Intro

Erika Malone 0:02

From the Daily Journal, this is a special episode of Beyond the Headlines on location from the Johnson County Voter Forum at Franklin College. From the Daily Journal, this is Beyond the Headlines, a local news podcast focused on story shaping Johnson County.

Voter Forum

SPEAKER_13 0:23

So welcome to our fifth voter forum. Somehow, I've been lucky enough, maybe that's the word, to be the moderator of all of these. But uh sorry to go. We appreciate the uh 23 candidates said they were going to be here. We've got a couple that were got iffy and don't know if they're gonna be here that we will uh proceed without them. Um we we attempted to contact all the candidates. There were a couple who just had no email, you know, you just you call and say, I don't that's what I don't hear much for office. Anyway, um so some of them did not respond or indicated, they did get a different response. But when this been scrolling through, everybody who said they would be here was listening. These people on here all contacted us and said, hey, sorry I can't either.com. And so we appreciate every one of those um for taking the time to respond, even though it's a 10. So we're thankful for that. Um you know this whole the forum was born from an idea uh several members of Richards Alliance of Johnson County um had a number of years ago. What 2021? I believe 2022 maybe the first time we did this, and it was like, how do we get all the candidates together? And how both parties get the people, how do we control it so that they speak on issues important to us and not just what they want to come in and ramble on? And um it's been very successful. We've had uh I've had a candidate tell me the last one, and he goes, this is just amazing. I've never been anything like this. He said, you know, and tell me that I only can choose from three things, and then I get 90 seconds. He goes, I like it, it's a great idea. So we've been really it's grown, we appreciate that it goes, because it really we want an election event where you're in charge, where the vote where the voters are in charge and say, hey, this is what we want to hear. We don't do any sample polling, it's just the committee kind of talks, and people know, you know, these are the hot issues that we think people want to hear about, and um and usually uh we nail it pretty well. There's things that are obvious. Um, but really, if it hadn't been for Bridges, this would not have served. The mission of Bridges Alliance is to foster community collaboration to end poverty by providing proven tools, resources, support, and relationships that foster stability and independence. When you couple that with our county's only media outlet, the Daily Journal, and Franklin College's political science department, and the Johnson County League of Women Voters, you can see how it all fits together to promote and inform, to promote informed voters and give them a platform to speak directly with candidates for local, county, state, and national offices. You know, on Monday, sitting around watching some news, and I came across a program called Common Ground, hosted by Seb. And a guest on the show quoted, interesting study that I said, when you take two people opposite political persuasions, and he said, I'm not talking just people who are a little bit different, extremely different views. He said, You put them in a room and ask them to sit down and talk about the kids. And he said, it's amazing how they find common ground and how they get along. And that reminded me of people like Tip O'Neill and Ron Reagan. Um you may remember their fierce political battles. Well, at least you're gonna both sides probably do. Um what was less well known was their after hours one-on-one meets at the White House. Tim Rosser used to tell the story of Tip calling the president on the way home and saying, Ron, we need to talk. And they'd get together at the White House and maybe have one or two scotches. They always started the same question, though. Where do we want to be? Where do we want to get? What is it we're trying to get to? And you could they could agree on that. The path in there may be different, but they could agree what they were trying to accomplish. So then they just got to kind of get each keeping their ideals intact, but looking for areas of compromise because at the end of the day, they all wanted the same thing. We all want our kids to have a good life. How do we get there? How does that happen? We all want our communities, our state, and our country to be a better place. So let's start there. Let's figure out how to get there together, face to face, right here in this room, and not battering behind screens of social media. I'm not spanning out there and get you at turned it out. But um, let's try to find some common ground tonight. Um let's listen closely to the candidates, find our modern-day O'Neills and Reagan's, and support the ones who are ready to sit down with an opponent and find a way to work together and reach a common goal. Thanks for being here. Let's get started. So, our first candidate tonight is um Richika. Did I get that close? Yeah, I wouldn't be like, Alright. Um, try to practice. You know, uh, she's Associate Professor of Economics at Frenchman College, and she's here to talk about proposed changes in the end of property taxes. You haven't heard a lot of people saying we should get rid of property taxes and fund cleaning's another way. Um clean taxes. And the local government has already seen the funding levels change, they're seeing significantly smaller increases than what they'd seen in the past, and what's that impact and what's the story behind that? So if you want to take that.

