Why are you the best candidate for office?
I believe I am the best candidate for the job because I feel like my experience in life and more importantly through the military has given me the leadership skills and ability to move the slush. Greenfield is like a huge system of pipes, and all lead to one place, city hall. Right now, we have a lot of clogged pipes, we have a lot of underdeveloped areas, a crisis in our criminal justice system and law enforcement agency, an understaffed and underfunded Fire Department. We need to start moving forward together toward a common goal, and that goal is progress. As long as we are closer to our goals then we were yesterday, that is progress. But recently we have stalled out and gone nowhere but spending money on wasteful projects, mismanagement in our funds and what money goes where in our departments. It’s caused a mess, and I plan to fix that mess.
What is the most pressing issue facing Greenfield?
We have a lot of money and resources going to wasteful projects. We have a light display on I-70 that was a waste of time, and a complete missed goal in its intent, which was tourism. To get people to come to Greenfield, we need fresh ideas and new approaches. That means a younger generation stepping up and pushing the important issues forward with modern solutions. We have a fire department that has asked time and time again for more staff and we have a department that has not received a new station in a part of the city that has undergone massive housing development. We need to look into building a new station over on the eastern part of the city to increase our response times, have the ability to hire some of our volunteers to full-time status and give our firefighters union what they need. We have a tax code and a mentality about our taxes that is far off base with what the citizens of Greenfield are looking for. We need to look to keep taxes low and keep our tax policy in a place that helps empower our working middle class, that starts with being a part of the working middle class which I am.
Communication between Greenfield and Hancock County officials has seemed to decline over the past several months, specifically surrounding discussions on the city-county animal management agency and utility extensions to the new county jail. How do you think the city can better its relationship with the county?
I think it starts with reasserting Greenfield superiority to the county. It may sound off-putting to some, but the county shouldn’t have overall dominance over Greenfield. I think we showed that when they tried to rebuild the county jail on the same property and we kept telling them they can’t do it and it look more time and investigation on their part to finally figure out we were right. The county council and commissioners don’t have final say in what the city of Greenfield can and cannot do. We are elected to represent Greenfield citizens, not the county, so as mayor, I’ll be sure to make my decisions solely on the idea of mirroring what the people of Greenfield want. As for helping the county out, I’m perfectly open to the idea if it’s in the best interest of both the city and county and if we come to a middle ground on these issues. But until the county realizes they do not control us in any way, I don’t see us getting anywhere on these negotiations.
The Indiana Department of Transportation in 2020 plans to resurface and redesign State Road 9, and the city will pay for the design and upkeep of the medians. How would your administration ensure the least amount of headaches for drivers as they try to maneuver work zones and busier-than-normal side streets?
I think it starts with working with our street department and department heads and staying in constant communication with our school district, our local businesses in the area, and with the DOT. The more we are aware of the needs of the parties involved and affected the better we can work with each individual case. That includes ensuring the school corporation can work to move bus routes around this construction, that we have plenty of signs and information for detours for certain neighborhoods, and that we detour as many large vehicles as possible to ensure minimal traffic disruptions. I have faith in our local department heads and the schools to work together in coming up with the best plans for our community during this time of improvements.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Zachary LaFavers” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Zachary LaFavers
Age: 22
Party: Democrat
Office sought: Mayor of Greenfield
Occupation: Heat and frost insulator with Local 18
Political experience: None
Family: Single
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