Editor’s note: The Q&A below includes answers by candidates in their own words. It has been edited for length and grammar.
Two well-known candidates are facing off in the race for the newly redrawn Johnson County Council District 1 seat.
Pamela Burton, an Edinburgh resident who has served as county auditor since 2015, is vying for the seat alongside David Bleke, a Franklin businessman whose name has be on auto shops in the county for decades.
District 1 includes all of Union, Hensley, Nineveh, Blue River, Needham and Clark townships, southern White River Township and southern Franklin Township.
The Daily Journal asked both candidates questions about their experience and vision for the county if they’re elected. Here’s what they said:
» What makes you a good choice for county council, and why are you running?
Bleke: I’m now retired and have the time to do it. Although I don’t know if that’s 100% because I feel like I’ve got less time. I’ve taught high school – and do teach high school now – so I am pretty familiar with the younger generation. I have been a Whiteland Town Council member before, so I’ve served there. The fact that I’ve owned several businesses and several corporations since I was 23, gives me a business way of looking at things.
Burton: I’ve been deputy auditor and auditor for this county for 30 years. Being part of the county’s financial (organization), I’ve sat in on almost all of the county council meetings. I’m the person who normally puts feet to their wishes and fulfills their orders and carries out their directives. I came into the office in 1992, and I was hired under (Auditor) Betty Stringer. From there, I ran for auditor in 2015, and I’ve been the elected official since; this is my second term. I’ll have 30 years in on April 2.
» What are the top three issues facing the county?
Bleke: Unfortunately, I think that changes daily. What I say today won’t make any sense later. Our roads are an issue. I don’t think our budget is an issue today, but going forward it will be, so we have to keep a targeted budget so we don’t get ourselves in trouble down the road. One of the issues I think we will be dealing with is fewer county roads. The upgrades to the infrastructure is going to change quite a bit for the newer towns. Along with that, I see a lot of drainage issues out in the county.
Burton: Inflation, but that’s not just the county, that’s all over the world. Local government, in my opinion, is just as important as state and federal. I heard someone say the other day every tax dollar has a name on it — that’s kind of my thoughts as well. In my 30 years in the auditor’s office, I have pretended every dollar I ever see comes directly from my back pocket. So when you look at it that way, it makes you a more conservative spender. The elected officials we have now are amazing, but I’m looking forward to bringing some working knowledge on budgets, appropriations, tax rates and more of the financial areas, as well as being a down-to-earth, common sense person. I’m connected and transparent and I’ve always been a huge advocate of the taxpayers.
» Does the county need any new tax increases, and if so, what would it pay for?
Bleke: For me to be completely straight on that would mean some real digging since I’m not on the county council now and I’m not privy to a lot of the study of it. I would like to see fewer taxes going forward. I would like to see more bang for our buck out there when companies come to do stuff for us. Let’s keep taxes as low as we can.
Burton: Absolutely not at this point.
» What would be your budget priorities?
Bleke: It still goes back to our infrastructure and roads. That’s the biggest area. As we go forward, the county is going to have more of that to do. As the towns and cities annex more, sometimes we will do less. We need to be on top of our game there. The way we interface with the cities and towns is important. There are going to be some issues there making sure we have a smooth transition with those annexations.
Burton: Fair and equal and transparent. Every office — from the offices that are protecting us all the way down to the office that helps us take care of our lost and stray animals — are important, and they all work equally as hard. Now, obviously, some areas deserve more than others and the pie is only so big and you only have so many slices to go around. So, I would be fair and equal and transparent and, once again, bring my common sense approach to the county council.
» With Interstate 69, crumbling subdivision streets and continued population growth, the county is facing many issues related to road funding. Do you have any ideas to raise more money for roads?
