, Jesus Christ for being here. My name is Aaron Williams, and I want to thank my wife and my family for their unwavering support, because without them none of this is possible. Besides being a resident, and I'm a father and a community advocate, I'm running for the Boone County Council, District 4. I am proud to serve this community because I believe it deserves a leader who is already doing the work. I own and operate several businesses here in Indiana, and I know what it takes to serve a community. When I think about this role and what I do here, I served in multiple capacities. I served on the White Town Economic Development Commission. I was appointed to the Indiana State Fair Commission. I am a trustee on the Ivy Tech State Board of Trustees, just to name a few. I believe roles like this are important because they give me an opportunity to serve and also support the work that is going on here in Boone County. They equip me every day to be a strong advocate for this community that I love so much. In my service on the Boone County Council, I've helped secure two of the largest public safety increases in funding for the Boone County Sheriff's Office. We've invested in neighborhood infrastructure. We fought to keep taxes low, and also supported our volunteer fire departments. My top priorities are responsible growth, protecting the quality of life, and keeping taxes low for all of our households here as well. I want to make sure that the District 4 residents have a voice and know how this community can grow, and that public safety continues to scale responsibly without shifting the burden on our existing taxpayers. I like to deliver and listen. It's a priority of mine, and that's what I've been able to do. Again, my name is Aaron Williams, and I'm asking for your vote and trust in the upcoming election. Thank you very much.

Mr. Romance, your two minutes.

Hello and thank you for having me and thank you for doing this, giving us all a platform. I care deeply about Boone County and how it manages the oncoming growth. My family of six is called Zinesville Home for 20 years and in that time we've seen both the successes and the pitfalls of rapid growth.

My background is in construction, property, and restaurant management. Like any business owner, I've faced setbacks and I've never given up. Navigating market downturns, a global pandemic, and shifting building codes has taught me to be dynamic. I'll bring that same focus, quality, and value, and equitable outcomes to Boone County. Especially as we face the funding challenges posed by SEA 1.

The council, excuse me, my current role in the Zionsville town council has prepared me for the complexities of government and the bureaucracy of boards and commissions. I pride myself on a calm, professional approach to leadership, and I look forward to strengthening the relationships that I've built in Zionsville, Thorntown, Lebanon, Whitetown, and in the county. The issues facing our county today are unprecedented, I believe a fresh perspective, one that's not tied to state level overreach is essential.

While development pressures are high, we must protect our people, our water, our farm ground, our heritage.

We are capable of walking.

ensuring gum at the same time.

We must welcome new neighbors and cultures while empowering them through organizations like the Learning Network of Boone County. That organization is helping new residents navigate language barriers and civic understanding. This can foster a true pride of ownership in the community that we share. Integrity, leadership, loyalty, and professionalism are all pillars of my career as an elected official.

Whether it's serving as the president of the Boone County Solid Waste Management District, I'm sorry, Waste District, or managing complex budgets in the Zionsville Town Council, I have proven I can deliver results.

Okay, you hinted, or you flat out talked about the need to balance the rural heritage with development. But what is the council's role in doing that? I'll start with you, Mr. Williams.

I think balancing growth and community character comes down to three things. I think first you need to be selective. I think not every development that comes through the door is the right fit. I think you can evaluate different projects on its merits, and I think that's key. I think the next thing is that you have to plan ahead, and when you think about decisions that are coming, and I think that is a key thing that the council has to be mindful of, and you have to be very proactive in planning so that it prevents that. I think the third thing is you have to listen to residents. We know that people who live here, they know what's best and what they want to protect. We didn't always see that. We saw that sometimes residents' voices weren't always heard. One thing I've been able to pride myself on is when constituents reach out, I always respond back. I listen. It may not be the thing that you want to hear as an elected official, but you always have to make sure that you're the voice for your constituents, and you have to listen to them. You have residents who are generational residents. They've been here for decades. In some instances, some have been here for a century or longer because of their heritage and their families. So you have to be able to do what is best for your constituents, and I've done this work with the Boone County Council, and I think the most important thing has been to bring these stakeholders together. So you have a varying degree of individuals, and when you can bring these stakeholders together, I think that is the key. I think growth is not the enemy, but I think unmanaged growth is, and you have to make sure that you're not part of that problem.

official.

