Brown County LWV Brown County Candidate Forum Auditor

Welcome everyone to the League of Women Voters of Brown County's Candidate Forum for Brown County Auditor. From the League's Board of Directors, I'm tonight's moderator, Madison Miller. Alongside me, also from the League Board, tonight's timekeeper, Heather Mallow. Before we begin, we want to set some ground rules to ensure a respectful and productive conversation for everyone. As you know, the League is non-partisan, which means we don't support or oppose individual candidates or political parties. But tonight, we do want to give voters a chance to learn about issues in Brown County and hear from candidates. We ask candidates in the audience to please stick to the issues, be respectful and courteous, allow moderators to ask questions, and candidates to respond without interruption. Disruptive individuals may be asked to leave. We also have a child in the throat] >> For this particular forum, we invite audience questions in which you can submit on index cards being now. Uh turn them in to one of the League members. All the League members will raise their hands to show you who they Um and we will get to those as time allows. Uh in advance, we've prepared some questions, um and so those audience questions will come at the end again as time permits. We plan to allow about 45 minutes for the forum. After the forum is complete, there will be a short break, and we will start the meet and greet portion of the evening. At that time, all candidates who are present in the room tonight will be asked to introduce themselves, and we encourage everyone to stay after those introductions for more more open conversation. So thank you all for helping us create a constructive Uh before we start tonight, we want to thank the candidates who took time to be here, all of you in the audience for being here, those watching at home, and a very sweet thank you to Brown County Farm Bureau for the amazing refreshments in the lobby that make this a truly Um quickly, let me outline the format of tonight's forum. Each candidate will have 3 minutes for opening statements, 90 seconds for responses to questions unless otherwise specified, and 2 minutes for closing statements. We'll rotate to each turn who goes first as candidates respond to each question. Again, Heather Mallow here will serve as the timer. When you have 10 seconds remaining, a yellow card will be held up as so. When time is up, an orange card will be held up allow you to finish your [clears throat] sentence, wrap up Everyone, we hope you will please hold your applause until the forum is concluded, except for right this second where I invite you to give a warm round of applause for our 2026 Brown County Auditor candidates, Andy Vasquez Bond

Kobian. All right, everyone, make sure your cell phones are turned off, and we will get started. Uh we'll start with opening statements by the candidates beginning in a randomly assigned order. Uh you will now have 3 minutes each for opening remarks, and ask

Hi, I'm Andy Vasquez Bond. I am I have lived in this county my whole life. I am currently Brown County Treasurer. I have worked for the county since 2008 starting part-time, I went full-time in 2010. I have worked in every seat in the Treasurer's office, and then the opportunity came for auditor. I would be leaving my term early, I understand that, but I could contribute to the I work closely with them now, so I have I I say this all the time, I know Teresa says it, but I say this, I know enough to be dangerous when we're when we're working in things and and so on Um I would with and I think this goes for Teresa as well, um it would be a lot of new staff in that office. But I think that is something that can be worked through um with the support of Lao, our financial um software. We've got I think we have a lot of good resources to get the training done and to make things run Um I would look forward to working with council to make things transparent for the community, for elected officials, for Just would love the opportunity to make Um I think that's

All right, Teresa, you have your opening

Hello, I am Teresa Kobian. I have lived in the county I started in the Auditor's office in 2020 as the and moved up to the bookkeeper and land, um which is why Andy and I have such a background together. Um we both know enough Um and I'm currently in the Commissioner's office. I have a background in finance and accounting and And

I would love the opportunity. I would I can table.

um

Uh yes, I'm Teresa. That's me. Sorry. That's really All right, we'll move on to pre-prepared questions, um and you'll have 90 seconds to respond. We'll start with Ms. Kobian. Can you expand on the knowledge and experience that you bring that prepares you to effectively manage

