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Candidates Oppose Consolidation
(posted Oct 9)
Eight candidates attended the October Old Speedway City Neighborhood Association
meeting to discuss their views of how they plan to represent voters if
elected.
None of the candidates supported consolidation, especially when it came
the town of Speedway. Charles Scott, running for Wayne Township Board in
District 6, said he opposed it but it expects more consolidation to happen
since the advent of Uni-Gov. Incumbent Lisa Bentley highlighted her financial
knowledge as an asset to overseeing an estimated $30 million budget. She
also supported transferring the Wayne Township Fire Dept. buildings to
the Wayne Township School District in 2006 to keep the real estate with
the Wayne Township taxpayers.
Democratic candidate Traci Lipp is running for Wayne Township District
5 against Republican incumbent James Mann. Lipp discussed the importance
of being connected to the voters, and if elected, she plans to have a minimum
of six meetings a year with her constituents. This is the second time Lipp
has challenged a Republican for public office. She lost by only 292 votes
last year when running for the Speedway Town Council. Lipp contends it
was not in the best interest to the taxpayer to transfer the buildings
to the school district because they are idle most of the time.
Mann highlighted his community involvement by naming his memberships in
various community service organizations, including the Speedway Lions,
Scottish Rite, and American Legion 500 Post. Mann defended his vote for
transferring the fire department property to the school system, stating
it was due to the threat of consolidation and IFD selling off the assets
to cover pension shortfalls.
Democratic candidate Stephanie DeKemper is running for State Representative
in District 92 against incumbent Phil Hinkle. This is DeKemper's first
time for running for office, but she has state house experience by lobbying
for health care legislation. DeKemper and her campaign team have knocked
on about 6,000 doors. The common theme she hears when talking to voters
is the ability to care for their families.
Hinkle said virtual education will become a topic of discussion at the
state house this year as well as property taxes. Hinkle supports for choice
and charter schools as long as it does not destroy the public school system.
He touted his legislation that requires 16 weeks of police academy training
to carry a gun into a school.
Michael Cesnik is challenging Republican incumbent Mike Young. He said
no Democratic candidate ran in the primary, so he decided to run to give
the people a choice. He said every vote counts, and discussed how he and
a friend drove downtown to submit a voter registration card just prior
to the application deadline. Cesnik was glad to help a person to vote for
the first time.
Mike Young discussed ending residential property taxes by adding sales
tax to services. He contends the sales tax can drop from 7 cents to 5.5
cents by applying the tax to more services.
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