Mr. Bell.

In my experience in Zynesville, we've been able to, in fact, one of the most diverse districts in Zynesville is my current district, which is very rural and very urban, all combined along the southern border of Zynesville, which borders Indianapolis and Brownsburg. And when development comes to the county, we have the opportunity to

tax evade. We have the opportunity to help with tax increment finance and give opportunities for these developments to help cultivate a desirable location for these businesses to come. In Zynesville, something that we struggled for for years is to get businesses into Zynesville and more industrial growth. You'll find in the last six years that we've been able to bring lots of opportunities like mentioned earlier the Ray Hall facility and several other facilities to Creekside. So with that experience I want to bring that to the county level as well and offer those same opportunities. Some people think tax evasion is taboo because there's an idea that the organization will come and then they will leave after a few years but somebody still has to build that building that exists. So that's my interpretation of what the council can do to help cultivate that growth and that development that comes to the county.

How can you build out that tax base if you're offering tax abatements? What is the strategy to do that?

Hands still bring breath.

I think, I think, I think too.

I think the strategy is to let private individuals and businesses know that we're open for business and bring your idea, bring your business to Boone County. We will entertain. You see what's happening with Eli Lilly Corporation. You see what's happening with Metta. Those things didn't just happen overnight, even though it kind of feels like it did. That was a long-term project that was in the making well before we had boots on the ground doing this development. And my interpretation is letting people know that we're open to opportunities like tax evasion, if that's required. We're open to infrastructure improvements as needed as well.

long-term

He has a question for you.

Yeah, Mr. Williams, how would you...

build out the tax base while also giving tax abatements.

Some tax abatements can be a good thing, but they can also be a detriment to a community. If you're giving out too many tax abatements, you have to make sure that the infrastructure is not a detriment to that. You have to make sure the public safety is not a pitfall to that as well. Our job on the council is to make sure that the county is growing on our terms and not the terms of the developers and these other individuals and companies that are coming in. Listen, we want to make sure that we have a sign out front of our county interests that says, built county is open for growth. I know some individuals in their voting history say that when development comes, they have a track record of voting no for certain development. You have to make sure that when you're doing things, when a tax abatement comes, that what is in the most advantageous and beneficial thing for the county? And sometimes you'd rather give them a slow yes instead of a fast no. But again, you have to do what's in the best interest of the county and what's going to be in the long-term interest and long-term benefit. So that means having a conversation again with our public safety officials. That's having a conversation with the school board and saying, what is the growth trajectory of our students? Are we going to make sure the class sizes aren't increasing because the tax abatements are going to be such a detriment and we aren't gonna be able to pay our teachers? So I think those conversations include forms like this that may not be for candidates, but including residents to say, excuse me, what is in the best interest of the community at hand? And sometimes tax abatements have been a detriment because we've given them out like we're giving kids skittles at Halloween.

You have.

Thanks for watching!

One thing I wanted to ask you is we've heard several candidates talk about transparency.

How would you increase transparency for the public?

on the council.

First of all, I guess this comes to agenda items and things that I want to bring to the council or actually to the county is that transparency. The first thing that I really want to do is.

bring better technology to the County Blumar Room in the County Government. That's the first thing, let the people at home see and witness who's at the microphone, who's talking.

I'm out of here, I'm out of here.

What are they talking about? Why is the room full? And I think it's very important that we start there with our transparency. The IT is not an excuse to not publicize the videos of these meetings. And I think that's my first spearhead with regards to transparency. And outside of that, I think just making sure that the meetings are publicized properly as we've done in Zinesville, a great job. And I think moving the county government further to the 21st century with better technology, I know it's been funded is what I understand. And I'm really glad that it has been. And that's definitely been a sticking point. As I've been the president of the Boone County Solid Waste District, that's something I've noticed as we meet in that room as well. Transparency really will be a lot clearer when people can witness from home, from their cell phone, et cetera.

in room four.