Bleke: My business that I just sold to Pep Boys is Center Grove Tire … I still own the property. I’m right on I-69, and it is strictly a mess over there. We really need to look at a plan over there and how we are going to move traffic. One problem with the roads here in this county – it’s the worst that I’ve seen anywhere – you cannot get east to west in this county. We … widened Whiteland Road and made it a boulevard, so you can’t even pass a tractor or get around anybody. It is one of those things we should look at going forward. I don’t know where you start, but I think an end result is a place in our budget where we are being wasteful – and I’m not saying we are. But we should look there and see if there is any money we can divert to stretch this out long term. So we aren’t taking too much money out this year, we can look at a five- to 10-year plan for those areas and try to do it so we don’t raise taxes.
Burton: That has always been a problem and it will probably always be a problem. You build something, and 30 years later, it is time to be replaced. Do I have a solution? Absolutely not, other than working with the state and our highway department and the current grants and funding available to us to move forward as best we can. There’s a sizeable amount of money (from ARPA) that we could use for that. There are no quick answers.
» County employees and elected officials are underpaid compared to others in the public and private sectors, according to a recent salary study. Would making county employee pay more competitive be a priority for you?
Bleke: I don’t know if it would be a priority, but it certainly is important. One thing a lot of people don’t think about is when you work for a government agency, your benefits are always much better than the private sector. A dollar or two into the pockets of the employees doesn’t always equivalate to what they’re getting on the other end. They probably do need an increase – I’m sure that is probably true – but for me to give a specific answer would be difficult. A lot of studies don’t consider (benefits). (A lot) of people keep a job not because of pay, but because they like where they’re at. So, do we want to just pay them or do we also want to be a place where they like to work?
Burton: Yes. I’ve been that employee and I’m now that elected official. The county government sometimes serves as a training ground to prepare people for the public sector, and I do think that more competitive wages would stop that or at least slow it down. But on the same hand, we work for the county government because we love what we do, so that in itself is a benefit.
» Does the county need a human resources department or any sort of oversight besides the county’s elected officials?
Bleke: With that many employees, we need to have one. I had an HR person when I had 10 employees. There is specific stuff that has to be handled by a specific person or it could get messed up. I know two of the commissioners pretty well, and I think they probably do a very good job, but it is something they don’t need to do. It isn’t too expensive to just hire one or two people to do HR.
Burton: We definitely need a HR department in my opinion. You’re talking about an auditor that has overseen HR and been part of it for many, many years. We’ve grown to the point that we definitely need a HR department. Creating and establishing a HR department is totally under the commissioners, so I’m unaware of where they stand and what they plan on doing moving forward, or if it is even an option at this point. But if I were included in that conversation, I would definitely lean strongly toward developing that.
» How do you think the county should spend the $31 million it will receive from the American Rescue Plan?
Bleke: There are a lot of ways you could spend it. With the rescue plan, I’m sure there is criteria to what they can spend it on, and I don’t know what that criteria is. I’m sure we are probably obligated to spend it in a certain amount of time … we would just to have to follow the criteria. If we can spend it on infrastructure, there is a big chunk of that we should divert to roads as long as that is legal.
Burton: I’ve been part of those meetings and, in my opinion, Johnson County has done an amazing job in forming a committee that has gone out among the taxpayers and held meetings to try to use that money in the most immediately needed areas. I believe some of that is going to include road repairs. There are some funds going toward mental health, which we all know is a huge issue here. As one of the people who was in that meeting — because I took the minutes — they put a lot of work into it. They have a couple of council members and a couple of commissioners on it, and they’re taking their time and spending the money wisely.
THE BLEKE FILE
Name: David Bleke
Residence: Franklin.
Family: Wife Dona, two children.
Occupation: Four Star Holding Company, president; teach automative repair at City Life Wheels.
Educational background: Center Grove High School, some college at Indiana State University.
Political experience: Whiteland Town Council, one term.
THE BURTON FILE
Name: Pamela J. Burton
Residence: Edinburgh.
Family: Husband James, two children.
Occupation: Johnson County Auditor.
Educational background: Edinburgh Community High School.
Political experience: Johnson County Auditor, 2015 to present.