Um okay, so um I'm in the background of accounting. I I was trying to figure out why I was educated and what I knew that I could bring to this I have been in bookkeeping since the '90s and have transitioned from the paper DOS to, you know, new computer so that's a good history. I thought I knew a lot more about finance than I did when I came into the county because government accounting and corporate alike but a lot different. So the last 5 years has a and I I I I get the financial part of it. Um the land part of it for me, I did land for about a year and in the Auditor's that would that's something that the legal verbage I would definitely have to Um Bookkeeping, that is a strong suit for running running the um that's another strong suit of mine, so

Ms. Bond, same question. Can you speak to the knowledge and experience that you bring that prepares you to effectively funds? So I think my experience with the Treasurer's office will help me make a transition over to the Auditor's office. Um don't quote me on the year, but it was when Mary Smith was Treasurer, Beth Mallory was Auditor, I was Mary's chief deputy, the out of whack then, um and we worked with each other to back to zero or close to. There were two funds that we held at the same balance for years. State Board of Accounts "Okay, you've held that amount, take them back to zero." Um so we did that. will could and will help in the Um I don't have any >> [clears throat] >> you know, experience other than the Treasurer's office with that you know, everyday life of my own. You know, we do our own I think as far as running the office, I run an office now. Um so I'm over annual staff at this point, so I if my staff is trained and I get the training, I think we can move forward and try and get things where they need Um I'm going to

Thank you. Ms. Bond, this next question is for you. How will you ensure accurate and transparent financial reporting for the

Okay, so we're actually um there's a group that we're working together now um to move forward to make that happen, um learning how to run reports in Lao for elected officials and everything, so elected transparency on their own budgets to try and keep things where they should my door is open now, so I would continue that. Um if anybody has any questions, I welcome you to come into my office and ask me questions and you know, if I don't know, I will figure it out and we

Miss Cobian, same question. How will you ensure accurate and transparent financial I I think this is a problem and it's definitely something like Andy said um in a group here where we're given the opportunity to help shape it for the future. So, that lots of I want to be more accountable to the council. [clears throat] I believe that having monthly reports given so that they know where those funds are and where balances are and where our shortfalls are um are very very important. So, that would be one of the biggest things I think I would change is

Miss Cobian, are there any other systems or practices that you would implement to strengthen financial oversight or accountability? Can you repeat? Are there any other systems or practices that you would implement to strengthen financial oversight Oh, yeah, I have a plan. Um I want to automate it more. I want the um accounts payable to be more automated to where we're not writing checks and we're um making ACH

and um we're giving the uh elected officials the opportunity to work in live like saying. We've given them that opportunity now and we need to teach them. That is going to help with our credit rating because it's going to help our bills to be paid quicker. And um and that's going to make a huge

systems. Miss Bond, same question. What systems or practices would you implement to strengthen financial oversight and

So, as Teresa said

again, but

I will repeat it

again again for you. Um right now, we have actually been working on and instead of doing wire transfers, which cost our bank $17 every time we do them and they were gracious enough to waive the fee for us, but we are being proactive on our side as well. So, we have started doing wire transfers instead of doing ACHs and things like that in place of doing those wire transfers. It again cuts the middleman out. You don't have to mail a check. There's not as much room for fraud. So, it's we're trying to started and that would be something very

on. Okay, any follow-up question from the audience? The county's debt bond rating was recently dropped. It's been much discussed in the community. Have either of you looked at State Board of Account audits from recent years and do you have any comments about the current financial

Um I have had my own audits done as your treasurer and my audits well. Um I know we've had some issues um in the past and I think again, the transparency, bringing that to light, um making sure where they're supposed to be, bills are paid when they're supposed to be and again, doing those ACHs paper checks and things getting lost in the mail, getting claims through quicker, I think can only help our

>> Miss Cobian, same question. With the county's debt bond rating recently decreased, have you reviewed old State Board of Account audits? Do you have any opinions on the current financial health Um yeah, so I've actually sat in a lot of those meetings in the past five years um with the audit reports um that the state board gives us. internal controls are going to help a lot. That's another huge project that the county is undertaking right now. That's going to help with processes of all the employees that have anything to do with it. Um