SPEAKER_12 5:45

Thank you so much for the opportunity. My name is Rachikaronga. I'm an assistant professor of economics at Tranpin College. In the next 10 minutes or so, I will try my best to make you understand what are property taxes, how they are designed, what goes into your property taxes, and why do we need a property tax. Uh, what are my experience tells me that the frustration that people feel is usually not because they are paying taxes, it's basically because they do not understand how they are built and what they are used for. So today we will try and understand property taxes. Your property tax bill that you see is basically a combination of two numbers that are multiplied together. The one number comes from your assessed value of your home, what your house is worth for, and the other number comes for your local tax rate. Okay, when they are multiplied together, we get our property tax bill. Let's understand how that is fit. So, first number that is your value of your home, your property tax bill is your assessed value of your home. Basically, how much your home is worth or what it will sell. Every year, Indiana County has an assessor office that decides and evaluates the profit, updates your homework. Okay, every few years, Indiana County requires a more intense process, which is called a strending that uses your current numbers. So your assessor examines what is the worth of your property. Once that is decided, that's your first number. The other number, that is your tax rate, is a different story. That is not being assessed at all. It is set by your taxing units that serves your address. So it is basically your county, your city, your township, your schools, your library districts, etc. Each of those units adopts a budget, and the rate is essentially whatever that is needed to meet that budget from your property, properties inside that property. So when your bill changes, the question that we all need to ask is whether my value of my home has increased, it's its value, or my local tax rate has increased, or both. Okay. So it is also worth remembering that why are we paying property taxes in the first place? What they pay for. Your property taxes in Indiana counties mostly is the largest share goes towards funding local schools. So they fund local schools followed by city or county governments, libraries, and town ownership. So your town property taxes are used towards local schools and the funding of libraries. So that's worth keeping in mind the next time you are paying your property tax. Also, let's try and understand this much better with the help of numbers. Because I'm an economist, we work with numbers. That's how we understand stuff. So say that's your home is worth $200,000 before anything is applied to it. Indiana automatically applies a home state reduction. So this year the value of home state reduction was $40,000. So that is applied only to residential properties, not to any property which is not a primary residence. So after that is applied, on the top of that, you also get whatever is remaining amount, you get a supplemental reduction, which is approximately 40% of what's that. And after those reductions are applied, if your value of home was assessed to be $200,000, after those reductions that will come close to $96,000. So your local tax rate is then applied to the smaller amount, which is $96,000, not the full $200,000. So that's how two homes which have identically same values might have different numbers because of the reductions that you get on private data. Also, something that matters to everyone present here is that this is changing. Indiana passed a law in 2025 called as Senate Enrolled Act 1 that is going away with a flat reduction amount. So your flat reduction was used to be $48,000. They reduce it to 40,000 this year, and every year they will continue to reduce it by $10,000 and it will be gone by 2030. So you we are changing that. Indiana is changing that, and to make up for that, they are introducing a reduction that is based on percentage, not a flat dollar amount. Okay, and this year that was close to 40%. Upcoming years it will keep on climbing till 2031, till the time it do not reach approximately close to 66.7%. So rather than getting a flat reduction, we will be getting a percentage value due to the value of your home as a reduction. So also, on top of that, they are uh introducing a brand new tax credit, which is worth 10% of your bill, and it is capped at $300. Okay, you don't need to apply for it, it is automatic. Why does it matter beyond these all numbers that I've said? Because flat reduction and percentage reductions work differently. Okay, they would be winners and losers in both the cases. In the case of percentage reduction, the winners are usually the ones who have higher value properties because as the value of your property goes up, the reduction that you get also goes up. It is projected that two-thirds of people living in Indiana will see a lowered property tax bill with the upcoming app. So if you own a home, this is something which is a multi-year trend and which is worth keeping an eye for. Also, Indiana has something very interesting which is called as a hard ceiling on your property tax bill, which is circuit breaker capital. So, no matter what is the value of your house or what is the local tax rate, your bill cannot exceed a fixed amount of your gross assessment value, and that value differs. So it is 1% from for homestead, 2% for other residential properties, agricultural lands, and long-term care facilities, and 3% for commercial, industrial, and personal properties. So if your property tax rate is higher than that circuit breaker amount, you automatically get the credit. You don't do not need to apply for that also. Another thing that is worth knowing in Indiana, local government also faces a cap on how fast they can increase the budgets for which the property taxes use for, and that is capped at 4%. So even though if you're feeling that your property tax rates are going up, the government cannot proportionately increase its budgets amount. It has to be capped at 4% right now. So what should we do if we think our bill is wrong? What should what can we do? Can we do something about it if we think that the assessment value of our home is wrong? This is one tax where you can actually do something about it. Indiana, in Indiana, you can you have a right to appeal, and the process is more accessible than most of the people think. You can file form 130, the form is called as 130 with your county assessor within 45 days when you receive your property tax bill. And once you find um, and usually that bill comes in mid of June, so that is something that you should mark your calendars for. Once you do that, your Indiana assessor has to get back to you, your county assessor has to get back to you with the results. If you're not happy with the results, you can go forward and do an appeal. Then Indiana Board of Tax Revenue will hear your hearing. The best evidence in such cases is usually the sales value of your nearby local community houses and the condition of your home. So it costs nothing to file, and plenty of home home owners never challenge this process or never use this process because they never know about it. So it's not that you can't challenge the essence value of your home. You can actually do that. So I want to leave you with this: that property taxes are one of the few taxes that most of us can actually see how they are built. We can question them and influence them directly. You can appeal your own assessment, you can watch what your local taxing units propose, how they want to spend it. That's where you can actually vote in. You can also vote for the people who set that budget. That's something most of us get to do with other taxes also that we pay. Whatever you decide, my hope is that you're deciding with a clear picture of how that number on your tax bill actually gets built and now how, not just on how big it feels. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_13 14:45

So you probably tax expert. I missed a lot of points. Thank you for that. Great. Very helpful. Okay, we have um three speakers who uh wanted to address this, three candidates. And the first is uh Shelly Hyde, Johnson County Council, District 4.

SPEAKER_09 15:02

Great, thank you, Ruchika. That was very enlightening for all who don't know. I'm Shelly Hyde. Good evening. I uh began my campaign in the spring of 2025 when I was following uh the legislation at the State House. I made countless calls to my representatives to voice opposition to Senate enrolled act one, what eventually became SEA one. I believe county councillors should be informed and active during state sessions that impact our local level. I look forward to the opportunity to chart a new proactive force that will eventually eliminate the need to be reactive to decisions at the state level that negatively impact our community here. However, we are now in a place where we're forced to be reactive or risk the funding for our vital services. The best communities are safe and provide opportunities for enrichment. Prioritizing the funding of police and fire, roads and trails, and a strong public school and near and dear to my heart libraries will serve current residents and attract entities for economic development, thus increasing local tax revenue and offsetting our loss of property tax income. So as we're facing decreased revenue for county operations, both tax abatements and tax increment districts, which free tax revenue would only add to the problem. Corporations who are given tax abatements do use our roads, rely on our police and fire, and have employees whose children attend our schools and use our libraries. At this point, we have to repaint these tax abatements for corporations who do not contribute their share to the to fund the local services that they and we as a community depend on.

SPEAKER_13 16:48

Up next, Sad Floy, East Pleasant Valley Township Trustee candidate.

SPEAKER_07 16:54

Well, thank you for being here and explain to us all the public tax. Good evening, everyone. My name is Son Pika for Pleasant Township Trustee. As a Democratic candidate for local office of Pleasant Township Trustee, who cares deeply about our community. And I believe local government should always remember who we are for the people and working for the people, for the township, and every dollar is a matter. We have a responsibility to be careful with the taxpayer money and to prioritize essential services and make sure decision openly and responsibly. At the same time, we cannot ignore the reality that change the property tax policy can affect the ability of local governments to provide those services. That is why I believe local voices need to be heard when decisions are made at the state hubs. Our community deserves transparency, our taxpayers deserve accountability, and our local government deserves a funding system that allows us to plan responsibly for the future. As a Pleasant Township trustee, move forward, and my commitment is simple to my community. Every decision I make, I put the Pleasant Township trustee president first. And I'm running for to be your trustee, and actually, I'm not running for a title requestation, I'm running for responsibility to be your advocate, to be your part now, to build the Pleasant Township trustee working for everyone, not for selective of you. So I need your trust, I need your support, and I need your voice in November 30. Thank you.

SPEAKER_13 18:43

Okay, Kiri Sicello is a House District 60 representative.

SPEAKER_28 18:50

Hi, good afternoon. Can you hear me okay? I am Kiri Sicello. My last name is pronounced sit with a T silent, like the instrument cello, Sicello. Um, I am a House District 60 candidate for Morgan Johnston Monroe County. I am a local business owner in Monrovia, and I am struggling um with um the unfairness in what is going on with um local policies that are affecting our daily lives. Um so to date, to date, um I I live um right outside of Monrovia. I have a Martins Law address, and Monrovia is home to a new Google data center. And to date, Indiana has given 655 million. That's the amount of sales tax that Indiana has not collected and given a free pass to um six data centers throughout the state of Indiana. And also 744 million is the amount that Indiana is expected to lose through 2028 because of the property tax changes due to Senate Bill 1. And finally, $500 million is being asked of Hooshiers to support this shortcoming within our public schools. I do believe that it is time to balance the power at the Indiana State Legislature. My opponent is voting yes for all of these harmful policies that are affecting our day-to-day and our ability to not be able to get ahead. I want to be your voice to represent Morgan, Johnson, and Monroe counties. Again, I am Carrie Sicello. You can find my information at CarrieCaresHD60.com. And um, I do believe that together we can.