I'm really glad that.

President of the Boone County Solid Waste.

To me, transparency starts with communication. There's no individual in this county that is a constituent or resident that should have to ever dig through reading minutes or files to get me a piece of information. When I came onto the council, one of the first things that I actually asked was why are we not streaming on YouTube? It was something that I fought for as a council member, but I actually had some folks that taught against me on it because I felt that everything that we do is on your behalf. We work for you. Every dollar that we spend is your dollar. It's your money. We're simply just these custodians of that. Any piece of information that we are conveying is on your behalf. So if you talk about transparency and what are we doing, there's a level of accountability that goes with that as well. So what should we be doing? I believe there should be one accountability that not only we do. So every meeting that we have should be transcribed and accessible to everyone. There's some work that's being done right now because we are in an antiquated situation with the County of Lombardo, but that should delimit us. I think the other thing is when it comes to every contract that we have, again, your tax dollars, if you don't mind with the raise of hands, how do you get the business initial or not retire and still work by raising hands?

That means we're spending your money every day that you go to work going to fund our police officers to buy trackers, to buy pieces of equipment. You should know who put in a bid for what we did. I'm a fan and a believer of having a portal for every single contract and everything that we do. So that's how transmission should work. These are simple things that are already done at state levels and at local levels that should be adopted at the local level at the county level. Those are things that I would

Mr. Pullman, did you want to respond to anything on that?

Mr. Pullman, did you?

I don't think so, I think we're in alignment.

Excellent. What?

You guys are not rookies. You've done this before. You've been rookies.

on this.

What is the one thing that you have learned or that you would do differently?

I am a rookie, just, I think that, you know.

One of the things that somebody actually Steve Jacob, we talked about earlier and you know, he told me to listen as well. And he also told me to learn at every step of the way. And I'm not going to sit up here and tell you that I understand all aspects of the Boone County Council in what their processes are. I won't even tell you that my six, my five, five and a half ish years on the science of the town council. I understand and know every detail of how we operate on that. I guess I know with operations, but with regards to being an expert. I'm not, you know, I'm an individual that

I'll show you that my sixth

Loves to learn and loves to serve and I think all these individuals up here that are sticking their neck out To do this work Is essential we have to do this otherwise somebody that may be an expert will do it And then they're gonna push their agendas through and we may not see that because maybe it wasn't here on You know YouTube that day, so I guess as I as I Sit up here, and I learned the dynamics of the Boone County Council I'm very appreciative that council Williams Has has has done this job prior to now, but I also believe that I Do bring a layer of expertise that I've learned over the last few years of my service with the Zion town council that will help us Move the county into the direction that will be able to Manage the growth that's that's right on our doorstep right now

Well, thank you for the question. Sometimes it feels like it could be a trap question. But I think one thing that I think I would do differently is increasing proactive engagement before a major decision happens in the community. I'll give you two examples of that. One may rumble some feathers, so that's not my attention. A lot of folks in this room are very familiar with the LEAK project, right, wrong, or indifferent. That is a project and an initiative that I think from a proactive communication standpoint was a complete blunder. No matter how you look at it, as public officials, there could have been a better job done when it comes to the proactive communication. I'll give you another example that is recent. It is very fresh, less than 24 hours. Witham Park County Hospital is being acquired initially from conversations by Parkview. There's discussions. The county commissioners and the county council have a huge part in what happens with that. I, in the last 24 hours, have talked to council members and commissioners and even trustees within the Witham Hospital system literally this morning about how many community forums will we have about this changing, this process, that so many individuals in this community go to Witham Hospital. I think overall, I would push for earlier, more consistent communication. While I represent District 4, and that's my district, I represent everyone in Boone County, and I think that has to happen as elected officials. The people living here should be a part of the conversation from the very beginning, and I think that just goes back to their real, real question. It goes to transparency. Transparency is just not a policy, in my mind. It is a practice, so that's what I think should happen.

Okay, that's all my questions, let's give you each a few minutes if you would like to do a final statement.

Again, I just want to thank everybody for coming out tonight. I was really nervous to do this. We get nervous when it's a full room in Zionsville and usually it's a project that people don't want. Instead, it's us. Hopefully you want us. I just want to kind of reiterate some of the things that I have done in Zionsville as a town councilor there and I'm on the planning commission there. That was an appointment by my fellow councilors and I don't know if they just wanted me to try and figure it out because nobody else wanted to do it but I'm really blessed and thankful that they gave me the opportunity to be on that because what it's allowed me to do is interpret.

I don't know if they...

Interpret developments as they knocked on the door and been presented to us

I will say that as I looked at all these developments and next, I think the 20th and 21st, if you want to see some more of my action, watch those days because there's two planning commission meetings that evening. Just because it can happen or just because we can't do it doesn't mean we should do it. That's what I believe is something that I'm able to discern as I govern and I think that's something that I'm really proud of because not everybody just gets involved on these boards and commissions.

willing to say no and I am willing to say no I am you know I'm not against development I'm actually for development I really really proud of the things I've done in Zinesville we've done we've put over a hundred acres of parkland into our park assets over the years we've added miles of walking paths we've made it more desirable and that's what I plan to bring to Boone County I plan on bringing more ideas to Boone County that are going to make the county more desirable and I'll use my relationships to do it

See ya.

Well, thank you all so much for the opportunity. Thank you to Brian and to the staff for the opportunity to be here. I was caucused into this seat, and I was reelected back into the seat. And I think one thing that elected officials have to remember is when you put your name on the ballot, you are literally raising your hand to come back and do something. And you have to remember that you the constituents, the residents, the people, the folks that vote for you. And again, I'll say it. I am running for the Bill County Council District 4. And I serve that district, but I represent all of Bill County. And all the work that I do, the advocacy. You know, there was a statement made about state level overreaching contacts. The relationships that I had have been nothing beneficial to the folks here in Bill County. And we're at a crossroads where growth is coming, whether we like it or not. But we have to plan for it. And the question is whether we have the right leadership in place to manage it responsibly. And I've been proud to do that. My track record speaks for itself. When you are watching or attending our Bill County Council meetings, I'll continue to do it. I will ask the questions. How are you spending this money? Why are you spending this money? What is the intention? Why is the purpose? What is the purpose for it? And ultimately, I'm here to serve you all, the people of Bill County, because you deserve a representative and a leader who has your best interests at heart. Why? Because I live here. My family lives here. We made a concerted effort to come and put our hard-earned here in Boone County, and we want to represent this community. So I hope I can earn your trust in your vote again on May 5th. Vote Aaron Williams to continue serving you. Thank you so much.

I want to thank all of our candidates for being here tonight. If you can give all of them a round of applause. This is not easy to make. You sit here and be on the hot seat.

Definitely the ones who showed up tonight should get a round of applause. And I want to give a round of applause to you all, because you are the winners here. You are going into the voting booth informed. You've taken the time to attend this and see what the different candidates have to say. And I especially want to say thank you to all of our candidates for your civility. That is something we do not see very often, and so I really appreciate that. Also, thank you to the Farm Bureau and Purdue Extension, as well as the 4-H Fairgrounds. We really appreciate them being our hosts. And then I think Brian, you have a few things to say as well from the Farm Bureau.

We'll make it brief. I'm glad that this has been a good evening. I'll echo what Kate said. I want to thank the candidates for coming out and sharing their thoughts, ideas, and opinions. I think that helps all of us here. As she said, thank you for all of you who came out tonight because we couldn't have done this. It wouldn't be worth doing without you showing up.

I want to thank Kate. Let's give her a round of applause.

You're gonna bring it down.

managing and keeping everything, I think, on track, and really wrapping things up with passion. So thank you all for coming out tonight.

Have a good evening, drive safely, and remember to vote.

Voting started today, and on this, we have several of our state reps here. I won't try and name everybody, but I'll miss somebody. I appreciate you coming out, and thanks to the Sheriff Harris and his department for being here tonight to make sure we did say so.

Have a good evening.