We need to take all of those audits, make the list, which which is actually in process. The health of the county right now, I think I don't think we are a poor county by any means. I think we have just mismanaged some funds and got complacent in some areas that we are now noticing and know and we're tightening So, my opinion and I'm going to leave

Beyond the bond rating we just discussed, what are the biggest financial risks facing Brown County and how would you address them? Miss Cobian, Financial risks facing Um financial risks facing the county right now is to not watch our spending um not pay attention to what the department heads and the county officials have with not listening to the We we have to do Repeat the question again. Let me get Let me make sure I'm saying it right. >> What are the biggest financial risks facing the county and how would you

So, we need to organize, pay attention, watch our funds, watch our

Miss Bond, what do you believe are the biggest financial risks facing the county

Oh gosh. Okay, the biggest financial risks I I don't know that I can say the

we are

like Teresa said, I I think you know, we're struggling everywhere and I think

we just are going to have to tighten our belts. We all are going to have to make sacrifices, Um we're not going to do this on our own. Commissioners can't do it. Council can't do it. Department heads can't do it. We have to work together, whether we like each other or not. We have to work

Miss Bond, this next question is for How would you make county financial information more understandable and

Oh, more accessible. I mean, I know things are uploaded onto Gateway. I I don't know if everybody knows that or knows how to navigate Um again, my my door would be open. Um if you I if someone had a question, come and ask and talk to us and get the answers and not just speak in our little groups and have our conversations. Let's Let's

Miss Cobian, do you have any recommendations on making county financial financial information more understandable and accessible to our I think having an open door is good. Um sometimes with uh law especially, we we put out those reports and you think you're seeing something that you're not. having a citizen come in and and look at those reports and be able to explain that to them, I think would Um also telling people about Gateway to let people know that there is that option education. It's It's being able to be confronted and being able to be talked to about it. So, the open door is that's the way to go. There's no other

Another question from the audience tonight and we'll let Miss Cobian go first. What is the most important thing

The most important thing the taxpayer needs to know is that the county is here for them. We need to be able to trust us with their money and that we are being good stewards of their money. Um it's shocking to me when you when you look at the numbers to of how much money goes into this county and what we need to run You know, those those are from all of you. Those are from taking that seriously and not being frivolous and applying those dollars to the best of what those dollars can do for the to me would be the most important thing for a taxpayer

Miss Bond, what do you believe is the most important thing that taxpayer needs The most important thing that the know is very hard to say. Um I think there are

many

many aspects that are important to know. Um I think maybe trusting like Teresa said, trusting your elected officials to use the funds as wisely that you know, we're not here for personal gain. We are here to work for our community. We work for are our boss. You pay us. You I mean I don't know. I Other than that, I don't know how else

to All right, Ms. Bond. what would you do to ensure transparency and consistency in how tax exemptions

Okay, so I have not had to do tax exemptions and um you know, deductions and things like that. Um working in the treasurer's office. Um I do try to educate myself as much as I I can when people in um with their bills to make sure they do have the exemptions that they need. Um there the bill is laid out a little differently this year. The over 65 credit isn't showing like it normally does. So I know we're going to have lots of I want the taxpayers to to understand and know their tax bills and their exemptions and deductions and their credits and everything as much as they can. And again, if I don't know the answer, I will do my best to find the

Ms. Kobe, same Um transparency on tax exemptions. You know, working in the auditor's it is very sad sometimes when somebody comes in and they realize that they bought their home and that they were responsible to get their homestead on there and they didn't get it. So they missed a whole year of a of a huge I don't know what the answer to the problem is, but I do think there needs to be um some reach, some way to reach the citizens to let them know about what those exemptions are and It's I had somebody text me today about their um veteran exemption. He's missed it for quite a few years, didn't know about it and it it just breaks um education and reach out to the I don't know how it can happen, but it Ms. Bond, what about you? Do you have a plan to inform eligible homeowners such as seniors, veterans, or farmers about their So I know there was um and I don't remember again what year it was because I've worked here for so long. But there was one year that we um we as in the county um the auditor's office had to send out a form and you all might remember this where you had to verify your homestead exemption. So you had to basically refile for your homestead exemption, fill out that paperwork, send it back into the auditor's office. And I think it was after 2 years if you didn't fill that paperwork out then your homestead credit fell off So I don't know if maybe that could happen something like that again. Um I do believe the form went out with the tax bill and you know, it was some years ago. So I don't remember all of the logistics of it. But maybe something like that, something extra in the tax bill because it's already a mailing that is going out. So we could just add that into the tax bill and maybe just a little reminder. I will say this, on the back of your tax bill, look, there are exemptions listed. So it is important to read all sides of your tax bill and I know that has nothing to do with the auditor's office, but there is

