GREENFIELD — Eight candidates running for office in Hancock County gathered Monday night to inform voters about their qualifications and goals if elected this November.
About 40 people attended the League of Women Voters Hancock County-sponsored candidate forum in Greenfield-Central High School’s auditorium. Republican and Democratic candidates who spoke at the two-hour forum represented the county’s four contested races for the Nov. 6 general election: county clerk, county recorder, District 3 county council and District 2 county commissioner.
The League of Women Voters allowed each candidate time for opening and closing statements as well as three minutes each to answer questions prepared by the league and members of the audience.
Marcia Moore, who’s been the Hancock County Clerk since 2011, told the audience about the importance of elections, government and voter participation. She said the best candidate is involved in the community and has experience and integrity. She said her two terms as clerk, 16 years as the deputy clerk-treasurer for Greenfield and a background in business will help the recorder’s office moving forward.
Moore, a Republican, said when she was first elected as clerk, the department had a deficit. Under her leadership, she said the office has been in compliance with the state for the past seven years.
“I know that I am able to prove to you that I have the experience, the community commitment and the integrity to help continue running our recorder’s office,” Moore said.
Democrat Rita Johnson would be a newcomer to Hancock County government if elected. Johnson, who ran for county council in 2016, has 14 years of experience in government in Huntington County. She also has several years of customer service and bookkeeping work.
Johnson said she immediately got involved in the community since moving to the county in 2014.
“I am running because I felt the need to give the voters a choice this November,” Johnson said. “I believe that I am confident that I can maintain the same standards that the current recorder has already put in place.”
Democrat Kim Lozier and Republican Lisa Eberhardt Lofgreen are both running as first-time candidates to the clerk’s office.
Lozier, who’s worked for a major insurance company for 39 years, said her background in accounting and working in a fast-paced environment fits with the duties of the clerk’s office. Lozier has degrees in business and accounting. She said being clerk would allow her to be more involved in the county.
“I believe that my experience, my skills, make me the best candidate for the clerk,” Lozier said.
Lofgreen said working for the past 25 years in an attorney’s office has taught her about the duties of the clerk’s office and county courts, as she regularly files records with the courts and has gotten to know the staff.
“I am dedicated to the work, having spent 25 years in the legal profession, I believe that is going to bode well for the clerk’s office and the large task of the election office,” Lofgreen said.
Republican Jim Shelby, who’s been on the Hancock County Council since 2001, is running for his fourth consecutive four-year term as the District 3 council representative. Shelby said his business experience in Greenfield and fiscally conservative ideology have helped shape the county’s finances for the past 17 years.
“I’ve tried to bring business principles to county government,” Shelby said. “At least that’s been my aim.”
Randy Johnson, the chairman of the Hancock County Democratic Party, is hoping to be the only member of his party on the current all Republican county council. Johnson, who’s married to recorder candidate Rita Johnson, said his background is rooted in bargaining as a union president in multiple states.
Johnson said when he moved to Hancock County, he wanted to get involved in politics and saw an opportunity this election to run for the county council, to ensure it remains focused on fiscal decisions.
Responding to a question about the discussions surrounding a new county jail, Johnson said he’s seen council members veer away from their role as the fiscal arm of the county and instead make decisions as if they were the county executive, which is the job of the three commissioners. Johnson said the council has previously told the commissioners where they want the jail located and how it should be built.
“The commissioners get to make the decision,” Johnson said. “We either fund it or we don’t as the county council. We have the right to have an opinion. We have the right to have input. We should not blackmail them into doing it our way.”
Shelby said building the jail on county-owned farmland would allow for it to expand in the future. He said it would be a poor financial decision to build the jail downtown where there’s less space to grow.
The incumbent District 2 commissioner, Marc Huber, said he never intended to get involved in politics while growing up in Hancock County. After graduating Greenfield-Central High School, Huber said he immediately joined the labor force. He worked at a farm, in construction and started his family’s trucking and excavating business. He’s most recently been a real estate broker and auctioneer.
Before getting elected as commissioner in 2014, Huber served for two years on the county council.
“I felt like everybody needed a voice, sometimes I felt like the ‘average Joe’s’ voice didn’t get heard out there,” Huber said.
As the youngest candidate on the Hancock County ballot, 21-year-old Zachary Lafavers said he’s always had a passion to serve. The Anderson University political science major recently returned from a deployment with the National Guard at Guantanamo Bay.
Two years ago, Lafavers ran as an Independent write-in candidate for the county council. Now, as the Democratic candidate for commissioner, Lafavers is hoping to get his name known among voters.
“I have the drive to be the best at what I do and beat everybody out,” Lafavers said. “If I get elected as county commissioner, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”
Lafavers said if elected, he’ll bring his experience as a correctional officer with the National Guard to the board of commissioners as they decide on a new county jail. He said the county has wasted too much time on the matter, adding that he remembers county officials talking about a new jail since middle school.
Huber said while he believes the best option for a jail is downtown, if the county chooses to move it out of Greenfield city limits, he’ll want the county’s design consultants to study multiple locations in the county to find the best fit. Huber said he wants the most cost-effective solution for taxpayers.
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The deadline to register to vote in the 2018 general election is Oct. 9. Early voting in Hancock County begins Oct. 10. To find out if you are registered to vote, and the times and locations for early voting, visit indianavoters.in.gov.
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