Erika Malone 20:40

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SPEAKER_13 20:53

Thank you. Uh up next. Public school funding and referendums are all. Yeah, our report.

SPEAKER_03 21:07

Hey, thank you for the invitation to be here tonight. I greatly appreciate it. I want to commend all of you here in the room, first the voters who are coming to learn about candidates' issues and platforms, to be an informed voter. So, commendation to you and to all the candidates running. Thank you for your willingness to be a public servant and serve your communities here in Johnson County and to represent us, whether it's at the township, county, or state level. So, thank you all for your uh leadership and willingness to serve. I'm Cherry Stratlin, Executive Director of the Indiana School Boards Association. Uh, we're an association representing 289 school corporations and governing bodies or school boards throughout the state, all 92 counties. We help advocate for one million public school students in the state of Indiana. At ISPA, we provide Four core services to school board members. We do advocacy, so I'm a registered lobbyist. I've been at the state house for about 34 sessions. Uh, we have attorneys that provide legal counsel, we provide policy services and board training to our 289 school district governing bodies. We have about 1,700 school board members statewide. Many of them will be on the ballot. Some of them are going to be speaking next uh in November. Don't forget, when you vote, you have to go down and vote separately for school board candidates. And this will be the first year in state history that school board candidates may affiliate with a party, but that's not mandatory. Some will be on the ballot as independent or no labeled, nonpartisan, that is still an option. So make sure you go down for your school district, look at the candidates running for school board. I know in my home community of White River Township Center Grove, we have eight candidates running for three seats. So be an informed voter regarding school board candidates. I think some of the communities are still having forums for school board candidates as well. So attend those. So school boards have four core duties that you need to be aware of. One is adopt policy required by state or federal law to govern the school corporation. Second, hire a superintendent and evaluate the superintendent. So the board works with the superintendent. The superintendent really hires and makes personnel decisions for everyone else. The board does approve those hiring decisions as well, but working with the superintendent is too goal setting, would be a third core duty. And then fourth, and that's what I want to talk about here, is financial oversight. So boards have to approve annually, and this year it's by November 1st. So many of our school corporations here in Johnson County are having public hearings about their budget proposal, but they have to adopt their annual budget for the calendar year by November 1. So financial oversight and budget adoption is a fourth core duty. I think one of the most important duties along with goal setting. So we coach boards up that they should follow certain tenets of model board governance. That is be a model board and how they govern, be proactive in planning. That means having long-term planning, uh, capital projects plans, school bus replacement plans, know your demographic trending on student enrollment. Um, just really know the finances well so that that budget and your strategic plan is aligned uh with one another. And so transparency and accountability to taxpayers and patrons is another big one. So those are the tenants that we espouse. There's a video here now that we want to play. I think this is a really good six-minute video to help you understand school finance in Indiana in our public education system.

SPEAKER_27 24:49

School funding in Indiana is a complex system that affects every student, teacher, and taxpayer in the state. Public school districts are funded by three main sources of revenue: state funds, local property taxes, and federal grants. State funding is the largest source of support for schools, accounting for about 60% of a district's total revenue. The more students a district serves, the more state funding it receives. But if a student leaves, the funding follows the student to their new school. Beyond the base funding for each student, Indiana provides additional support to help schools serve students who face greater challenges, including students with special needs and students from low-income families. Local funding, mostly for property taxes, accounts for about 31% of a school district's revenue. It's the second largest source of school funding. But Indiana law limits how much property tax can be collected. When those limits kick in, schools receive less money than plate, no matter what students' needs may be. At that point, districts are faced with a tough choice to cut programs and services, or ask their community to approve a referendum for additional funding. Federal funding is the smallest overall source for school funding in Indiana, making up an average of 9% of the school district's funding. State law requires schools to divide their funding into specific buckets. Each bucket can only be used for certain types of expenses. Because of this system, school districts may have funds available to replace buses or update facilities, but not enough to increase teacher salaries. In the next section, we'll break down what each of these funding buckets is designed to support. Let's start with the education fund. This is the largest fund in the school district's budget. It's funded by the state of Indiana, and by law can only be used for expenses directly related to classroom instruction. These dollars primarily pay for teacher salaries and benefits, instructional aids, and other direct classroom expenses. In most districts, the vast majority of education fund dollars go toward the people who work directly with students every day. In short, this fund is dedicated to teaching and learning. But schools are more than just classrooms. Schools provide safe buildings for students. The cost to heat, cool, and power continues to rise. The supplies needed for day-to-day operations and the cost of insurance have also increased. That's where the operations fund comes in. While the education fund supports instruction, the operations fund keeps the schools running. And unlike the education fund, which is supported by the state, the operations fund relies primarily on local property taxes. Now let's talk about the third fund the debt service fund. Think of this fund like a mortgage payment for a school district. When a school needs something major, like building a new school, renovating an older building, improving an athletic facility, or replacing aging HVAC equipment, it usually can't pay for it all at once. Instead, the district borrows the money. This is often done by issuing bonds. The debt service fund is the account used to make those payments over time, both the principal and the interest, just like making payments on a home loan. Importantly, debt service fund dollars can only be used to make debt payments. Schools are not allowed to use this money for teacher salaries, classroom supplies, or other operating expenses. And just like the operations fund, the money for the debt service fund comes primarily from local property taxes. The last bucket works a little differently. It's called the referendum fund. And not every school district has one. Sometimes a district needs funding beyond what the state and existing local taxes provide. When that happens, the district can ask the community for approval through a referendum. A referendum is simply a question placed on the ballot and voters decide yes or no on whether to allow the district to collect additional property tax revenue for a specific purpose. If a majority of voters approve the question, the district may collect that additional funding for a set number of years. There are three main types of school referendums. Operating referendums support day-to-day expenses, such as teacher salaries, academic programs, and classroom supplies. Capital referendums pay for building projects and facility improvements. And safety referendums fund security upgrades and other measures designed to keep students and staff safe. In short, a referendum gives the community the final say on whether to provide schools with funding beyond their standard revenue sources. School funding in Indiana is governed by state law, and each fund comes with specific rules about how dollars can be used. This means that even if the education fund has a surplus, schools can't simply redirect all of those dollars to pay for building repairs, transportation costs, or other operational needs. State law limits how much money can be transferred between funds and prescribes how most education dollars must be used. At the same time, the operations fund faces limits on how much schools can collect from property taxes, even as costs for transportation, utilities, and maintenance continue to rise. School funding is under pressure from many different sources. Rising transportation costs can reduce the dollars available for building repairs. Property tax caps can force difficult choices between updating classroom technology and maintaining school facilities. School districts work every day to balance these competing priorities, meeting today's needs while planning responsibly for the future, all within the limits set by the state.