Next question. What is the auditor's responsibilities in terms of monitoring grant funds received by various county departments? Ms. Bond, would you go Okay, so I have not worked in the auditor's office yet. So I can't speak 100% to something that I have not yet done. But to my understanding, the grant money comes into the and then it is up to whoever holds that grant canceled checks or anything into receive like any reimbursements or you know, to prove that they are using it for what they're supposed to use I think there's a little bit of miscommunication along the way currently. So I think maybe revamping that system and maybe putting it all into into the auditor's I don't know what to say, be in charge of, but to keep track of and hold accountable. So we don't have grant money that we're having to pay back or or something along

Ms. Kobe, what are the auditor's responsibilities in terms of monitoring grant funds received by various county departments? Okay, um it's actually a a weak spot of the auditor's office, um the grant management. Um it is a I've seen um state board reports where it was said that if the county didn't get their act together that they weren't going to get any more grant money. Um and we started programs and then those programs kind of fizzle out and fall off, which goes back to internal monitoring the grant funds it's a must. It it to I'm not being sassy. I don't know what to not to be, but it's not rocket science. Um hurt us in a lot of places. Right now we have $80,000 that we have to figure out because we didn't we didn't do a grant pay grant the way we were supposed to. Um we have grants we started a policy 2 years ago on grants and that seems to be working, but again, we have to hold people accountable to those um policies we created. Um we have grants that are reimbursable. We have so [clears throat] many salaries that are completely paid by grants. I mean it's a huge part of county business. it it's [clears throat] a weak spot for us and we got ARA involved. They helped a little bit, but I think we were a little we needed even more help than what they could give it's important and it will be focused Okay, I'll just uh encourage our audience members again to submit any questions that they might have of the And we'll move on to our next question. Which is, what is the auditor's role to help residents understand their property values and appeal rights? Let's start

Ms. Kobe. What is the auditor's role to help residents understand their property

And this is my weak spot. Um

I know that. Um I don't know a lot about this subject. land is probably my weak spot that I It is very important because again, you have these people come in and and you're their last line of defense you know, their budget and how they're living. So it it's very important to understand it, execute it, and use your tools and and I would definitely have to reach fellow elected officials to help with

Ms. Bond, what do you believe is the auditor's role um in helping residents understand their property values and Um as far as I know, the appeal assessed value is all held in the assessor's office. But with that being said, I feel like any office that a they should get some kind of help. Whether like guidance of where they need to go to ask those questions. Um again, I've not worked in the auditor's office, so I don't know 100% what their role in the whole thing but I know working in the treasurer's office how we have handled it in the past. If somebody comes in and they they get their tax bill and their taxes have gone up and they well, my assessed value went up. Can I appeal it? Not for this year. There is a time limit of when you can file an appeal. they get those we all get those letters. I do believe it's in April or May that we get those for the following year and then you have so many days to

Another question from our audience members. Would you change how the auditor's office is organized? Ms. Bond,

Well, again, I've not worked in there. So, hate to say 100% yes, I would go in change everything because I can't say that if it runs efficiently 100% or not because been in charge of the office to help lead and train and make sure everybody knows their duties. Um would I go in there and change everything right away? Absolutely not. Would I make Possibly. If I see that something needs changed from, you know, this person is better Maybe we would swap jobs or give them the opportunity to try something not everyone excels the thing. So, um but again, I I don't I am not one of those to just go in and wipe out the whole office and bring my friends in because I like them and I want them to I want to do what is best for the

county.

