Republican candidates address issues during forum
MCRW holds candidate forum
Despite torrential rainfall, approximately 25 people turned out Thursday evening for the Marion County Republican Women's candidate forum. Carol Maggard, county clerk and a member of MCRW, served as moderator of the forum.
"Considering the weather, we did OK with the number of people who turned out," said Maggard. "We were hoping for more."
Maggard of Marion, seeking her third term as county clerk, was the first to speak about her tenure in office. She has served in the county office since 1985, eight years as county clerk.
According to Maggard, who is running unopposed, her accomplishments include insuring the courthouse is restored and having regular department head meetings.
"This has been a good experience for me," she said. "I hope the next four years go smoothly."
One item on her agenda for her next term is taking care of the heating and cooling units in the courthouse.
Faye Makovec, also running unopposed, has spent 31 years employed at the courthouse and is seeking her fourth term as register of deeds. Makovec, who is from Marion, explained some of the technological changes in her office.
Jeannine Bateman is running unopposed for county treasurer, a position she has held for 10 years. Bateman also addressed some technological changes in her office. One accomplishment of her tenure in office was combining the vehicle and treasurer offices.
"We've had to change with the times yet keep the personal touch," she said.
Bateman believes the early payment for the second half of property taxes is here to stay.
Marion County Sheriff Lee Becker also is running unopposed.
He said one of his department's accomplishments is getting a handle on the meth problem in the county.
"We don't have as many anhydrous thefts," said Becker. "They are down from as many as 20-25 on a weekend."
Driving under the influence arrests also are down in the county.
"We were making headway on safe roads until the Highway 50 accidents," he said.
An issue for his campaign is the county jail.
"Do we want to pay for the jail or have the jail pay us?" Becker asked the crowd.
The jail costs between $60,000 and $80,000 a year to maintain. Even though Becker feels improvements have been made during his time in office, future plans for the jail are a concern.
"We have had as many as 25 inmates in an 11-bed jail," he said.
County commissioners
Randy Dallke of Peabody is running for the District 3 commission seat. He is the mayor of Peabody and has served 23 years as a reserve officer in Peabody.
Dallke cited three reasons for running for county commissioner: 1. He has been on the city council for six years and has never seen a county commissioner at a city council meeting. He wants the county commission and city councils to work together. 2. He feels there are some controversial issues coming up and thinks he can be a help with those issues. 3. The budget and taxes are other issues.
"We are taxed at the top," he said. "We need to look at what our dollar does. I hope to work as hard as a county commissioner as I have for the city of Peabody."
Max Hayen and Dan Holub are both running for the District 2 seat on the commission.
Hayen spent seven years as Marion County Appraiser and three years as mayor of Marion. His main concern is economic development for Marion County.
Hayen said that the county has three pluses: a railroad, space, and a good water supply.
Hayen, representative for Infinitec software company which the county uses, said if elected he will resign his position with the company and not vote on any issues that might be a conflict of interest.
Holub, a retired Navy man, said the economy is the most important issue.
"People are voting with their feet in Marion County," he said. "We need to look at taxes and get serious about building up our economy."
Holub echoed Dallke's concern about the county commissioners visiting city councils. He expressed concern about Monday morning commission meetings which prevented many people from attending.
"We need discussion," he said. "We can't exclude people."
With the county's shrinking population, Holub said the commissioners need to do what they can to bring in recreational development and small companies.
"If we stop growing, we'll start dying," said Holub. "We have some hard decisions to make."
Rep. Don Dahl
Rep. Don Dahl from Hillsboro has spent eight years in the House and is running unopposed in the primary and general election for the 70th district.
"We've had a great, great year," Dahl said. "The economy is recovering. President Bush has turned the economy around."
Dahl sees the state's indebtedness, education, and high taxes as challenges to legislators.
When asked if it is time to look at re-districting, Dahl said it needed to be looked at very closely.
"We need to encourage districts to consolidate, not force them," he said. "People are frightened by consolidation and re-districting should be left up to local districts."
According to Dahl, the problem with school finance is decreasing enrollment. The way to solve that is to get more young, child-bearing couples into the county.
"Raising taxes drives out business," said Dahl. "We need business."
When asked about the water problems at Marion Reservoir, Dahl's opinion was help will have to come from the federal government.
17th District
Jim Barnett, state senator from Emporia, is running for re-election to district 17th.
Barnett's accomplishments in the Senate include developing a preferred drug list for the state Medicaid program, obtaining funding for national board certification for teachers, introducing and passing legislation for tax deductions for the purchase of long-term care insurance, creating a fetal alcohol syndrome diagnostic and prevention network for Kansas, and sponsoring legislation for the creation of a birth defects registry for Kansas.
Barnett, a medical doctor, said providing health care for Kansans is important to him.
If school consolidation becomes an issue, Barnett favors consolidation of administrators rather than schools.
"We need to be efficient and effective in our schools," said Barnett. "We need to watch our school spending carefully and I am in favor of local control."
Other issues of concern for him are safety on U.S.-50, safe water at Marion Reservoir, rural fire protection, automobile property tax exemption for active military men and women, keg registration, domestic violence, state registry for automatic external defibrillators and placement in state buildings, and club fire protection.
According to Barnett, he and others are working to set up a meeting to bring Senators and Representatives together for a public meeting to discuss clean water in Kansas.
James Meier, 22-year-old college student from Emporia, is running against Barnett for the Republican spot on the ticket. Meier's platform includes reducing taxes, preserving traditional family values, improving education, stopping Medicaid fraud, and protecting the Flint Hills.
Meier said he is a candidate because Marion County needs a change in leadership. If elected, he will work to eliminate the sales tax on food, which will boost the economy by giving people more money to spend.
According to Meier, a graduate of Marion High School, the county has the highest sales tax in a five-state area.
"We can't sustain the rate of taxation. I would never vote for a tax increase," he said. "I don't think education spending needs to be cut, but we're already spending $1,000 per student which is more than the national average."
One of the reasons Meier decided to run for Senate was because of his opposition to gay marriage. He thinks the legislature has left the door open for civil unions.
"There is no middle ground; you are either for gay marriage or against," said Meier. "I believe marriage is between a man and a woman."
The winner of the Aug. 3 primary will face Democrat Sharon Karr.
Susan Robson, running unopposed for county attorney, and Sen. Jay Emler, running unopposed for Senator, were the only two candidates not at the forum.
