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Commission Candidates Spar At Forum
By Catherine Odson, catherineodson@miconews.com
It was a case of new versus old at Saturday night’s candidate forum.
As three challengers for Linn County Commission seats censured the proposed county landing strip, the two incumbent commissioners supported what progress had been made on the $1.1 million project.
The five candidates faced off at a candidates’ forum Saturday night in front of about 80 people at the Bunker Hill Community Center in Mound City, addressing issues ranging from the airport and economic development to managing the county budget.
District Two challengers Vicki Leonard, Jimmy Harris, Hal Bradley and incumbent Jason Sabine and District Three incumbent Mike Page, all Republicans, participated. District Three challenger Ralph Kastl did not attend.
Harris drew murmurs of “I agree” throughout the crowd after speaking against the airport, saying that any future businesses that want it ought to share in the expense.
Leonard shared Harris’ reservations about the project, particularly the expense for a small group. Little information was shared with the public during the planning process, she said.
Bradley also didn’t see the project as a priority, especially because of how little the long-term expenses, such as maintenance, had been examined.
Page pointed out the airport project was started during the tenure of the previous District Two and Three commissioners, who both left office, and were replaced by the appointment of Sabine and Page within the last year.
But for both incumbent commissioners, the airstrip is crucial to economic development in the county.
Another issue the commission candidates addressed was keeping costs and taxes down.
The candidates, starting with Bradley, stressed carefully looking at every expense to see where changes could be made.
“We have to look at every penny spent,” Harris said. “… If there’s a better way, we need to find that better way on anything that we want to spend.”
Leonard stressed keeping open lines of communication with employees to see what could be cut and doing lots of research before making financial decisions.
The county has already begun combining jobs, Sabine said, and both incumbents said they’ve seen more efficiency since they joined the commission.
“It’s going to be everybody’s place to see if we can’t trim as much as we can,” Page said.
The forum was sponsored by Kansas Americans for Prosperity.
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As three challengers for Linn County Commission seats censured the proposed county landing strip, the two incumbent commissioners supported what progress had been made on the $1.1 million project.
The five candidates faced off at a candidates’ forum Saturday night in front of about 80 people at the Bunker Hill Community Center in Mound City, addressing issues ranging from the airport and economic development to managing the county budget.
District Two challengers Vicki Leonard, Jimmy Harris, Hal Bradley and incumbent Jason Sabine and District Three incumbent Mike Page, all Republicans, participated. District Three challenger Ralph Kastl did not attend.
Harris drew murmurs of “I agree” throughout the crowd after speaking against the airport, saying that any future businesses that want it ought to share in the expense.
Leonard shared Harris’ reservations about the project, particularly the expense for a small group. Little information was shared with the public during the planning process, she said.
Bradley also didn’t see the project as a priority, especially because of how little the long-term expenses, such as maintenance, had been examined.
Page pointed out the airport project was started during the tenure of the previous District Two and Three commissioners, who both left office, and were replaced by the appointment of Sabine and Page within the last year.
But for both incumbent commissioners, the airstrip is crucial to economic development in the county.
Another issue the commission candidates addressed was keeping costs and taxes down.
The candidates, starting with Bradley, stressed carefully looking at every expense to see where changes could be made.
“We have to look at every penny spent,” Harris said. “… If there’s a better way, we need to find that better way on anything that we want to spend.”
Leonard stressed keeping open lines of communication with employees to see what could be cut and doing lots of research before making financial decisions.
The county has already begun combining jobs, Sabine said, and both incumbents said they’ve seen more efficiency since they joined the commission.
“It’s going to be everybody’s place to see if we can’t trim as much as we can,” Page said.
The forum was sponsored by Kansas Americans for Prosperity.