>> Same question, Ms. Cobian. Would you change how the auditor's office is I think eventually yes, but I agree you don't want to go into anything with a big broom when you don't know. Um you you don't want to be so arrogant as to walk in there and say that you know everything and that you're going to make these changes because obviously something's working because it's it's a functioning Um critique it, yes. Um saying that the that could go that could go quite a different ways. You could look at it. as um the functions of people sitting at the different desks. Um I do think that bookkeeper as their own entity rather than them being land and bookkeeper is than them being land and bookkeeper is vitally important to the office. So, I mean that might be the only thing walking in you have to get a feel for the room and

Ms. Cobian, what is your overall vision for the county auditor's office over the My vision My vision is smooth. Um I I want an office where people can come in and feel like, you know, it is their office because it is. Someplace where in the auditor's office that what is coming out of it are are correct, that you don't have to worry about the grants and you don't have to worry about payroll being wrong or um HR issues that are out of control. It smooth sailing. I I know that's probably unrealistic, but um my goal would to be the best and to spend those tax dollars to the best of our ability and be good stewards of the

Ms. Bond, what is your overall vision for the county auditor's office over the I'm going to have to agree with Teresa. I know we're, you know, running against each other and you probably are tired of us saying, you know, oh, I agree with her, but um I I think running a smooth office is and should be what we all Um no one wants to come to work and have chaos every day. It is Um and that what within their office or within them and another I think

again, make the best better, work together to make everything run and transparent for our taxpayers and

If new resources somehow magically what one area of auditor services do you feel

Can you repeat the question one time? If new resources were available, what's one area of auditor services that you

I really feel like the auditor's office um needs another position. I think that the year that we um did some revamping of that office and um we had some early retirements and that a position was cut from that office, I think we started um having a lot of discrepancies I think that's when the struggle really started. So, I think it would be very the taxpayers and the county to have person in there like Teresa was saying, instead of having a bookkeeper and someone doing land, you have a in a position that did land and I think that's important. I make things run a little smoother and

clearer and

All right, Ms. Cobian, if new resources were available, what's one area of auditor services that you feel most

I call it a leaky sieve where it's not too much dollars, but it's it's time spent. So, I think a resource that we really should utilize as a county is a Um that that's a weak spot for the Um smooth out a lot of things. It will cost a little bit of cash, but it's also going to pay off in the long run because what even though time isn't a tangible thing, it's something that affects the community because when we don't have people they can't serve you when you come in. So, having a will help with that. Um we write-in time cards right now and it's it's just not efficient. Um it doesn't keep track of vacation times and half the elected officials are doing something different than the other half. So, that would streamline that. Also, giving the um all of the department heads more that would help a lot. Um if they could enter their own invoices, it would save time, which would if we get our invoices paid in a more timely fashion, that's going to I just lost my train of thought cuz I looked at her. But um yes, we need to utilize our software

All right, we have another question from the audience. We've talked a little bit about the staffing structure for the office in a few questions. Um but this gets to filling vacated positions. It sounds like the office is going to be losing a few employees in the near future. How do you plan to fill those positions? Let's start with Ms.

Um actually, I had a conversation with the auditor about Um Well, whoever gets the position, um I don't think it would be fair to either one to have to wait until the 11th hour to hire new staff. We know that two of the staff are leaving for I would want to start searching for those people probably in the last quarter of to uh cuz it's it's a big change. You're We're going to lose a lot of knowledge. Um Sandy's been there for 30 years. Doug's been there for what? 12, I think. So, um we're going to lose a lot of knowledge in in And um there's rumors of other people we we're going to have to focus on new staff immediately and I don't think that we we just can't wait till the 11th hour. It wouldn't be fair to whoever