SPEAKER_03 30:48

Excellent video explaining the basics of uh school-based budgeting and finance. So I hope that was helpful to you. Referenda was a topic mentioned there. Uh, that will be another issue on the ballot. So when you go to the ballot box this November, or if you do early voting statewide, we have 38 school districts across the state asking for a local public question to approve a levy increase on property taxes to fund a particular need. Here in Johnson County, we have two school corporations, Clark Pleasant and Franklin Community Schools. I know Dr. Edsel's here in the room, Superintendent Clark Pleasant can answer detailed questions that you have about their referendum. You know, they're pursuing a renewal of their 2018 referendum, if I'm not mistaken. They're only calling for a nine cent increase for $100 assessed valuation. $2 million, they'll generate $4.4 million of the proposal and $2 million for school safety per year and $2.4 million earmark for student support services. Franklin Community Schools, uh, their rate increase proposal is uh 29 cents, which will generate $9 million per year. Theirs is a renewal of their 2019 referendum that is expiring, I believe, next year, but they're going the year early because they're not allowed to have a local public question now in odd or municipal election years. Uh schools are now limited or districts to a referendum only every two years in the general election. So some who would have had that local public question, that referendum campaign next year have to go now this November. And so they have a spending plan online. Every school corporation pursuing a referendum is sharing their story of their need. And there's a calculator as a homeowner, you could enter your address and your home value, and it will tell you what that proposal means for you if you're being impacted by a proposed referendum increase. So I can tell you this school districts pursuing a referendum are not pursuing expansion of new programs. Uh, none of these are for capital or construction projects, all of these are for basic operating needs of what's happening in the classroom. So this is to maintain status quo, to maintain class sizes, to pay teachers adequately. And our teachers in Indiana rank 38th in the nation in teacher pay. And so we have some funding realities, and I'll close with this. I know I'm running short on time. I handed out this infographic that says Indiana public education is a great return on the investment when it comes to educational outcomes. We're leading the nation post-pandemic in so many areas that we should be proud of. But there's a delicate balance. If we do not continue to fund our education system, we're at risk of maintaining progress in those academic gains. We're 38th in the nation in per pupil spending, we're 38th in the nation on teacher pay, and we're last in the nation on increases to per pupil spending in a 20-year period. That's nothing to be proud about. So our districts have needs just to maintain status quo right now. Those are our financial realities. Uh, my panelists, co-panelists here, talked about the impact of Senate Enrolled Act One on local government, and it's having a tremendous impact on school corporations. So uh more property tax reform proposals are coming before the General Assembly in the 2027 budget session, which could have an additional uh negative impact on revenues for school districts. So we need to support public education because if there are anchor institutions in our community and they improve the quality of life for citizens, for all of us, they improve our home values and property tax values, and uh we just really do need to maintain quality schools here in Johnson County. We're fortunate to have a number of great school districts to send our children to. So we are the public schools of choice. Um, most families choose public education over private schools in Indiana. 91% of all families have their children in public education.

SPEAKER_13 35:04

So thank you very much for your time. Thank you, Terry. And uh five school board campus um they would like to speak. And uh first up is Jane Dunning Smith, who is running for Senator Grove School Board.

SPEAKER_16 35:18

Hi, I'm Jane Dunigan Smith. I had served on the Center Grove School Board for the past two years on seeking election this fall. Um, Terry stole a lot of the things that I would have said, so it's great. I'll just uh I agree with many of the things that you discussed. At Center Grove, we are not seeking a referendum this year. Um, and largely that's because we've really done a great job over the past several years in thinking long-term and in terms of making sure that we had an ethnic cash reserve. We have about a $13 million cash reserve, which allows us to kind of smooth some of the fluctuations and it also allows us to have a really high bond rating. So our deaf service expense is lower than a lot of other schools would be. Um, we've also found a lot of savings and efficiencies that we've been able to employ in terms of our energy savings plan that we have, and we also found some savings in our administration administrative roles. So that's all great, but we are running out of levers that we can pull. So as we look forward and we look into the next couple of years, um, it's very likely that we will need to consider a referendum at that point in time. So we have been um thinking about how we might go about that. We've started just to think about how we would message that. The main reason for us would be so that we can continue to actually maybe start uh to pay our teachers competitively. I personally was raised on a public school teacher's salary, so I know how uh limiting that can be, and we need to make sure that we have great schools for our community, basically.

SPEAKER_13 36:48

All right, next up, uh Jennifer Who is a very well-centered owner. Then we'll go to uh Jack Russell, who I know something. Jack was told me he thought he could make it, so I put him on the agenda. But um Becky Nelson, Franklin Community School Board.

SPEAKER_15 37:03

Good evening. Um I'm Becky Nelson, and uh I will be running for a third term um on the school board. Um I really uh again kind of hit on some of the things, but Franklin Communities uh schools is one of the um school corporations that's uh asking for a referendum this fall, and we are focusing on recruiting and retaining staff. Um since we're currently in a referendum right now, and since that uh first one started in 2020, we have been able to raise um teacher pay from 12 um up to 15 to 17,000 um per year. And then we've also been able to increase staff pay from $9 to $15 an hour, and um those those amounts are kind of in the middle of our peer group. And then uh the second thing that we're focusing on is essential student health and safety initiatives, so our school nurses. Um we recently um did our own uh police department within the school, so just um helping to pay for those um invaluable resources for our students, and then also um managing classroom sizes and um academic programs. So classroom size um K through 12, our average classroom size is 21 to 1. And um which is awesome, I feel um our the board's goal is to have 25 to 1. So we've we've done pretty well in being able to keep that. And then um academic programs, and just with all the changes in the graduation um pathways, um, we are trying to um find new ways to uh pay for all of those changes. Um I'd be happy to answer any questions if you have enough. Thank you.

SPEAKER_21 38:58

Good evening. So as uh my name is Laura Feller, I'm running for Greenwood School Board. I'm currently on the board, so I'm running uh for election this period. As we've heard, public school funding is under real pressure right now from property tax cuts, from SEA1, and our enrollment-driven funding model. So states or school districts are processing are having to do more with less. And Greenwood is not immune to that. Here's where I stand Greenwood's tax rate is nearly the lowest one around our neighboring districts, and we have no referendum plan. As a CPA with 40 years of corporate finance experience, I take budget discipline seriously. We look at multi-year forecasting, careful review of our budgets, and prioritizing those dollars that go into the classroom. The board any school owes it to the community to have the conversation honestly and transparently, as we've already heard today, that uh with grounded data and not data. But my priority for Greenwood is to not have to ask taxpayers for more. This means growing enrollment, and that's really important for us to focus on. We do things with our C9 partnership as well as online school programs. And since enrollment drives funding, we're trying to increase our enrollment and it it also means planning years ahead so that we're not caught flat footed. Responsible governance today is what keeps a referendum off the table for tomorrow.

