 Commissioner Candidates Address Township, Voting Issues
Wednesday, October 29, 2008, C-T
C-T Photos/ Laura Schuler
CAPTION: Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune Publisher Rod Dixon, center, introduces candidates for 7th District state representative during Tuesday night’s political forum at Grand River Inn. Seated at left, is Republican Mike Lair. At right, Democrat Harry Wyse. The forum was sponsored by the newspaper and, in addition to the state representative candidates, included candidates seeking the offices of Livingston County west district commissioner and Livingston County sheriff. Coverage of the forum begins in today’s newspaper. Remarks made by the sheriff candidates will be in Thursday’s edition.
The two candidates vying for the west district Livingston County commissioner’s seat were among those answering questions Tuesday night at Grand River Inn during a Constitution-Tribune-sponsored forum.
Democrat Todd Rodenberg, who ousted incumbent Kenneth Warren in the August primary election, is running against Republican David Baker, who ran unopposed on the Republican ticket in the primary.
Rod Dixon, C-T publisher, asked the candidates five questions and the candidates were allowed two minutes to respond. Both Rodenberg and Baker were allowed to give a three-minute opening statement and a two-minute closing statement during the event. A coin toss prior to the program determined the speaking order.
Following is a summary of the candidates’ opening statements and their answers to two of the questions asked. Tomorrow (Wednesday), the candidates’ answers to the remaining questions will be featured.
 Baker began his opening statement by briefly introducing himself — a 54-year-old lifetime resident of the county who, with his wife of 29 years, Cindy Gipe Baker, has two children, Austin 19, and Shannon, 17. Baker, a 1973 graduate of Chillicothe High School, said he worked for the Chillicothe Township on a road crew and with highway construction on Interstate-35 as an equipment operator. Baker said that he worked for Chillicothe Wholesale Plumbing as a salesman for 17 years before starting his own business, Baker Plumbing, which has been in operation for 18 years. Baker said he is also employed part-time as a United Parcel Service driver and farms his family’s property on Route A. “With the knowledge I have gained through customers, business people, farmers and friends, I feel I can bring a common sense approach to county affairs,” Baker said.
 Rodenberg
began his opening statement by noting his experience in education — something, he said, that has always been important to him. Rodenberg said he has a bachelor’s degree in economics and two graduate-level degrees in vocational education. He said he spent 30 years in the R-2 school system, with 25 of those years as a marketing instructor. For five years, Rodenberg said, he worked as a schools-to-work counselor. Rodenberg said he teaches for William Woods University and substitute teaches at the high school and Grand River Technical School (GRTS). He said he also works as a career counselor recruiter for GRTS. Following his retirement from the field of education, Rodenberg said he found another rewarding career in politics. Rodenberg said he served for a term on the city council and was elected for two terms to the city’s mayoral post. He noted that he is very proud of the city’s accomplishments and progress made while he was in office. Rodenberg also said that he has been very active in the community and has served on many local and area economic and civic organizations, mainly through City Hall. “I think I’ve got the education, the experience and the people skills to do this job and I’d appreciate your support next Tuesday,” Rodenberg said.
Following are the questions asked of the candidates and their responses.
1. Sometimes personal opinions may vary from general public opinions. Will you follow your personal convictions on issues or will your vote reflect the opinions of the majority of your district?
Baker:
Well, in answer to that question, I would like to think that I am a majority voter. And I’m thinking that, for the most part, the individuals I voted for are in office and have been in office. Would I cross a ballot? Yes I would. I’d move across a ballot. As far as my personal opinion, I seek the Lord’s answer in a lot of — every aspect in my life. Not a lot of aspects, but every aspect of my life, I seek the Lord. And, being an individual from Livingston County and being born and raised here, I do think I know the majority of individuals — I see so many common faces here and familiar faces in the audience. But as a leader, as far as a public office, I think you’re duly appointed to represent the majority of voters and you need to base yourself on facts and the voters. Thank you. |
Rodenberg:
I think you got to represent the people in the district for sure. I’m trying to think of an example of an issue that I felt differently than the majority of the people do. We’ve had a lot of controversial issues through City Hall that were controversial and a lot of people didn’t agree with my line of thinking on them: the smoking ordinance, the rental property ordinances, the vicious dog ordinances — things like that which filled City Hall every time we had a discussion on that. I tried to (I couldn’t vote at the time), but I was on the side of the good of the people on those issues — renters or people who had been bitten by dogs or whatever. I’m not sure exactly how else to answer that question. I think first and foremost you’ve got to figure out what is in the best interest of the people, which might not be in the majority, actually. But I think you’ve got to vote in the best interest of your constituents. |
2. What is your opinion on abolishing the township form of government? Please address the pros and cons and also how would you handle the responsibility of maintenance for all roads within the county?
Rodenberg:
I don’t think there’s a need to abolish the township form of government. And, as far as the roads go, a lot of people are confused about where the commissioner’s job starts and where it ends and the townships — where it starts and where it ends. The rural roads are a township responsibility. There are three elected officials in the township and they are in charge of the roads and they’re also in charge of tubes that are two foot or less in diameter. The commissioners, on the other hand, are in charge of all the county bridges and I think, in my opinion, at least, they’ve done a real good of doing that over the years. They’re also in charge of tubes over two feet in diameter — that is the commissioner’s responsibility. Another thing that is misconstrued a lot of times is that the commissioners don’t hire a lot of people. The commissioners hire the two bridge crew people and they hire the janitor at the courthouse and that’s all their hiring responsibilities are. So the township and the commissioners have their own distinct administration, if you will, and they do their own thing and I think it’s worked out fairly well. |
Baker:
Well, Todd did a good job of explaining, really, the county commissioners’ jobs. It is true. I have been approached by individuals though, that had suggested one, and if I’m elected to check into, a district road crew rather than township. That’s something that we need to explore, I think. You know if we’re looking at tightening budgets, if we can do it with less manpower and less machine and fuel expenses, then I think that’s something we need to consider. And, I also know each and everyone of you that live out there outside the rural community — I’m privileged, I live on a black top. We all know that some townships, the road conditions are better than others and its based on tax base and population, but I think with the county road district you would have equal treatment for every county road. And, I also realize it would be difficult to service every road as fast, so it’s something that we’d have to check into and it is something that I would consider looking into if we could consider having a county road district. And again, we have two men that take care of the bridges and any tubes or anything like that which are issues and they make those decisions pretty-well based upon their own knowledge and experience, whether or not a tube needs to be replaced and what size tube needs to go in a ditch. And these boys, I know both boys have got, I think one’s like 26 years experience and the other one’s almost 15 or so. But they’ve got experience behind them also. Thank you. |
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