Ms. Bond, same question. How would you approach filling these soon-to-be Well, again, whether it's Teresa or myself, um I think that I mean, we will would like to um be proactive and start that process before because it does take a while. I mean, I've had to do it myself in the treasurer's office. you know, lost people for one reason or another and um the the time it takes to get those applications in, go over those applications, do interviews, call them back in for a second interview, and then it takes time and then starting a ground zero learning. Um it would be nice to know who is coming in in January with you. to be able to do the training all together I I mean that would be my plan. I would like to train everybody together because what one person may retain, another may not. And then we can be a team, which I think is very important. Um that way when if somebody is out of the office, you don't have to look at a taxpayer and say, "Well, I can't answer that today. You'll have to wait until so-and-so comes back because they're the only one that knows how to do that." So it would very much a goal of mine would be um cross training, making sure that we all do it together. Um and maybe not all at the same time, but at some point we all

train. Seeing no further questions from the audience, we will now move to closing remarks. Candidates will have a 2-minute opportunity to offer those final remarks. So please tell us something you haven't addressed yet or something a thing that you would emphasize that we should know. Uh again, you have 2 minutes and we're

Kobian. Um okay. Something you don't know. I I am in the auditor's office. I'm currently in the commissioner's office and um I I feel comfortable down there. It's my forte. It's it's what I do believe that regardless to who goes into that chair that you'll be blessed. Um I think I think our hearts are in the spot. And um my heart is down there in that office and and I want to do a good job. I think it's um for me personally, it's a great way to go out um with It kind of is everything I've ever done um into one little So uh I I hope to be I hope to be your

Ms. Bond, you've got 2 minutes for closing Okay. so something you may not know about Um yeah, I don't really know what you know. I'm sure there's a lot that you don't know about me. Um I again would love to serve the taxpayers, the community.

I I can't say that my heart is in the auditor's office because I've never been in the auditor's office. I've only been in but I do put everything I have into whatever job I'm doing.

Um I don't know what else to say. I I I mean I would love to serve you and And I I Unfortunately, I'm not old enough to retire anytime soon. So I would love to continue in county government

and continue giving to my

taxpayers. At this time, I will ask everyone to join me in thanking the candidates for

answers. And again, thank you for running for public office. Your commitment makes democracy possible and thank you to our audience for participating. We will take a brief 5-minute break and then start the meet and greet promptly at 6:50 p.m.

with all candidates A few final reminders before we get started with the meet and greet portion of tonight's event. League of Women Voters of Brown County encourages you to learn about local, state, and national candidates on vote411.com. If you can just enter your address to see who's on your ballot and what their are. Uh you can verify your voter registration a month before each election. That means April 6th for the upcoming primary. You may vote on May 5th from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. or take advantage of early voting dates April 7th through May 4th. You can see hours and days on indianavoters.com or contact And if you are voting by absentee ballot, you need to apply for that absentee ballot 2 weeks before the election, which is a deadline of April 23rd. Thank you again to everyone for being here tonight. Uh again, we're moving on with the meet and greet portion of tonight's event where candidates will have 2 minutes to provide an introductory statement. Um afterwards, candidates will be available for all of your questions here in the salmon discussion. I'll read a list of who I see in the room and then we'll I'll do an open call for other candidates I might have missed. Let's start with Brad Stocksdale. You have 2 minutes to approach the mic and provide your

statement. Hello again. I'm Brad Stocksdale. I was here last night, so did hear me last night. You'll probably hear the same thing. I'm your current sheriff. I'm blessed to not having an opponent again or this year. So um looking forward to serving you another 4 years. I do serve the greatest community I think there is. Safety and security of this community and our tourism that comes here is one of my number one goals and priorities. It always has been. Uh Reducing recidivism in our jail is another one of my priorities. I've worked very hard at that. And it's I think we're making great strides in that process through treatment programs we're having um in our facility and then in the past when somebody's time to serve, we'd be like, "Okay, we've done all this for them." And we'd be like, "Okay, I'll see you. Hope you don't come back, but we'll see you when you um we've changed that. We're working with different groups. Um we're following them out. We're helping them once they leave here. We're trying to get things in place for them. Make sure they have their driver's license, that they have insurance, that they've done things like that that that they can be successful when they leave. Uh if another drug treatment facility or alcohol facility, we've uh my jail staff my jail service coordinator literally drive them to there so they don't