Erika Malone 40:49

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SPEAKER_13 41:14

A number can change the numbers on bullet points on that. Um is a professor of Franklin College Political Science Department. He has joined us several times. Uh appreciate uh his partaking in this awesome appreciate Franklin College wanting us to work with us on this room and make it available to us. Thank you for the partnership. Randy, well in life.

SPEAKER_04 41:40

Thank you, it's my pleasure. Um chair of the political science department here at Franklin College. Um here for almost I think it's 17 years, maybe 18. Uh so really beginning to fully know the area. And uh just want to begin by just saying welcome, welcome to Franklin College. If you've not been here before, we're glad to have you. If you've been here before, uh, welcome back. We're glad to have you as well. Uh, if you were to ask one of my students, there are a few of them out there, uh, so what does Doc do outside the classroom? They'd probably tell you I'm an avid recreational cyclist. In fact, you might catch me cycling week nights, maybe Thursday nights out of downtown Parkland or out of uh downtown Markersville, and a group of recreational riders and we we head out of the downtown area and out into the country, um getting a little fitness and fun in at the same time. And along the way, drivers tend to roar by and uh shouting out not so complimentary things about us sharing their road, right? Um every time this happens, I think about how my and the passing drivers' uh quality of life might be improved if there was a long-distance recreational path for cyclists to use. Um, if only we had made that sort of policy commitment. And that's what I've been asked to speak on this year. How policy decisions have consequences for citizen quality of life. Now, earlier this year, debate of the current what the current construction on US 31 through Franklin, which includes accessibility improvements, was framed as a quality of life issue which determines community success. And I think most Hooters agree the policy decisions should improve quality of life. Where it seems we all get stuck is that the translation from policy decisions, including taxing and spending, into that quality of life. So continue with my recreational pathways example here. We on the south side have spent hundreds of thousands, likely even millions, on recreational greenways. And we're starting to see multiple benefits of these investments: economic investment, places for people to recreate and improve their health, and perhaps most importantly, pure cyclists on roads. Now I've rode the Monon, the Midland Trace, the nickel plate trails on the north side of Indy, and they provide excellent off-street recreation. They also come at a hefty price tag. Carmel has spent tens of millions of dollars on the Monon. Some of this is local money, but much of it was state and federal grants. In exchange for these expenditures, they've received significant improvements in quality of life. As noted by the Rails to Trails Conservancy, homes within a half mile of the Monon Trail command a sales premium of more than $13,000. If we extrapolate that to the nearly 9,000 homes along the trail, the Monon adds more than $115.7 million in value to homeowners. That's a measure of quality apply. So when we're starting to think about taxes, $500 million is a large investment number. One cannot help but wonder about the causal relationship between our Monon and Nickleplate neighbors and their placement on the U.S. News and World Report as the top two best places to live in the United States. Think about that. Right here in Indianapolis, top Indianapolis Metro, top two. So what's true of cities is also true of states. I recently had the pleasure of riding some of Missouri's Katy Trail, which spans some 240 miles from the suburbs of St. Louis to the suburbs of Kansas City. With the initial startup costs bankrolled by Pat Edward Jones. Yeah, that Edward Jones. Missouri continues to invest in maintaining this trail. A recent study determined that the economic impact of the Katy Trail Park visitor spending on the state's GDP was valued at $20 million annually. Much of this economic impact supports towns struggling due to the loss of the railroad. The impact has been so positive, in fact, that the qual for the quality of life for the people in these communities, the Missouri is now working on building a second trail that spans the entire with the state. So policy decisions have impact, right? They have consequences on quality of life, not just the immediate recreational opportunities, but also the opportunities for every little community along the way. So while my cycling buddies and I would love to see Franklin, a Franklin recreational trail connection to Indy and other surrounding towns, recreational trails are simply one example of how the federalism that I talked about at the last voter forum in the spring plays out in terms of policy choices and, more importantly, policy consequences. In another instance, Missouri, with all of its rail trail glory, chose not to engage in Medicaid expansion when permitted by the federal government. It continued to struggle with health outcomes, whereas Indiana adopted the Healthy Indiana plan, hit 2.0, and its health outcomes improved. Policy decisions and real concrete quality of life changes. Well, that's not to say that Indiana policies in health area arena are entirely complementary. We start talking about quality of life. One of the things we should definitely keep in mind is that Indiana has a child mortality rate that ranks it in the bottom third of all states. Policy decisions have consequences. Our policy choices have also meant that Indiana ranks seventh highest in greenhouse gas emissions. Not surprisingly, Indiana's overall air quality ranks it at the bottom quarter of all states. And when combined with other pollution, Indiana ranks dead last in some of analyses of the environment. Hoosiers live, on average, five years less than those in other states. Likewise, poor quality of health care and inaccessible health care are often seen as reasons why people tend not to move to Indiana. Each of these data points can be tied back to policy choices. In political science, that's what we do. We explore how scientifically, we explore how policy choices link to quality of life outcomes. And you know, the data is really clear in this area. That when when governments make decisions, and perhaps more importantly, when voters make decisions about who to put into government, there are outcomes, there are consequences for our quality of life. While Indiana ranks well in terms of youth depression and economic productivity, we rank in the bottom 10 states for average years of education. That outcome strikes an interesting comparison with Indiana's ranking of 45th out of 50 states in terms of support and tax dollar money for public education. 45th out of 50. While Indiana typically ranks the top in nationwide affordability measures, there is a wide variance in who can can and cannot afford to undertake the average mortgage in the Hoosier state. As discussed in the Indiana Business Review at the end of last year, only Muncie and Terre Hope metro areas offer affordable homeownership. Every place else, home ownership of the majority of people, is priced out of their income range. And overall, decreases in home prices that we have seen have not yet matched wage stagnation throughout the state. So while the connection to policy decisions is less direct here, there are levers that government can use to decrease the cost of homeownership. I'm just going to throw out a few ideas. Things like zoning reforms, rethinking how they do the permitting and the costs of permitting, providing building incentives, assisting with adaptive reuse of existing structures, tax credits, so on and so forth. Roads are also an interesting quality of life in the case. How many of you think we got great roads in India? Well, according to US News and World Report, we're actually number three. But the reality is much of that three ranking probably has to do with our federal and state roads, which are quite well funded. But our municipal organizations tell us that actually there's a real large gap in funding within county roads. There's a gap there. And that's our quality of life. Similarly, libraries are funded locally. Much of that funding, as we've heard, comes from property taxes. So reason property tax changes at the state level are expected to negatively impact local libraries. Likewise, changes in the state grants to libraries will have a negative impact on library funding. So while Indiana has historically fared quite well in most metrics measuring public libraries, librarians are concerned about the ability to meet patron needs going forward. My message for this evening is not about cycling. My message this evening is first and foremost a reminder as we head to the polls. Policy decisions have consequences. Those consequences are not always immediately apparent. And when I focus on my pocketbook and my immediate needs and wants, then I often do not take into account the broader impact on my community. And over time, the broader impact on my community may actually have more significant effect on my pocketbook and my immediate needs and wants. Thank you.

