GREENFIELD — A handful of candidates running for local office have faced financial hardships in the past, records show. And their collective message to voters now is a simple one: they’ve learned from the mistakes they’ve made.
Bob Elsea, one of three candidates for the Republican nomination for prosecutor, and Debra Carnes, a Republican running for county auditor, both owe several thousand dollars in federal and state taxes, records show.
Mark Lozier, a Republican running to be Hancock County Clerk, was the subject of at least 10 civil lawsuits related to his past business, including three from vendors of Soup Herb, the Greenfield eatery that closed in 2017 amid financial issues. Records show Lozier’s money troubles forced him into involuntary bankruptcy in 2008.
Now, with voters starting for the polls, candidates are opening up about the difficulties they’ve had and how they’ll apply the lessons they’ve learned to the elected positions they hope to soon hold.
Elsea said his financial issues began during the 2008 recession, and he’s been struggling to get ahead ever since.
He opened his own law office in 2007. In the tough times that followed, his clients — many of whom were also struggling to get by — weren’t paying their bills, leaving him without a steady income, he said.
He turned to credit cards to cover most of his bills, including his taxes — a big mistake, he said.
As a result, Elsea has had a series of tax warrants filed against him since 2011, which show he owes the federal government about $84,000 and the state another $1,800, records show. He’s been party to at least six small claims lawsuits by various banks and credit card companies, and a mortgage foreclosure was filed against his home in November.
Elsea said he entered into a debt management plan, which he continues to work with today. He makes monthly payments to the IRS and anticipates that within the next two years, his family will be caught up on its taxes, he said.
All but one of his small claims suits has been settled or dismissed, records show. His mortgage foreclosure was dropped within six weeks of being filed because he was able to make up the payments thanks to a bump in business last year, he said.
Elsea said he’s never shied away from the fact that he’s struggled financially, saying he’s learned a great deal from the situation, including how to work within a strict budget. He also knows where to look to cut costs — skills he plans to apply to prosecutor’s office’s $1 million budget if elected, he said.
“I always tell people, ‘I know why you go to Goodwill on the first Saturday of the month,’… it’s because that’s when everyone is half off,” Elsea said. “We’re digging our way out.”
Carnes said she and her husband unknowingly made a mistake on their taxes a year ago. As a result, they now owe about $27,000 to the federal government, records show.
Carnes is currently the county’s elected recorder — the office tasked with safekeeping of records of all major transactions, including tax liens.
She was as shocked as anyone would have been when a notice of lien with her name on it appeared in her office, she said. She immediately got to work to correct the issue, she said.
Now, she makes monthly payments and hopes to be caught up soon, she said. And she has a new level of empathy for the folks she meets in her office at the courthouse annex who are struggling to catch up on their debts, she said.
If she’s chosen to be the next auditor, she’ll take those lessons with her the new role of overseeing the county’s finances, Carnes said.
“Bad things happen to good people,” she said. “We immediately addressed the situation. Money is owed, and it’s being paid back.”
Lozier’s nearly 40 years as a small business owner haven’t gone perfectly, he admits.
He ran his insurance company, National Catastrophe Adjusters, until 2005 with great success, overseeing a more than $14 million budget. But after selling the company, he’s suffered a few mishaps, he said.
He and his business, Integrated Claims Solutions, were named in at least eight civil lawsuits in Hamilton County, where he formerly lived, beginning in late 2007 when the company launched a subdivision project that ultimately failed.
That forced him into involuntary bankruptcy — a process by which creditors petition a court to start the bankruptcy process after a debtor fails to pay — in 2008, with approximately $303,000 in debts owed, court records show. He was forced to sell property and several cars to repay his debts.
Last year, Lozier closed his downtown Greenfield soup and sandwich shop, Soup Herb, amid financial troubles, including three small claims lawsuits which have since been resolved.
Lozier said opening a small business always comes with risks.
“You’re going to have failures (in small business),” he said, “but it may well end up being a blessing.”