Candidates for Crawfordsville City Council made their case Tuesday with three weeks left until Election Day.
During a forum at Crawfordsville High School, the candidates praised recent efforts to revitalize the city through the Stellar initiative and called for more focus on affordable housing, filling jobs, expanding childcare and public transportation.
Four councilmen are defending their seats in the election. At-large members Andy Biddle, a Republican, and Mike Reidy, the council’s lone elected Democrat, are running against Libertarian Adam Hutchison.
On the city’s southwest side, Ward 2 Republican Scott Molin is seeking re-election against Independent Ethan Hollander.
Republican Stan Hamilton faces Democrat Joyce Burnette in Ward 5, which stretches from the east side of downtown to the strip malls on U.S. 231 South. Hamilton was invited to the forum but did not appear on stage because he was traveling out of state.
Burnette, Hollander and Hutchison each ran for council four years ago.
Naming infrastructure as the city’s highest priority, Molin floated the idea of borrowing money to fix roads and sidewalks.
“We’re going to do some hard thinking,” Molin said. “We’re either going to have to bump our belts and we’re going to find some ways to save some money in the current budget so we can start paying for these improvements, or it may come down to a bond issue.”
Instead of borrowing the money, Hollander proposed creating new revenue through affordable housing.
“Scott’s solution… sounds wonderful but if you think about it, a bond is just another way of saying taking a loan,” Hollander said. “And so that’s going into public debt and, as a fiscal conservative myself, not something I really want to do.”
About 30 people gathered for the forum, which was carried live on radio. The League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, Business and Professional Women and the Crawfordsville/Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce sponsored the event.
The council seats are the only contested races on the Crawfordsville ballot. Democrats did not bring a challenger for Mayor Todd Barton or Clerk-Treasurer Terri Gadd.
Voters in Darlington and Ladoga will vote for town council candidates.
Early voting begins Oct. 28.