SPEAKER_13 53:57

Thank you, Randy. We're going to start off with Amanda Stevenson Holmes, who's running for Johnson County Council. This group two.

SPEAKER_17 54:05

Thank you so much, Randy. You want to project my voice. Randy and I are both educators. My name is Amanda Stevenson Holmes, and often I'm sure when Randy and I talk about government, a lot of people tend to talk about Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., Randy's not riding the trails in Washington, D.C. He's riding them in this county. And that makes the decisions that our county commissioners and our county counselors make imperative to us. They are hitting us right here close to home. They budget for not only our roads, but also those bridges that we travel on and that are currently underfunded, our public safety, our public health, emergency services, courts and adjustment system, veteran services, public libraries, our parks, and those trails, and animal support. I want to go on the record saying that I am for the White River Redevelopment Project and supporting that effort as such. Our county government, as Randy mentioned, also helps shape how our communities grow or they don't grow. Our decisions about infrastructure, land use, home prices, and economic development and loss have a lasting impact on whether our community, our county, is somewhere people want to live, work, and keep good businesses. And because county government is close to the people it serves, our elected officials have an opportunity, but more importantly, a responsibility to listen. And that's why I am here tonight. My name is Amanda Stevenson Holmes. I am listening, I am running, and I am ready to accept accountability for Johnson County Council District 2. My expertise and experience are in communication, leadership, and community engagement. Shout out to my friends over in the corner over there and online. I believe that those skills are especially important to our county government, our local government. I want to address the tough issue. Yes. Oh, that budget deficit that we have. And again, that's why I'm here. And I'll stop talking and I'll listen to you later. And thank you for considering me for County Council District 2.

SPEAKER_13 56:27

Up next, Jay Patetti, who is running for County Council District 1.

SPEAKER_23 56:34

Good evening, everybody. My priorities are simple. They are fiscal accountability, smart growth, transparent government. Actually, I like to color outside the box. Many have told me to stick to my job roles. I don't want to mince words because this is no longer about skill set. For a very long time, people have been waiting for somebody to stand up and ask, have you no decency, sir? And we are still waiting in every room and every day. Again, how can the government impact our quality of life? By bringing back some sanity, by making things affordable, by listening and not gaslighting people, by bringing back some transparency, no closed-door meetings, no NDAs, make the information public in this digital age. By bringing back some accountability, owning the mistakes, delivering on the promises made. And these are directly linked to everybody's quality of life, whether you agree with me or not. And Johnson County demographics are changing. The times are changing. We need to get out of denial first, accept it, then only can we change, be transparent or make an impact by protecting the people and not by locking them up in private prisons. For the big, new, modern, sustainable, affordable ideas to be implemented. The old termite-infested ruins need to be demolished. Only then can we build new, renew. The only promise I can make is that I will walk the talk. I will serve all the residents of District 1, not just those who vote for me. My loyalty will be to the people and no political leadership or special interests and no data centers. Thank you. Chad Schaper.

SPEAKER_06 58:42

Chad is Canada for the Greenwood School Board. Thank you, Breaker Cosh, for allowing us to have our voices organized. Again, my name is Chad Schaefer. I am running for the Greenwood School Board. When I started my first term in 2022, I assumed government officials were distant, were impersonal, and they didn't really care what I had to say as a community leader. In the last four years and serving on the Greenwood School Board, I found that much different than those initial assumptions. Those are things that I've been passionate about, and I reached out to them proactively. They heard me. They scheduled one-on-one meetings with me. We had phone calls, we shared messages. That's not because I was on the Greenwood School Board. It was because I proactively reached out and I used my voice and they listened and they heard me. That is something I want to continue on as a school board member with Greenwood. That I've been open and transparent, easy to find online, at school events, at sporting events. I like to get out there and talk with folks. So that is something I will continue to be passionate about. And I think that's how our government makes a direct impact on our quality of life. Me as a school board member, I will continue to do the same thing for the next four years if you allow me to be voted in. Thank you. Up next, Christina McDougal, who is White River Township Advisory Board.

SPEAKER_18 1:00:23

Thank you and good evening, everyone. Hello, my name is Christina McDougal. I am thrilled to be a first-time candidate running for public office for White River Township Trustee Board. I am running because I believe civic engagement starts at the most local level by our neighbors engagement. Quality of life ought to include the basics: food, shelter, functioning water, and electricity. Township exists to provide basic gap services for Indiana for families in survival mode. Living day-to-day in what psychologists call the tyranny of the moment takes a toll on the individual, but also has ripple effects into our classrooms. In a center grown town, in center growth school, nearly 20% of our students are on free-reduced lunches. In the United States, American kids, it's one in six. Our numbers are so much higher. We can do better. And it's not because these kids' parents aren't working. Most of these families have multiple jobs just make ends meet. So why does this matter? A single mom of three works one hour too many in one year, earns $14 too much, and she loses her SNAP EPT benefits. She now has to allocate those dollars that she was spending on rent to food. This is a reality every day for many, many families. Assistance to townships gives families time to figure out changes. What I want to do is help people realize the quality of life and physical responsibility. They're not an either or they're a yes and. Thank you so much. I would appreciate your vote for school board in my part for my township trustee board in my burger township. And I want to give a PSA if I could, similar to what Terry was saying. For all of your township trustee boards, no matter which district you are in, you must also vote individually for each candidate. They are not included on any of the straight party tickets. So be sure to read each person's name, take time to learn about them, no matter who they are, and cast your votes accordingly. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:04

I want to thank Doc for talking about the uh impact on quality of life at the macro level and giving us the data. I want to talk about it at the micro level. I'm ready for the White Retention Advisory Board, and I want to talk about how the Whiteworth Township can provide and improve our quality of life. So at the township level, we can create a community of belonging with public gardens, a welcoming space. We can utilize our resources to provide adult education, like maker classes, gardening, and AI essentials. We will host life skills classes like budgeting, tax preparation, interviewing, and resume building. We'll build relationships with organizations that work to improve quality of life, like Aspire Johnson County. We can be an information hub utilizing our interlocal arrangements to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of our services. We will build strong partnership with various organizations like the Bridges Alliance to help drive financial stability, Johnson County Senior Services, which helps seniors navigate the complex medical care, access Johnson County for transportation needs, our many food pantries, and healthy families Johnson County to help our youngest families. We should be assistance experts. We will offer dignity-first care and case management. We will utilize the Indiana Resource Center to train our case workers in active listening, empathy, and trauma-informed care. We will use social media to strengthen our online presence and ensure the community understands our role and our capabilities. Finally, we'll ensure those that need assistance receive it timely and without shame. Thank you. I'm running from the White River Town. There's a board meeting next Tuesday for a budget proposal for the White River Township. Tuesday at 5 o'clock. Okay.

