Incumbents face newcomers for council spots

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GREENFIELD — There could be two new faces on the Hancock County Council come November as a couple of incumbents are being challenged in May’s primary election.

Councilmen Jim Shelby and Randy Sorrell are facing competition to their re-election bids with outgoing Hancock County Assessor Mary Noe running against Sorrell for his 2nd District seat and Will Ronan, a newcomer to the political scene, trying to defeat Shelby in the 3rd District.

The winner of both of these primaries will receive the Republican nomination for the General Election in November. No Democrats have filed for either seat.

District 2:

Noe is retiring as the county assessor after eight years leading the office. That job was preceded by 15 years as the Vernon Township assessor and six years on the county council from 1988 to 1994. Noe and her husband, Michael, decided it was time for both of them to retire from their full-time jobs, she said. But the desire to continue to serve her home county in some way led Noe to run for county council.

“With the years I’ve put in for the county government, I feel like I have a lot to offer,” Noe said. “I’m in a position where I see things from both sides of the table now. My experience gives me a different vantage point.”

At the forefront of these council races is the issue of the correctional facility the county needs to build to alleviate overcrowding. Noe said she is in support of the idea of building a new facility but said the new building needs to have adequate room and staffing for mental health and drug addiction rehabilitation.

“To me, it makes sense to pay to help them be a better member of society rather than for them to be incarcerated later on,” she said. “I’d like to see segregated areas where they can get the help they need.”

Her opponent is Randy Sorrell, who currently occupies the District 2 seat. Sorrell said he is hoping to continue to serve as the county faces some challenges he said he believes require strong leadership.

He is the right candidate to provide that leadership, given his track record on the council and as a local lawyer who has provided counsel to government entities throughout his career, he said. He brings with him a unique understanding based on his expertise as a lawyer that he said will serve the council well as it moves to overhaul the justice system.

Sorrell is hesitant about the price tag for a new new jail — estimated at $55 million for the jail and associated county building updates — but said he’s realized that it is something the county needs to do based on the number of inmates. He fears that the current plan doesn’t take every need into consideration, he said.

“We do have a severe crowding issue in our jail,” Sorrell said. “My concern is, if we’re spending that kind of money, we need to make sure we do it right. Our courts are full too, eventually we’re going to need to add another court.”

Sorrell, who represents McCordsville and Buck Creek Township, said he also wants to address the Mt. Comfort corridor, which has become a big issue in that part of the county. The increase in traffic has stifled economic development and Sorrell said it is the primary concern for his constituents.

District 3:

The District 3 race features a young candidate with no political experience against an incumbent who has been on the council for the past 17 years.

Will Ronan is a 29-year old accountant who is participating in his first political campaign. He didn’t want to wait around until someone asked him to run, instead deciding to get involved and bring his financial expertise to the council, he said.

As part of the body that controls the county’s finances and budget, Ronan said his particular skill set would serve the county well, especially as the county deals with how to pay for a new jail building and renovations to the current structures.

While Ronan agrees the county needs a new jail, he said the council has not been preparing well for an expense everyone knew was coming.

“We’ve been talking about this need for awhile,” Ronan said. “But the county hasn’t been saving for it.”

Ronan said the proposed $55 million price tag might be more palatable for voters if the county had a decent chunk of that already saved and earmarked for the improvements.

His opponent, Jim Shelby, has been on the council for 17 years and is asking voters to choose the candidate with the most experience in county government. He said his expertise on the council and in the business world are what the county needs moving forward.

Shelby agrees the current jail is overcrowded and needs relief but said he would prefer to see a big increase in the amount of money the county spends on mental health and addiction recovery. He would like to see more go toward mental health and rehabilitation compared to what the county currently spends on incarceration.

“There is surely something we can do besides just put more people in jail,” Shelby said. “Studies have shown when you do that they become better criminals, they become more addicted.”

Shelby would like to see more rooms, or pods, in the Hancock County Jail for the criminals who are in jail but are actively trying to get help to be free of their addictions.


Find out where they stand: