Many Union Township voters likely aren’t 100% sure what they’re voting for when they choose a township trustee. The vote means deciding who should manage responsibilities that rarely attract attention: emergency financial assistance, fire and emergency medical protection, burial assistance and cemetery maintenance. To help voters, the League of Women Voters talked to Republican incumbent Aaron Morgan and Democratic challenger Kay Whetstone. Their approaches to this civil servant role reveal shared concerns about residents’ dignity but different ways to deliver services.
Still in his first term as Union Township Trustee, Morgan emphasizes his budgeting experience. His goal is to bring education to local residents in need of rental, utility or financial assistance. He aims to help residents become financially self-sufficient. Whetstone draws on her social work experience and wants to facilitate dignified access to assistance and stronger connections between residents and available resources. Both measure effectiveness in the role as dependent on how the trustee’s office treats people and manages relationships.
The trustee’s responsibilities include more than helping households pay rent or utilities. Morgan describes arranging fire and EMS protection for unincorporated township areas, maintaining 14 cemeteries and providing burial assistance for qualifying residents. As a Republican, he focuses on using local tax dollars with a conservative preference for fiscal responsibility, an ethos he applies when preparing the budget for the township board’s consideration. He balances residents’ immediate needs, ongoing services and public spending.
Whetstone stresses that the position is administrative, not legislative—she’s found many voters don’t realize the trustee doesn’t write laws. Whoever holds it must fulfill its basic responsibilities, she says, while bringing individual skills to the work. When talking to constituents, she speaks to concerns about how local services operate.
Morgan brings eight years of experience on the county council, where he worked on county budgets, and several years in the trustee’s office. He draws a distinction between operating his own business and navigating government, where changes require more time and patience. His argument for voting him into another term rests partly on completing work already underway.
His leading initiative is an education program for residents seeking assistance. Still being implemented, it would address money management, budgeting and employment skills. Morgan wants the office to help people avoid recurring financial emergencies rather than simply cover their bill.
“My overall goal is to really be a help, not just someone who can write a check to their landlord,” he says. His first priority would be people already using township assistance, though he would consider making the education available more broadly once the program is established.
Morgan also emphasizes maintaining working relationships with Crawfordsville and New Market’s fire departments. He says he has worked to improve the relationship with New Market and views communication as essential to arrangements that serve both taxpayers and providers. Cemetery maintenance, meanwhile, represents an obligation to preserve history and honor those buried in the 14 small township-managed cemeteries.
His approach to assistance combines eligibility rules with respectful treatment. Guidelines exist, he says, so “everybody gets treated equally, with respect, with dignity.” He acknowledges that the office cannot approve every request, but says staff should recognize how difficult asking for help can be.
Whetstone’s case begins with experience helping people navigate support systems. A social worker, she has worked with Medicaid waiver assessments and the Department of Child Services, helped establish Moco Mutual Aid and co-owns a game store. She also describes having helped others apply for benefits while receiving assistance herself. It’s what drives her concern for the dignity of those who come to the trustee’s office.
Those roles also inform her proposal to improve government efficiency by reducing repetitive paperwork. When another public program has already verified an applicant’s identity, residence or income, she wants the township to explore accepting that verification rather than requiring overlapping documentation. She acknowledges that some changes might require state-level advocacy rather than an office policy revision.
“We have already spent the taxpayer dollars to confirm all of these things as true,” she says, arguing that repeated verification can consume staff time and burden people seeking help.
Whetstone also proposes a full-time case manager to connect residents with resources and provide short-term assistance navigating them. “It is so hard to admit that you need help,” she says. “The last thing they need to feel like is a number.”
As a certified car seat technician, she would also pursue an evening car seat clinic and assistance for specialized seats. Her goal is to fill gaps for working families and children with particular needs without duplicating existing services.
Voters can compare two approaches without assuming either candidate dismisses the other’s concerns. Morgan offers budgeting experience, established provider relationships and a developing education program. Whetstone offers service-navigation experience and proposals to make assistance more accessible and coordinated. Both connect responsible administration with treating residents respectfully.
The League of Women Voters, a non-partisan, multi-issue organization encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase public understanding of major policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy. All men and women are invited to join the LWV where hands-on work to safeguard democracy leads to civic improvement. For information, visit the website www.lwvmontcoin.org or the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, IN Facebook page.
