Editor’s note: This is part of a series of articles about the primary elections.
Two Republicans It’s running for county commissionerin hopes of breaking the stronghold the Democratic Party has in Monroe County.
Joe VanDeventer and Paul White Sr. are seeking the Republican Party nomination for District 3 Monroe County Commissioner.
That seat is held by Democrat Penny Githens, who faces a three-way primary election on the Democratic Party side – with challengers Jody Madeira and Steve Volan. The winner of that primary will face either VanDeventer or White Sr.
While GOP candidates compete for the District 3 seat, all Monroe County voters – whether or not they live in District 3 – will be able to choose between VanDeventer and White Sr., as long as they choose the GOP vote in the primary. which will be on May 7th. Early voting has begun.
Competitive election: 2 Monroe County Commissioners Will Be Tested in Primary
Candidates are listed alphabetically by last name.
- Name: Joe Van Deventer
- Date of birth: 05/15/1966
- Family (marital status/children): Married with 4 adult children.
- How long have you lived in Monroe County: 58 years old.
- Occupation: Assistant Director of Public Works/Director of Street Operations
- Education: Graduated from Bloomington North High School
Question 1: Why are you running for commissioner? What would you bring to the job that your opponent wouldn’t?
VanDeventer: I am running for commissioner because my family has lived here for 7 generations and Monor County is our home. I have been in public service for 38 years and feel that I bring a lot of knowledge to the role of commissioner. I worked 12 years in budgeting and project management in my current role and feel I could bring that knowledge and common sense problem solving to the board.
Q2: Property taxes, home prices, and rents have risen sharply in recent years. What concrete policies would you advocate to address these challenges in the short term?
VanDeventer: Obviously, this is largely due to the last two MCCSC referendums. It’s frustrating for taxpayers to see their taxes increase and their property rights decrease! I feel like we shouldn’t burden the citizens of Monroe with more taxes.
Q3: If you were faced with the decision to allow housing to be built on the outskirts of town, how would you balance the interests of current property owners, developers and future residents?
VanDeventer: Current construction on the outskirts is bound by city regulations. I think that once the annexation is resolved, better communication and planning can occur between the city and the county. Certain areas will require infrastructure extensions.
Q4: The community has long discussed replacing the current prison. Do you think it should be built in the city or outside of it? Why?
VanDeventer: Prison is not a problem that emerged overnight. We have known this for several years. I think the prison should remain centralized. Most of these citizens need services that they cannot obtain elsewhere. They often need transportation, food, and other services that need to be available to them.
Q5. A trial related to the annexation is scheduled to begin in late April. Do you think areas 1A and 1B, on the west side of the city, should be annexed? Why or why not?
VanDeventer: 1A and 1B make sense, there are current “donuts” that would be beneficial to both the county and the city. Large-scale annexation benefits neither side at this time.
- Name: Paulo Branco Sr.
- Date of birth: 1954
- Family (marital status/children): Married to Kathy; two sons and a daughter; five grandchildren.
- How long have you lived in Monroe County?: At least 30 years.
- Occupation: Area 10 Agency on Aging/Rural Transit bus driver
- Education: College in North Dakota, graduating in 1976, vocational schools in Montana.
Question 1: Why are you running for commissioner? What would you bring to the job that your opponent wouldn’t?
White Mr.: Every person in Monroe County deserves to have representation. Whether or not a person is of any particular political, economic, religious, ethnic or other persuasion does not mean that our government officials can simply ignore them. Sometimes it can be difficult to navigate the differences between people, but it can be done. I believe I am a person who can deliver exactly that. Having been raised in a family with different political views, I was able to see the good and the bad on both sides. I believe in our two-party system of government. Each party has some oversight of the other that helps control the other’s abuses and actions. We need that in county government and we don’t have it.
My opponent and I have similar and different life experiences. We both bring that to the table.
Q2: Property taxes, home prices, and rents have risen sharply in recent years. What concrete policies would you advocate to address these challenges in the short term?
White Mr.: Property taxes continue to increase because the assessed value of the property is continually increased by the Assessor’s Office. Due to property tax caps, properties cannot exceed a certain tax rate, so the increase in value is put into play, the tax rate remains the same and now the tax can be increased. This causes increased rents for landlords and higher prices for builders to make a profit.
For years I have advocated for the county entities that control zoning, regulation and assessment to do their jobs and create a healthy environment that attracts small and large businesses to our county. By having more companies, we have a larger tax base, there are more jobs and the tax revenue collected from this alone will offset the need to increase taxes.
In the short term, halting any assessment increases and eliminating inequities during the assessment process would help.
Q3: If you were faced with the decision to allow housing to be built on the outskirts of town, how would you balance the interests of current property owners, developers and future residents?
White Mr.: I believe that people who buy property don’t buy it just to have someone else tell them what they can do with it. This limit was placed on a government entity, the Bloomington Mayor’s Office in this case, usurping the authority of the Monroe County Commissioners. Any proposed construction would likely be tied to legal issues and arbitration of any concerns could be required. As I keep repeating when asked, it works best if we keep our lines of communication open, finding common ground for good results for everyone involved, without the need for rehearsals if possible.
Q4: The community has long discussed replacing the current prison. Do you think it should be built in the city or outside of it? Why?
White Mr.: Unfortunately, this is a decision that will have extreme problems either way. I like where our prison is currently. The location of a new facility would likely be determined by the project, anticipated population, and even staff and court needs. If this happens, which is probably the case, those affected will need to be consulted and many conversations will need to take place. I favor crowded conditions where minimal impact would be made to the county’s citizens, but with easy access to our judicial and law enforcement systems.
Q5. A trial related to the annexation is scheduled to begin in late April. Do you think areas 1A and 1B, on the west side of the city, should be annexed? Why or why not?
White Mr.: Not only should these areas not have been annexed, the entire affair should never have happened. Involuntary annexation is government overreach. The voices of those affected cannot be heard at the polls, which makes the entire process a taxation without representation. I remember the story from elementary school, an event called “The Boston Tea Party.” The ultimate end culminated in what is now the USA, which is a Constitutional Republic in which our preamble reads in part: “We the people… in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY,…. .and secure the Blessings of Freedom for ourselves, AND FOR OUR POSTERITY……….. (which happens to be us).
In short, I consider this to be a robbery of peace and a violation of the Constitution of the United States, which elected officials are sworn to uphold.
Boris Ladwig can be contacted at bladwig@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared in The Herald-Times: Taxes, prison: GOP candidates for county commissioner answer questions.
