Commission candidates outline ideas for future

County Commission candidates in Harvey County District 3 have similar ideas. Incumbent Ron Krehbiel and challenger Leo Stahly gave their ideas at a candidate forumTuesday night in Newton, along with several other candidates for various offices. Sheriff T. Walton, who is unopposed, also addressed the audience. District 2 candicates Marge Roberson and Randy Hague also debated the issues. Stahly said he is concerned about spending and noted there had been a 2.4 mil levy increase last year. "Why did we have that, it was because of overspending," he said. He blasted the logistics park and the project to build a new fairgrounds south of town. Both projects fell on some hard times because of the economy. Stahly said there had een some good ideas, "but the economy turned on us. We may not be able to use those good ideas for a long time." He said $3.3 million has been spent on the logistics park and he hopes not a lot more will be spent on it. "It is time to scale back, to try to figure out things. We need to put third district tax dollars back into the district," he said. He said roads need improvement, as well as bridges. He pointed out that the commission has closed two bridges in the county. He would rather have seen money spent on the bridges instead of on industrial parks. Krehbiel said he was "well aware of problems with roads and bridges." He said it cost $130,000 to add a two-inch overlay to a road, and about $1 million if you were to pave a road starting from scratch. He has been on the commissio for 12 years and believes the commission has done a good job with finances. Krehbiel said one of the bridges that was closed averaged three or four cars a day o it. He said he is not against economic development and noted that there have been some good businesses come into Harvey County in recent years. He believes the county should perhaps consider backing off on the logistics park a little until the economy improves. On the gasifier plant, which intends to turn trash into energy, Stahly said he was open to the idea but would like to know more. Krehbiel said he was not for it at first, but likes the idea more now. He would not support the county putting more money in it, but if financing were there, hesupports the general idea. On their goals for the county, Stahly said he would like to cut taxes, but noted that a lot of money has already been spent. "We need to control spending. Wee need to try to hold taxes down," he said. Krehbiel said he agrees that no one likes to pay taxes, but his goal is to keep the budget balanced and doing. "The mil levy is still lower than it was in 1995. We need to keep it balanced and keep the quality of life going. We need honesty and common sense," he said. Sheriff T. Walton Sheriff T. Walton brought some levity to the forum and is running unopposed. He got votes in both primaries, so "it is me against me," he said. "The first time I ran there was more competition. In 2008 we were in the worst economic slump we have had. We didn't even have enough money to buy bullets," he said.Though a citizen did donate money for that purpose. Walton said he helped the department get more than $200,000 in grant money and that has helped the situation. He also started housing federal prisoners, which local jails do to make money. Over the last four years his department has brought in $4.6 million by keeping federalprisoners. He also brought up the idea of buiding a new jail. He said with more beds he could house more federal prisoners and that could pay for the jail. His biggest concern is unfunded mandates that come from the state level, where he has to enforce a new rule but is not given additional money to do the job.