SPEAKER_13 1:05:16

Thanks. We had Mark Mess, but I don't see Mark. And Mark is the current uh trustee for White River Township. Yeah, so we'll skip Mark and we'll go to Charlotte Ansbach, who is running for Township Trustee in White River Township.

SPEAKER_24 1:05:34

Thank you. Good evening. My name is Charlotte Onsbach, and I'm running for White River Township Trustee because our local government has a direct impact on the quality of life of our community and should be responsive, responsible, and rooted in the needs of the people it serves. Living in White River Township for the last 17 years, I've seen the challenges families face, unaffordable child care. Food insecurity and financial hardship. I'm a mom and I'm invested in the well-being of other moms and families so they can provide for their children while maintaining dignity. The trustee's office plays a critical role, and I am prepared to bring a practical, community-focused approach working to ensure accessible assistance to vulnerable residents, seniors, and veterans. I plan to implement programs to reduce the amount of emergency aid, but also connect those who are acutely struggling to immediate support. Just as important, I believe in listening first and making decisions that are thoughtful, transparent, and fiscally responsible so our community knows their funds will be used prudently. I plan to simplify aid application, respect the applicant's privacy, and eliminate the term poor relief, as it is humiliating and insulting. This isn't about politics for me. It's about establishing strong, reliable township services with compassionate care when people are at their most vulnerable. It would be my honor to serve as your trustee, creating a township atmosphere where residents feel connected, supported, safe, and proud to live. I believe in caring for our community. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:23

It's Tyler, Public Township Advisory Board. Good evening. In January 2013, at 22 years old, I started working for the Livermore Area Recreation and Parks District in Livermore, California. Shortly thereafter, we were asked to vote on a logo for the California Parks and Recreation District that says Parks Make Life Better, which I'm pretty sure we have all seen this logo at this point. And I agree with this logo. Parks are an essential part of our lives and are maintained by the government. So the question being, how does government impact the quality of life is permanent for this position? The trustee advisory board works with the trustee to approve the budgets, add additional allocations, and audit the trustee, which we all know has been an issue lately in Indiana, and approving contracts, making local rules, and approving salaries. Well, the trustee has a bunch of additional responsibilities, but each of them is assisting the community with relief when needed, stepping in to solve disputes, and maintaining the township properties such as parks and cemeteries. For this position, it is all about how the government impacts the quality of life because all of these are quality of life questions. Rent and utility assistance, parks, cemeteries, and fire and ambulance services are all about the community and all essential for higher quality of life. The Trustee Advisory Board exists to advise the trustee, and the trustee exists to have a positive impact on the quality of life for those in our community. Again, my name is Tyler Alton. I am running for the Trustee Advisory Board for Pleasant Township.

SPEAKER_13 1:08:56

Thank you, Tyler. Taylor Christman, Franklin Union Needham, Township Trustee.

SPEAKER_25 1:09:02

As working class families that are being pinched at the grocery store and at the gas station, the trustee is the office that taxpayers turn to when crisis hits. They keep food on the table, lights on, and families passed. While Lydia has done a good job to work to bring awareness that this office exists in the community, it still largely acts and functions as a reactive crisis. With a few simple steps, we can gear the office to a proactive work. The goal you'll hear me talk most often about is the Township Garden, creating a common space that builds community resilience by fighting food insecurity and teaching meaningful hands-on sales data. Additionally, rotating satellite office hours and distributed pantries create greater accessibility across our consolidated township. A weekly scan of eviction violence helped us reach families before the emergency dies. All these things and more are possible with responsible township stewardship. Affordable, common sense steps to help the average working family. My name is Taylor Christman. I'm running for Fun Township Trustee, and I would be honored to work here.

SPEAKER_13 1:10:17

Michelle Hennessey Sears, Indiana House District 58. Good job.

SPEAKER_26 1:10:34

My name is Michelle Hennessey Sears. I am running for Indiana House District 58, which is primarily Greenwood and Whiteland. I am a pro-public schools, pro-union, pro-science and data, pro-healthcare reform, and pro-common funds gun control. For a long time, I was an uninterested, non-political person. My husband can absolutely attest to that. Ten years ago, I started a small behavioral health care business for individuals with autism. And I still didn't put much stock into how our government can make or break a small business. In the last two years, my perspective shifted. With legislative changes, I quickly realized that legislation and our healthcare systems were negatively impacting my patients, but that our government could do something to change it, except they weren't. And things continue to get worse. So I decided to run. That's why elections and voting are so important. We deserve candidates who are there with their constituents, who feel the joy and the struggles of life. We deserve legislators who will advocate for us based on data, research, and expert analysis. As an autism advocate, a small business owner, a health care provider, a wife, and a mom, I will be that voice. And I will be your house rat with heart.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:02

Oh, how many people have been to Barterville? Well, Bartersville is a little itty bitty town, but the town limit goes all the way up to 69, it goes all the way north to Whiten Road. And what I want to come to you to talk about today is that we're at a pivot point. It's a blank canvas. And Bartersville is either going to become a bedroom community or it's going to become a model community that's number three in the nation. What that's going to take is it's going to take us, uh our town council, uh establishing a development plan that includes the public amenities that are needed for quality of life. At this point in time, the plan is really quite good, it's directionally correct. But what we need to uh what we need to uh prioritize is that we have to have the recreational trails in place. We need to have a central park, there should be a community center, and there should be all sorts of amenities that one would expect in a model community that has recreational trails and has all these amenities that we want. Well, how do you get there from here? The way you get there from here is that you have to include those today in the plan. The plan's direction may correct, I can correct, but it's not there. Those amenities are not there. The second question is how do you actually achieve that? We need to spur very vibrant economic development where we bring businesses in to get the tax base so that we're able to fund those. The third thing that we have to do is that we have to make sure that we have the right zoning so that those vibrant economic spots that are going to fund these amenities are not going to encroach upon the quality of life of the residents. And the last thing is when we identify those pieces of land that are going to have those public amenities, we need to buy them now before they get expensive. So if I get to be on the town council, I can ride with you down Division Road and talk about putting a recreational trail between Barkersville and Franklin. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_13 1:14:06

Peter Newton, who is judge, uh who's currently judge and running for reelection from the Johnson Superior Court.

SPEAKER_11 1:14:13

Good evening. Thanks for having me tonight. I gotta tell you, I'm the biggest pessimist in this room. But I love what I'm seeing here. You know, last time I spoke here, I talked about we hear the bad. We got it made here in this country, folks. We got it made in this state. There's some things we need to change. How can the government do that? Well, first off, I think we can do it by serious. I was uninterested. Sorry. I was uninterested, and now I'm interested. Absolutely. Intelligent, smart, people who are willing to listen, be, and as this gentleman said, talk. I used to work at the State House. I wasn't an elected official, I worked in this little room in the House chamber. But the thing that they needed there was a social chairman. Anyone who was in a fraternity or sorority in college, we all know it's a social chairman. We all know. Yes. But what they do is people get together. We talk, we break bread. We don't have to. Doesn't matter who you who you voted for in the last election, what invisible person you pray for at night. You talk about your children, you talk about your friends, you talk about your hobbies. Next thing you know, you find out we have a whole lot more in common than we do that's that separates us. That is so true. It's just basic things. So I think what our government can do is two things. Number one, continue to get intelligent, smart, willing, and open-minded people to run for office. Sometimes I think maybe the government just needs to get out of the way sometimes. Thank you for hearing me, and I'll be safe.

unknown 1:15:38

Thank you.

