The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1040210
A-10 Wednesday, October 17, 2018 The Press-Dispatch ELECTION 2018 HARTING J eff RECORDER PIKE COUNTY I believe that the secrets to doing any job well are working with others, knowing where to find answers and adapting to changes. Working with others in local government I have always focused on finding the best and most cost effective way to solve problems and take on new challenges. I have been getting to know Recorders and Recorder Candidates in other counties and will be active in the Indiana Recorders Association if elected. Sharing ideas and solutions is important. In my business, I have learned the importance of adapting to changes in technology and methods. If elected, I will bring this experience to the Recorder's Office. We should always be looking for ways to turn changes into opportunities. I appreciate all the support and encouragement from around the county and would appreciate your vote on or before Nov. 6. Paid for by Harting for Recorder ELECT JEFF HARTING Connect with me on Facebook "Jeff Harting for Pike County Recorder" or www.facebook.com/PCRecorder 2018 Voter Guide Voter Guide For Area Counties In Fall Election The fall election is Tuesday, Nov. 6 and absentee voting began on Oct. 10. See below how the candidates line up for state and federal races in our area and the surrounding counties. Note: Local Right to Life Groups do not make endorsements in these races, but state and national Right to Life political action committees do. This information is not meant as an endorsement of either candidate, but merely to let you know how the candidates stand on the abortion issue, the choice is up to you! Paid for by Daviess County Right to Life P.O. Box 41, Washington, IN 47501 Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Note: If you see the following after the Candidate name, "Did not Respond to RTL Survey," this means the candidate did not respond to the Indiana Right to Life PAC Survey; "Position is Unclear" means the candidate was not clear in their response or did not answer the questions to make a final judgment. Endorsements are made by Indiana Right to Life Political Action Committee and is based on questionnaires that are completed by the candidates, voting record and public statements by the candidates. VOTE COUNTS Your Mike Braun Joe Donnelly (R) Supports Pro-Life Position/Endorsed by Indiana Right to Life PAC (D) Mixed Voting Record on Pro-Life Issues, Not a Strong Pro-Life Vote Larry Bucshon William Tanoos (R) Supports Pro-Life Position/Endorsed by Indiana Right to Life PAC (D) Did Not Respond to Survey and Views are Unclear Connie Lawson Jim Harper (R) Supports Pro-Life Position/Endorsed by Indiana Right to Life PAC (D) Did Not Respond to Survey and Views are Unclear Kelly Mitchell John Aguilera (R) Supports Pro-Life Position/Endorsed by Indiana Right to Life PAC (D) Did Not Respond to Survey and Views are Unclear Tera Klutz Joselyn Whitticker (R) Supports Pro-Life Position/Endorsed by Indiana Right to Life PAC (D) Did Not Respond to Survey and Views are Unclear Eric Bassler Mark Messmer (R) Dist. 39 Unopposed, Supports Pro-Life & Endorsed by Ind. RTL PAC (R) Dist. 48 Unopposed, Supports Pro-Life & Endorsed by Ind. RTL PAC Bruce Borders Jim Exline (R) Supports Pro-Life Position/Endorsed by Indiana Right to Life PAC (D) Did Not Respond to Survey and Views are Unclear Jeff Ellington Amy Swain (R) Supports Pro-Life Position/Endorsed by Indiana Right to Life PAC (D) Did Not Respond to Survey and Views are Unclear Shane Lindauer Joe Lannan (R) Supports Pro-Life Position/Endorsed by Indiana Right to Life PAC (D) Views are Unclear Matt Hostettler (R) Unopposed, Supports Pro-Life and Endorsed by Indiana RTL PAC H H U.S. Senate, State of Indiana H H H H U.S. Congress 8th District H H H H Secretary of State of Indiana H H H H Treasurer for State of Indiana H H H H Auditor for State of Indiana H H H H State Senate District 39 & 48 H H H H State Representative District 45 H H H H State Representative District 62 H H H H State Representative District 63 H H H H State Representative District 64 H H By Andy Heuring Winslow's election is a first for Winslow residents. For the past century, Win- slow had elected three town councilmen from three dis- tinct districts. Winslow will still elect three town coun- cilmen; however, instead of voting for candidates paired against each other by their residency in a particular dis- trict, it will be an at-large election. This means vot- ers can vote for any three of the 10 candidates, regard- less which in which district the candidate lives. Below each of the 10 can- didates, who participated in interviews, are profiled. MIKE TRUITT Mike Truitt is retired. He worked for 18 years as a su- pervisors at Farbest in Hunt- ingburg, and volunteered with the South Patoka and Patoka fire departments for more than 20 