pass

go or

have um have a misstep along the way. So we get them right there and get get things going like that. So that's some of the things we've done. I ran a citizen's academy for the

first time last year uh correlated with leadership. Uh Brown County I was very proud of that. The outcome was really good. I'm going to continue to do that. And just uh I have 10 seconds. So um I still appreciate your vote even though there's nobody else on there. I'm trying to beat Ted Adams. for the most votes. So that's what I'm trying to do. We have a friendly competition going. So you don't He's going to get elected. So he's okay. Vote

Next we have a surrogate for candidate

I First of all, I want to say that Amy's always been a big supporter of this candidate forum. She's really here. She would be here tonight if she could, but part she's a candidate and she has to campaign. Unfortunately, part of campaigning is working my engine and and and getting volunteers. She's meeting with you and Hopefully they get both of them and when they have continue their volunteers. So she asked me to do this and she gave me She said it was 1 minute.

Now I have to

something. Anyway, I just want to mention first of all I doubt that I both volunteered for I mean I I've known Amy. Most of the people in um I volunteered for her because I know how hard she works and she will be great for our county. She knows our county. She knows our schools. She knows our roads. She knows our infrastructure. She can go there and represent us and she will be available. And she's at the grocery store, at church, at these meetings. You come up and talk to her and she will listen and she will take your opinions and views back to Indianapolis. And that's what we need. We need somebody here who will listen to us and will work for us. And I I I love her. Sorry. Um >> [clears throat] >> she wants me to tell you a little bit about her background. I think you guys probably know a lot of this. She was born in Um she's lived here 29 years. Raised two boys here. Both graduated from Brown County High School. Um her parents Janet and Stu Huffman. Longtime volunteers. Committed That's the most thing. Professional background. There isn't a candidate better qualified for this job in the state of Indiana. She's an attorney, she's a former prosecutor, she's a former teacher, she's on the school board two terms.

>> [laughter]

>> Now you have to speed it up. Anyway, I'll I I'll I'm I'm I'll finish this real quick. Um we worked As I said at the beginning, we're going to push over to it finish line, we need volunteers. And I'm it's most of these people in this room, hopefully will vote for. You know how rich she is. That's not going to get her We need people to work for her. We need people if you're able to donate. Thank you, Mr. Oliver. Okay, I'm done. That

was Andy

[laughter]

Now that you know my name, I'm for County Council. And my first time to run for something here in this community, but it's not my first time to do things in the community to try to make a difference. I've been serving the last several years on the wellness coalition for developmental wellness and mental health issues. I've worked with Brad and law enforcement people and promoting what he's described as a way able way that have made this a exemplary community for people that have strayed and have struggled and now they're doing better. a person applying for and running for County Council, I think my job would be with my background in business over 30 years of business and understanding of budgets and money and and relationships, my business is taking care of people in their homes Who's And we just want them to feel comfortable and safe at home. So, I I think that would be my job help bring the council together with solid good recommendations and advice and help save the community money, but raise the level of confidence that the community would have in the council. So, thank you and I am running for

Talk. I'm timekeeper and we changed locations. Will you raise your hand, Heather, so everyone can see you? front.

So, I was invited uh both Jim and Kathy. They knew my background in financing and internal controls, so to help with the internal control have. And I said, "No, I'm not crazy." And I said, "I'm going to sit in on the Jim finally convinced me and I so I've been in here between one and three days a week since Um so, I have a really good handle of the financial systems. But first I would like to say first I would like to say the questions that are being raised are very insightful. And that is excellent. So, you guys have done your homework. You have a really good idea of So, I appreciate the fact that they're so good and they're great questions. So, thank you very much to the League of So, I'll go over to are the backbone of financial control and reporting. They're designed that you would have the right information to make decisions on and they're designed Right? There are a lot of things, but those are ones. the auditor candidates who have actually wear three separate functions going. One is decades of internal control audits that we've looked at and we've listed out all of the things that the state has found wrong. And we've started to work all of them and 2025 is going to Okay? We we already know it. What we're trying to do is we're trying to get the state comes in to say, "Okay, we know Um so, we're also working on communicating financial Um right now, everything's good. We have for accounting and

