The races for Hamilton County Commissioner and County Council were front and center at Noblesville City Hall April 11th. The Hamilton County League of Women Voters sponsored the candidate forum.
Incumbent Mark Heirbrandt is being challenged in the Republican primary by Fishers business owner Bill Smythe.
Heirbrandt cited long-term growth planning as key for the county. He cited projections that Hamilton County will double its population by the year 2050, and he is seeking responsible solutions to the growth that is coming.
Smythe talked about his campaign mantra of “Voters over Vendors.” He also said he will make a campaign issue of what he calls a “deadly epidemic” of drug abuse, advocating rehabilitation over incarceration to deal with the problem.
Smythe says he would not have favored the funding plan for a public safety training center with the county picking up a large part of the cost. The county council voted that proposal down. Smythe says he favors a domestic violence shelter, but it would be a priority below drug rehabilitation.
Heirbrandt emphasized his view that public safety should be the number one priority for elected officials in Hamilton County, with more violent crimes seen by local law enforcement,with proper training more important now. He voiced strong support of a domestic violence shelter for women, with such victims now being sent to an Anderson facility.
When the question of ethics was raised by forum moderator Janet Chandler, Heirbrandt says actions speak louder than words. Most of the donors to his campaign live in the local community, and care about the area, according to Heirbrandt.
Smythe says as a county commissioner, he would work with state lawmakers to change the rules and regulations regarding ethical standards for those in county government. He would run the county the same as he runs his business, Smythe says, with the “highest ethical standards.”
When asked about qualifications for the job, Smythe talked about what he called “pay for play,” a reference to campaign contributions. He referenced a recent string of news stories about an e-mail exchange Heirbrandt had with a county commissioner in the South Bend area, calling it a “scandal”
Heirbrandt did not comment on the e-mail exchange story, instead citing a number of successes he has accomplished in his private sector job working with local governments throughout the state, and several successful government projects where he was involved.
In closing statements, Smythe described Mark Heibrandt as a “genuinely nice guy”but he was appointed by the establishment (Heibrandt was voted into office by a party caucus after Doug Carter was appointed head of the Indiana State Police by Governor Pence) and is “there to do the bidding of the establishment.”
Heirbrandt closed by calling Hamilton County a “great place to live and raise a family.” He cited the successes of the county during his tenure recognized by state-level organizations. Heirbrandt called the State Road 37 and Ivy Tech plans as “major game-changing projects.”
The county council hopefuls were all part of the same panel with the commissioner candidates. The biggest disagreement among that group was the voting down last year of a proposed public safety training facility. Incumbent Councilmen Brad Beaver and Rick McKinney both defended their no votes on funding that training complex. George Kehl, Jeff Hern and Bill Dennis all said they would have voted yes on the training facility had they been council members.