years. Truitt is a 1972 graduate of Wood Memorial High School and he has taken au- tomotive classes, supervi- sor training and firefight- ing training. "I haven't held any office. I think I want to try to get in there and get things going again," said Truitt. "I would just like to help people." "There are a lot of good people in Winslow, I un- derstand a lot people don't have the financing, they just needs some help. I would just like to get in there and see what I could do for them. I'm not going to say I'm go- ing to do this or that, but I just want to try and help them. If I can get in for one term, see what I can, do then I'm going to get out. I'm not going to make it a career," said Truitt. He said Winslow's best asset is its people. "There are just a lot of good peo- ple who want to help. They are very helpful. If you need help, there are always a lot of people there to help you. They are trying and want a good home and a place to stay." Truitt said the biggest challenge in Winslow is the water and sewer bills. "There is something wrong there. I don't know that any- thing can be done. I think you look at something right in front of you, that is all you see. You are going to have to start looking outside the box and try to get it straight- ened up." "There are no problems, there are only solutions. We are looking at this with tun- nel vision. We have to get out and see if there is some- thing we can fix, maybe that will help with other things and bring it back to the mid- dle," said Truitt. Truitt had several goals he wanted to see accom- plished. "I have 20 years in with the Patoka Fire Depart- ment, I was assistant chief for eight years. I believe you can't get enough training. Training should be twice a month, training, training, training, that is the biggest thing. The fire dept. needs to get a little more train- ing. The state requires cer- tain levels of training. If they don't have that train- ing, they need to get it and then get Firefighter 1 and 2. You can't get enough classes in for saving people's lives," said Truitt. He said the police de- partment needs to get bul- let proof vests and comput- ers in their cars. "We need to upgrade them," said Tru- itt of the police department. "Those are the three big things I see. I'm not saying nothing against the depart- ment. But there needs to be more training." He listed several other goals. "I really want to see more people moving back into town. Some I know have left have been because of the high water prices. We need to get businesses back into town. We get people back, we will get more busi- nesses," said Truitt. "I understand a lot of old houses need to come down. We need to find ways to get these houses down. There are people who would like to have some of the scrap wood and siding and wir- ing from the houses. . .If you get ahold of the right people, they might take these down or if it is a historical house, they might come in and turn that into something." He also suggested get- ting some new playground equipment down in the Lit- tle League park. "We need to get some- thing that draws the kids and gives them something to go do and have fun." Truitt said people should vote for him because, "I care for the people in Winslow. I want to see them have a better life there. I think the best way to get some of this stuff and best place to find out is go to the people and talk to them," said Truitt. "They see it everyday. Go out talk to the people and find out what we need. They are the best ones to go ask," said Truitt. TERRY STROBEL Terry Strobel was elected to the town council in 2015 and currently serves as the council president. He is re- tired from a trash hauling business he operated and is the former Animal Control Officer for Winslow. His wife died in 2004 and he has two adult daughters, Amy and Amber. "This past term as town councilman, I learned a lot. I thought I knew more than I did when I took the posi- tion, but I have learned a lot in the two and half years I've been on the council. I thought and a lot of peo- ple think, they know how to fix things. Then you get in there and you find out you have to go by the rules," said Strobel. Strobel said he is seeking re-election, "To finish what we started. Our term is on- ly three years. So we didn't have the full normal term. In three years, trying to fix what is broken isn't enough time. We have to have more time." "It is the center of the county. We have a lot of room small for business to move into town. We have our own fire department. A lot of people live in town with a lot of potential," said Strobel about Winslow's best asset. He said the biggest chal- lengers are: "One big chal- lenge is getting small busi- ness to come to town. An- other big challenge is get- ting everyone to come together. We have divisions right now. When you have division, things fall apart. So we have to bring peo- ple back together. I'm not sure what caused it, but it is there." Strobel listed several goals. "One goal is to stop the division." "We need to improve the fire department, improve the streets, that is what we are working on now. Im- prove the storm drains. We are trying to work on that right now as well. Get the drainage system under control. We have been try- ing to do this. Get some- one trained to get grants. Without the proper train- ing, it is hard to get them. We need someone to go get the training to learn how to write them. If we had these grants, we would be able im- prove the fire department and police department and street department, if we knew how to write these grants. They are difficult to get, but if you know how to do it, they are out there," said Strobel. "We are trying to do something about houses in town that either need re- moved or fixed up with grant money. There are grants out there that will take care of that. We don't have anyone in place to help us take that step. We have people with ideas and they get on the in- ternet, but they have to get the training." "One of my personal goals is to have one festival in- stead of two. Everyone will make more money if they come together. I would love to see it like it was." "I'm honest, you can call me anytime day or night with problems or ideas. I have always been that way. My phone number is out there everywhere. I'm on- ly in this for people of the town. I'm not in it for any other reason. I have to live here like everyone else," said Strobel about why peo- ple should vote for him. RICHARD "DICK" BREWSTER Richard Brewster was appointed to replace Buck Ashby the middle of Ash- by's term. He was then elected in 2015. He is a retired accountant, who worked about 25 years with Carlstead & Co. pub- lic accounting firm. He al- so co-owned the Winslow Hardware Store on Center St. A great-grandfather, he has two adult children, five grandchildren and a great- grandson. He attends Bethel Tem- ple in Evansville and is a Winslow High School graduate. He also holds a BS from Oakland City Col- lege and a Masters in sec- ondary education from In- diana State at Evansville. Along with a term and a half of being town coun- cilman, Brewster said he has a wide range of expe- rience from being a man- ager in the manufactur- ing industry, owning a re- tail business, and auditing private businesses and mu- nicipalities. Brewster said he origi- nally didn't intend to seek re-election, but when the former Clerk-Treasur- er resigned, he agreed he would try to stay on and help newly appoint- ed Clerk-Treasurer Stacy Worthington. "We have a good clerk," said Brewster. "Mostly I changed my mind because of Stacy and a lot of the things I want- ed to accomplish. It isn't that complicated running the town. We make it com- plicated. Mainly I'm doing it because we have a town clerk I can work with and I saw a possibility of get- ting a couple of people on the council who don't have a personal agenda for a group or for them- selves. That isn't the rea- son to hold public office," said Brewster. He added, "I would like to finish somethings that need to be finished. These people have the same phi- losophy. You need a four- year plan. Our plan pre- viously had been the fin- ger in the dike. You fix it when it breaks. That isn't the way to run a town. You plan what needs to be do- ne and do it." "People in the town, there are good people in the town. If they will wake up and get involved," said Brewster about what is Winslow's best asset. "Probably the finan- cial problems, because the problems there you can't solve without mon- ey. There is no business to speak of at all in town. That will be slow coming back. It is one of the prob- lems to put in the plan to be addressed," said Brew- ster about Winslow's big- gest challenge. On the topic of goals, Brewster said, "I'm not a dreamer. I know people remember when Winslow was a lot different than it is today. It needs to be planned for and worked on and it will be slow. It will have to be a long-term goal. It will take three peo- ple willing to sit in there and work on it," said Brew- ster. "I would like to get our utilities on firm footing. Getting our finances, our expenditures and our rev- enue to where we can func- tion. Every aspect of our town needs to be looked at, from the police to the utilities has to be looked at and planned for." Brewster said Winslow needs to look at producing water themselves instead of buying it from another utility. "That plant needs to be looked at. I don't know if it would be feasible to ever bring that in. You can pro- cess it cheaper than you can buy it." He said people should vote for him because, "My personal agenda is to im- prove the town. I'm hon- est, I think I know what the problems are and I think I'm qualified to help with what the solutions are. I will do the best job I can if I'm elected." WINSLOW TOWN COUNCIL RACE Continued on page 11