Local leaders received high marks from the contenders for Montgomery County commissioner and county council for the response to the coronavirus, though one candidate falsely compared the virus to the flu and said Americans were overreacting to the pandemic.
The seven Republican hopefuls, who would take office amid the economic fallout from the global health emergency, weighed in on the pandemic during a pretaped candidates forum on radio station WCDQ Tuesday — the day voters were supposed to go to the polls in the primary election.
Election Day was moved to June 2 due to the virus.
Four candidates are in the running for the three at-large council seats, including incumbent Gary Booth and newcomers Jake Bohlander, John Hedrick II and David Hunt. Three will move on to the November ballot.
Newcomers April Johnson and James Wills are challenging District 1 commissioner John Frey, whose district encompasses eastern Montgomery County.
In one-on-one interviews, candidates were asked identical questions on a range of topics including attracting jobs, the drug crisis and whether the county has reacted appropriately to COVID-19.
The candidates said the Montgomery County Health Department and other county officials should be praised for taking proactive steps against the virus and communicating with the public.
Wills, a customer service employee, said the county was reacting properly according to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s directives but that “everybody’s gone overboard,” although “if everybody feels safer this way, that’s maybe what we need to do.”
“It is, in my opinion, and this is strictly my opinion, it is just a strain of the flu. It just happens to not be managed the way the others are,” Wills said, contradicting the consensus among health experts that the coronavirus is far deadlier than the flu.
“If you remember back, we had the case of the swine flu a few years ago,” he added. “Hello. Same deal, but not with the media coverage that this one’s got.”
The 2009 swine flu pandemic was much less deadly and not as contagious as the coronavirus. There were about 18,400 confirmed deaths worldwide from the swine flu, according to the World Health Organization, compared to nearly 258,000 deaths and counting from the coronavirus.
The candidates were interviewed before the health department reported the county’s first deaths from COVID-19. The forum was moved to the radio after the virus forced organizers to cancel the mid-March event.
The League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, the Crawfordsville/Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana Federation of Business and Professional Women sponsored the forum.
Commissioner hopefuls were asked about balancing the desire to attract new businesses and jobs with the need for hiring more people for unfilled positions at existing companies.
Despite COVID-19’s impact on the job market, Frey said major local employers remained in expansion mode.
“Maybe we’re the place that folks that have lost their job can come, get a job and be part of our community,” Frey said.
Johnson said a job choice initiative could help boost the ranks at local industries.
“How could you not be excited about printing books that are going around the world or manufacturing steel that is used around the world?” she said. “We should be proud of those industries, and I think people should be excited about that.”
Wills called for attracting a wider variety of new businesses.
He said employers should pay more for full-time jobs.
“We have to get out of this cycle of … thinking that people are not worth the money that they’re getting paid,” Wills said.
Local governments use incentives like property tax abatements — where full payments are phased in over several years — to attract new companies and support expansion.
The council candidates indicated they would favor giving abatements to spur new jobs, but said the incentives could disadvantage the current workforce.
“If you have somebody looking to come in and invest and develop property or build a structure, there’s a lot of competition. If you’re not competitive, then they just go down the road,” Booth said.
“I’ve seen it happen, I know it happens,” he added, “and so that is something that you have to be careful with because the other side of that coin is, you give incentives to a new company which gives a company that’s existing here and been paying taxes and working locally a disadvantage, so those things all have to be weighed out in a case-by-case basis.”
Hedrick II also supported a case-by-case approach to abatements.
“Financial incentives are kind of a double-edged sword. I think they can be a good tool, depending on the situation,” he said.
Bohlander said neighboring counties have used abatements to expand their workforces.
“I think it’s something we need to explore to get more jobs and homes in our community,” Bohlander said.
Hunt said abatements should be used carefully. “It is a good tool to use, but it’s one of those things that not everything’s a nail and you’ve got a hammer,” he said.
Two other contested races are on the Republican primary ballot for judge and coroner.
Daniel Petrie and Aaron Spolarich are seeking the Montgomery Superior Court II seat being vacated by Judge Peggy Lohorn. Incumbent coroner Darren Forman faces a challenge from newcomer Christopher Imel.
Early voting for the primary begins May 26. Officials are encouraging the public to vote by mail due to the pandemic.
Deadline to submit a request for an absentee ballot is May 21.