SPEAKER_13 1:15:40

But we need a house district 47. Now, we've told the candidates not to bring political science, but I did not tell them not to bring political ducks. So I just won't run out of fields.

SPEAKER_10 1:15:57

Don't we? I don't hear everybody over here talking about how uh the trajectory of Indiana has been upward. It's flat or down, and we need some new thoughts. So, why the duck? Well, number one, how does you know how does this work with transparency is you know, the is gerrymaker. It's just a great way to point out the effects of gerrymaker in this district. Uh looks like a duck, the actual shape of the district on that. Number two, the district is my focus. I'm not focused on Washington, D.C. I'm not focused on Project 2025. I'm focused right here in UB on District 47. In providing the quality of life, in the legislation, the policy direction to provide the quality of life that everyone here is talking about. You know who's not here? Our elected officials. Those incumbents, where are they? How are they helping our quality of life? We need to be better in the end, we need to be better voters. Stand up for the people that are fighting for your quality of life. Just a little story about Franklin College here. The kids jumped out of their kayak in the Young's Creek. I talked to the teacher and said, you know, that's a uh an impacted creek. It's designated by IDEM because of E. coli. These kids should not be walking, uh playing in this water right now. That's quality of life. We need to fix it. Thank you.

SPEAKER_13 1:17:39

We also gave candidates the opportunity to speak on other topics that they feel that house provided directly impacted their candidacy. And so the first up for that is Dr. Cindy Worth. He is the U.S. House of Representative for KDM's 6th district candidate.

SPEAKER_14 1:18:02

Good evening, and thank you all for being here. Um raise your hand if you know this. Do all the good you can for all the people you can and all the places you can for as long as you ever can. Yeah, tough. We all grow up with it, right? And besides the fact that we're all grown Methodist City Camp. Um that's John Wesley, and that's part of the reason why I'm running for U.S. Commerce, and I am focused at the federal level. But I want to first thank all of you who are running the state and local levels because those areas are critical. But in fact, all the levels are critical. I'm focusing on the federal level because it's what I know. When I was in my classroom teaching, what I saw from there was kids struggling, their families struggling. And those same kids that were struggling, now they are parents themselves and they're still struggling. Things have not gotten better. What I believe in is policies and people, and people over profits. So when I looked at things like health care and Medicare for all, by the way, that is the number one thing across all 11 counties in the 3,000 square miles of the sixth district that people want to talk to me about. They want to talk about health care. Either it's not good, they can't find it, or they can't afford it. The second thing is affordability across the board. Everything is unaffordable, no one can afford anything anymore. And third, holding the three branches of government at the federal level accountable. Upholding the Constitution, that's the second question I get. Will you uphold the Constitution no matter what? Absolutely. That's the job. So if you have questions afterward, please come see me. Um, I just want to put people ahead of profits and make sure that everybody has a good quality of life. Right now, we're struggling.

SPEAKER_13 1:19:55

Judge of the evening, Marla Clark, Superior Court 4.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:59

Hi there, I'm Marla. I've been your uh Superior Court 4 judge since 2015, so I'm humbly asking for permission to do this for one more term. Prior to that, I was the juvenile court judge for 10 years, so I've been serving the community for 21 years now, and it's been uh the second greatest honor of my life, the first being my children. Um I can't do anything about um data centers or gas prices or health care or property taxes. So I couldn't really fit my remarks into anything that uh the topics that were brought up. What I can do is what I hope I've done for the last 21 years, is settle my neighbors' disputes impartially, fairly, and with dignity. Um and I hope that if you or any of your neighbors have ever had the occasion to appear in front of me, I hope that that was the the takeaway that you got from that. Is even if you didn't like the result, were you treated with fairness and dignity? Um so that's what I what I bring to the table, and I uh again I I just ask you for your support uh next month. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_19 1:21:04

Jody, let me change uh you're gonna change your topic again. No, no, no. I'm using let me change it the first time. So I'm Suzanne Fordenberry. I am running for House District 57, which is what I wanted to talk about, uh the Cornell 57. Because we talk about the seven, but there was 57 on that text therapy. And we're all Jane Doe. And if you're not, it's your daughter or your sister or your mother, or you were on that text thread and you didn't do anything. And Indiana is Jane Doe right now. We have data centers being built in our backyard, it's taking our farmland, it's polluting our water, and we got people on the text thread in the state house not doing anything about it. They're watching it happen. They're taking money from our schools, they're shutting down our rural hospitals, they're raping our communities by giving corporate tax breaks to billionaires, data centers, all of these. The corporate welfare is what's killing us. Our tax rates are going up, we get a little bit of property tax break, and then our income tax goes up. They're taking monies away from our school, and then they're asking, hey, what we we gotta vote on adding money to our schools. Our state house is not talking to our local communities, and all politics is local. And if you're not mad about it, you should be. You need to talk to your neighbors because we have way more life than we have not a hype. You give me five minutes, we'll have ten things that we have in common. My family's all Republicans, my dad's a MAGA was a police jury for 12 years. I'm a Democrat, but we have way more light than we have not. I come from a farming family, my grandparents were teachers. You tell me you can't find something that we have in common. So, Jody, thank you again for letting me get a little bit mad and changing my topic.

SPEAKER_13 1:23:16

All right, um, Ross Thomas was going to speak, and he made it hard jury to me in Elkhart and texted me and said, Hey, we're having a hard time cycling.

SPEAKER_08 1:23:29

Um, I was like getting back to the inn and um well I I wasn't on the jury, I I was I was representing my client, but uh but but I did drive three hours to get down here. Um I I I hope Miss Davis drove down from Whitelin to get here, but I don't see her. But I didn't make it look, and the reason I came is because I want to talk about public schools. Our public schools are under attack, they have been for 20 years. They um not by accident, people who see teachers not as important professionals in the community, but as a labor union that is attacking Republicans, people that see uh schools as uh an indoctrination camp instead of the center of the community, and people that see tax money uh as a way to give welfare to rich people so they can send their kids to public school or to private school. So we've got I think we're 38 in uh teacher pay near the bottom. Uh we can't expect to have teachers uh to keep teachers and have good teachers uh if we can't pay them. More than 70% of the people who get those vouchers now have never sent their kids to public school. And what now, when it becomes unlimited, we're just giving our tax money to rich folks. We can do better, we can fund our public schools, and we can respect our teachers. So it's an important thing. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot.