Greene County voters who attended a public forum for the candidates for county supervisor heard varying viewpoints from the six candidates, but sorting out differences between opposing candidates remains difficult.
All six candidates were present: incumbent Mick Burkett and Alan Robinson in District 1; incumbent John Muir and Todd Madson in District 2; and incumbent Guy Richardson and Peter Bardole in District 3.
The public forum was hosted by Greene County Development Corporation and Greene County Farm Bureau. Moderators were GCDC past president Norm Fandel and Farm Bureau regional director Jeremy Coil. About 60 persons attended.
All six candidates gave two minute opening statements, with the speaking order random. Moderators asked a total of 18 questions, including four submitted from the audience. However, only two candidates responded to each question, and only five of the questions were posed to candidates running for the same seat. Answers were limited to two minutes.
All three “challengers” were asked why they are running for office. “There’s a term, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ As a candidate for supervisor, do you think something is broke that needs fixed, or what reasons encouraged you to run for supervisor?” Coil asked.
Bardole answered that Richardson has been on the board of supervisors for 16 years and that it’s time for new ideas. “We need to look at stuff from a different angle,” he said. He lives in town (Jefferson) but farms near Rippey; he said that gave him added insight.
“I realized I need to get off the sidelines,” Robinson answered. He said he’s a lifelong Democrat and seeing only Republicans on the board of supervisors was also part of his motivation. He said most people in the county don’t realize the sway the supervisors have over all the county offices due to their budgeting role. He echoed Bardole’s statement: “We need different voices on the county supervisors.” (Burkett has served one term on the board and is now seeking his second.)
Madson, a past Jefferson city council member and a one-term mayor, said he wants to be in public office again and serve the community. “I want to see the county advance and prosper…. I want to be one of those people who pushes us forward,” he said.
Fandel asked the incumbents what they want to see accomplished in the county in the next three to five years.
Richardson answered first. He said he’d like to see continued growth. He wants to see expanded housing in all communities in the county, and continued support of economic development and GCDC. He also offered rebuttal to Bardole’s comment. “I’ve had a lot of experience in public office, but that doesn’t mean I’m devoid of ideas. Through all of that experience, it has just helped me gain more ideas. I also have the knowledge of how to act on ideas,” he said.
Burkett said he hopes to see more development and new schools. He listed several projects done around the county in the past four years and some under way now. He said he’d like to see more young people come to the county and named hog confinements as a way for that to happen.
Muir said the county should continue to encourage projects like the expansion at Scranton Manufacturing and to provide the roads needed for growth. “We need to encourage and help in any way we can anybody who wants to develop a business. If it’s good for them, it will be good for everybody else,” Muir said.
A question from the audience was, “As a supervisor, do you see view your position as one with a leadership role or one of representation?” Muir and Burkett were selected to answer.
Muir said the role of supervisor is both. He said he has learned with many public hearings that everyone wants to be represented, everybody has a different view, and there’s no way to make everyone happy. “Leadership is what we do into the unknown, when we have to move into an area we haven’t been in before,” he said, and used the current need for housing as an example, as well as past involvement in getting a casino in the county. “Leadership is taking facts and making a decision, and you cross your fingers and pray it’s going to be best for the county.”
Burkett answered that he sees his role as one of representation. “We’re here to represent the people of our districts. We should listen to them and take that back to our meetings, and then be a little bit the leader,” he said.
He then asked to comment on a previous question posed by an audience member about support for the failed school bond issue. Richardson and Bardole had both answered that they voted in favor of the proposal although they didn’t agree with all parts of it.
Burkett wanted the audience to know that he voted against the bond proposal because it did not include a closure plan for the vintage buildings that would be taken out of service as schools. He said that with closure plans, he would be more than happy to support the construction of new schools. “All our little towns have enough old buildings that need to be taken care of. I’m scared that that’s what would happen to the building in Grand Junction.”
Bardole has been very active in the Greene County Farm Bureau, and someone in the audience asked if he would be able to draw a line between Farm Bureau and representing the county. Bardole answered that he hasn’t agreed with all of Farm Bureau’s rhetoric (he did not give an example) and that he would be able to side with the county against Farm Bureau.
The candidates made two-minute closing statements in reverse order of their opening statements.
Robinson said Greene County has made dramatic strides and is one of the leaders in the state among rural counties. “We need to decide if our future is in maintaining that or if we need to take some new strategies,” he said. He said Greene County has a “very solid, promising future.”
Madson said he looks forward to an opportunity to serve the county.
Burkett said he has learned a lot in the four years he has served on the board. “As a board, we’ve done a good job…. We’ve taken care of your tax dollars without raising them.” He said being on the board is a learning experience, and he shared a conversation with his granddaughter in which she asked if he would ever “graduate.” He told her no.
Richardson recited the various boards and committees on which he serves as a member of the board. He said in the last four or five years the county has seen tremendous growth. “It’s not time to slow the ship down. I think we need to press forward at full speed. All of us are open to ideas and have ideas of our own to make those things happen,” he said.
Bardole said he thinks Greene County is ideally located. He shared something he learned from his grandfather and his father and their service on various boards. He said they enjoyed seeing the difference those boards made and knowing that it wasn’t just one person, but people working together to make that difference. “I don’t think we want to slow the ship down either. We’ve got a lot of potential,” Bardole said.
Muir said that competition is good, as it makes people evaluate where they are. He said he is proud of the service he has given, and that “the experience has made me a better rounded person….. I’ve personally grown a lot, and I have to thank the community for letting me do that…. I think we’re going in a good direction. I think it’s great that we have individuals like all of us up here that are ready to lead,” he said.
Prior to the public forum, GreeneCountyNewsOnline posed several similar questions to all the candidates. Every candidate responded to every question. Those Qs and As are posted under the Opinion tab at GCNO.
