By Patricia Morrison, News Editor
An incumbent is asking voters to keep him in office and a novice to politics is asking for a change in District 1.
Rev. Jim Payton said he learned a member of his congregation at Central Christian, Dennis Breeden, had decided to run for the District 3 commissioner seat and that sparked his interest.
“As I got to looking on that as an office,” Payton said, “I thought it was an interesting thing to do. It’s the executive and legal branch of county government and I think they need to be bipartisan.”
Currently all three commissioners are Republicans.
Getting a little encouragement from Breeden, as well as Payton’s own family, he decided to toss his hat in the ring.
Payton, a Democrat is from Rockville and said his family was involved in politics with an assessor and several sheriff’s in the mix, all Democrats elected in a Republican county.
Tony Wichman is seeking his third term representing District 1.
He said he wants to continue with the improvements in employment in Daviess County.
“We’ve got the lowest unemployment in the state this month,” Wichman said.
“I like to tell people I’m not a politician, I’m a community servant.” Wichman said he gets about 20 calls a week and while that takes of a lot of time, that’s part of the job.
Payton said he is interested in roads in the county.
“I’d like to work to establish priorities,” he said about road repair and paving. “We have 799 miles of road in the county and it would take 40 years to resurface (them all) doing at least 20 miles a year. It would be a daunting task and we may not have the money to do everything we need to do. We have to have priorities.”
Wichman said that 90 percent of his calls from constituents concern roads.
“I try to help them with the highway department,” Wichman said. “I act as a go-between sometimes. There are some things I can and some things I can’t do.”
While many people complain that their road isn’t paved, Wichman said that a well maintained gravel road system is equal to a poorly maintained paved road system.
“It’s a liability,” he said pointed out some neighboring counties that have more paved roads that are falling apart.
“The Odon-Cannelburg Road is a priority with all the traffic and business on it,” he added. “We’ll have about $3.2 million dollars (from grants) to use to bring it up to federal standards. That’s doing about 2 1/2 miles. The thing is safety first, jobs second. There are several smaller industries on that road.”
Payton said he is impressed with the Lighthouse and the county’s support of the project. It’s something he would like to see expanded.
“They are doing marvelous work within the community,” Payton said. “I’m also very impressed with the work within the county security system and would like to see it grow.”
He said the new programs at the Daviess County Security Center can do a lot to keep people from repeat offending and can help bring families back together.
“It’s hard to find people to work in that capacity (security center) and hard to keep them,” Payton said. “We’ve got good people and it’s up to us to keep them. They can make a big difference in people’s stay (in jail).”
Wichman said he was pleased with the new Tech Park outside of Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center and as a commissioner has promoted the growth of the park and industrialization in the county.
“With TIFF districts tax dollars stay here,” he said. “TIFF areas allow us to bring in state tax money that allow us to do infrastructure, road and electricity.
“We’re working to promote Daviess County. That funding is priority. If you don’t have the industry you won’t have the jobs.”
He would also like to see jobs in the area that keep young people here.
“If you don’t have the workforce, you won’t have the industry,” Wichman said. “I believe we’ve got the workforce. We need to retrain what we’ve got.”
Keeping youth in the area is also a priority with Payton, who said both his married daughters left Washington as their husbands’ jobs took them to the Lagrange area.
“Seems like we get a good paying job and lose someone else whose been here awhile,” he said. “In 21 years at my church we’ve watched young people go to college and then have to move away for a job. It’s a real problem in the area. I’d like to reverse that.”
Payton said he thinks I-69 will be an answer to that problem.
“But I’ve been her 21 years and we’re just beginning to get that (I-69) going,” he said. “We’re past due for something to help develop our area.”
Both men are concerned about the possibility of replacing the three-person county commissioners with a one-person county overseer, as the state has recommended.
“Not all change is for the good,” Payton said. “Bipartisan representation is best. It’s hard to say let’s put it in the hands of one person. I’m not sure what will come of that.”
Wichman thinks the state should be cautions in making changes.
“There needs to be a lot of input from the local community,” he said. “This needs to be done in a proper manner, if at all. They should be able to be recalled. The state needs to listen.”
Both men say they look forward to serving the public.
“I’m excited with the prospect of getting in there and learning a bunch of new things,” Payton said.
While Wichman said, “I love working with the public. I’m not in it for the insurance or the paycheck.”