>> So, again, I'm Candy Boone. before I say anything more thank you to everyone that made this happen tonight. Um thank you to the taxpayers that came and asked questions and um I don't know how Teresa felt about it, but I was a little concerned about the questions and answering them and just the So, you have all been again, you heard my spiel earlier of who I am and what I would like to do and continue to do for the county. So, again, I would appreciate your vote and November. Thank you. >> [laughter]

Thank you. Covington here and I thank you really seriously. Thank you. It was a little nerve-wracking getting ready for Um and the questions were good and there are a lot of there's a lot of challenges with the county moving forward. We have a lot of things to work on, but I think we have a lot of people and a good team to make those things happen. So, um thank you

and

vote

Hey, Laura Worth. here last night. I'm going to do a little different spiel because I would like Yeah, it was a little too formal. Um I my family has been here since for 30 years. I moved here in 2019 and honestly when I first moved in I knew a lot family's friends and support group and then I had to kind of up on my own. It was It was an interesting Um I had someone say, "Hey, there's a position open in the clerk's office." And I applied for the chief deputy clerk Um but anyway, through that whole process, I ended up cuz it was a What is the title? And they're like, "Chief Deputy Clerk of the Circuit Court." Like, "Wow, that's a whole lot of mouthful." I ended up falling in love with the job. I It was amazing. Watching the intricacies of elections specifically was fascinating. I loved how everybody It didn't matter if you were Democrat or Everybody who were poll workers came together and they took their jobs seriously. They were like, "Hang on, you know, we have to do X, Y, and Z. Make sure this happened." of community was just That's what kept me because it was the everybody was on track to make sure it was transparent, it was um up and up, it was um safe, it was secure, it was running smoothly. That's what I want to bid for clerk. Um I think I will do a great job. I have 6 years experience working in the clerk's office. I have 20 years leadership in the private industry. Uh I also have a master's degree. I also have a certificate of of election administration from Ball State. So, I got it. I'm ready for it. Vote Worth for

Running for County Commissioner, Scott

Thank you League for your work to bring this important conversation together and I appreciate the opportunity to do that. Yesterday I learned my opponent declined to a debate. So, I'm just very thankful for the opportunity to to meet the folks in the room today and online. My name is Scott Bud and I'm running for Uh I'm a small business owner. I'm currently a County Council member. I previously worked for the Lieutenant Governor and director broadband and I would very much appreciate the opportunity to be your next commissioner. I've known I want to be in public service my entire life essentially. I studied public affairs at Indiana University. I have a degree from School of Public and Environmental Affairs and and have essentially been focused on serving the public ever You know, I've I've always focused on what I what I really enjoy, which is having an impactful, generational types of investments, such as broadband. Uh we have 7,000 homes served in in Brown County with fiber today. 30-plus million dollars of investment. That's the project I spearheaded. Uh there are 57 apartment units out by McDonald's that went in with, I think, one person expressing um opposition. And then last year, in front of the state legislature, I was able to spearhead the effort to secure uh an estimated $1 million a year for 20 years for Brown County to invest in our quality of life And you know, that's something that will directly benefit our school system, community, etc., etc. Those are the things I've been successful doing. Those are the things I want to continue doing, and I think uh being commissioner will only empower me to do uh even more of that for you. And so, I appreciate your

Are there any other candidates in the audience tonight that we're expecting to uh participate in the greet?

that need to

All right, thank you to everyone again for being here and for caring enough to be engaged in this election. We invite everyone in the room to stay to meet the candidates and of course to enjoy the Farm Bureau's refreshments out in the lobby. We'll now stop the recording.