Six people are vying for the Greenwood Common Council’s three at-large seats this fall.
Republican Incumbents Mike Campbell, who has held one of the seats since 2012, and Erin Betron, who joined the council in February after being selected in a caucus, are asking voters to keep them in office. Joining them are Republican Steve Moan, a former school board member and current member of the city’s redevelopment commission; Libertarian James Sceniak, a former U.S. Senate candidate; and political newcomers and Democrats Rachel Matthews and Charrie Staumbaugh.
For Betron, service has always been a part of her life, and running for city council is another way to continue serving others. Campbell decided to seek reelection because he wants to make Greenwood a better place to live, work and play, and being on the city council is one of the better ways to do that, he said.
Moan, a lifelong Greenwood resident, has the drive to help the community and wants to bring a “common sense” perspective to the council, he said. Sceinak, who relocated to the city a few years ago, believes local offices are where people can make the most change and says having several different voices on the council is a positive.
Stambaugh is passionate about the city she’s called home for most of her adult life, wants to bring a perspective that is lacking on the council and wants to be a voice for her neighbors so “their interests and concerns are heard and addressed.”
Matthews did not respond to multiple requests for an interview, so her answers are not available.
To help voters make their decision in the at-large city council race, the Daily Journal asked the candidates their takes on issues facing the city. Part 2 of the answers can be found here.
Here’s part of what they said, edited for length, clarity and grammar:
What are the most pressing issues facing the city?
Betron: The biggest issue for me is some of the public safety concerns, there’s a divided narrative, right now over do we have enough fire and police or do we not? I’ve had a lot of conversations with people, and I do sit on the meet and confer (committee), so I have an idea of what … the regulation says that (the fire department is) supposed to have. They are staffed, but it’s minimal. So if somebody takes leave, somebody goes on vacation, somebody gets sick, somebody retires or moves on to a different place they’re short an individual. So they’re not running full rigs all the time … (With) all those apartment complexes and everything coming up, those are full of people. We need more coverage to be able to handle the influx of population. It will be the same for the police department. The police department is devastatingly low. I know they are trying to get more people to join the police department, but unfortunately, we don’t pay as well as other cities surrounding us. So, if we want to attract and retain top talent we need to put those resources in place. … We have some roads that need to be paved. We have some buildings that are becoming eyesores that can be fixed up and put retail shops in there to make it nice.
Campbell: The priorities for any government are public safety, infrastructure and economic development. With the Western Regional interceptor being completed, we’ve addressed a major concern we had with the state of infrastructure. … Public safety is always a concern and has always been one of my top priorities — trying to support the police and fire departments. It seems like malls are deteriorating, and people just don’t shop there anymore, they shop online. . I know the police department has stepped up its patrols and is doing more. Since I’ve been in office, we’ve increased the budget for public safety every year, and increased the number of police officers, and the number of full-time firemen.
Moan: One of the most pressing issues is traffic and infrastructure and getting people east and west across this city, right from the interstate, across the town. You look at the high-traffic areas and the high-traffic times a day; traffic doesn’t move in Greenwood. Now we’re not in gridlock like some big cities, and it’s adequate for our population 10 years ago, so we react to the problems instead of being proactive related to our economic growth. I think a lot of the issues are in progress. We want to continue to grow, but we desire to feel like we’re a small community. We’re becoming a big community. A lot of people are not happy with the explosive growth and the feel in town, and I’d like to work to ensure that Greenwood is growing because we’re a place that people want to live, a place where people want their kids to go to school here and people know that it’s a community that’s safe.
Sceniak: With growth, it’s both a positive and a challenge. So I believe there’s a lot of positive within it, but we have to look at the financial aspect within the growth and whether are we keeping up with safety issues such as police officers, firemen. Fire Station 95 is going to be open I believe in 2026, so look at how we can continue that growth and ensure that those in Greenwood have adequate services. … With the potential of that growth, we want to make sure that all communities feel welcome. I think working with nonprofits and mental health care institutions and … making sure that we have adequate services for those that are coming in and what challenges diversity brings. .. The challenge of … specifically addictions, and making sure that when police are called, that adequate services are provided … I was listening to [Valle Vista] speak on this and they were explaining a lot of the challenges of that. I want to just make sure that the city has opportunities for organizations like that to flourish as we grow.
Stambaugh: 1) Public safety: First responders need adequate staffing, equipment, facilities, contracts, capital, pay, and benefits to serve our city safely. 2) Infrastructure: Construction patterns must be vetted as necessary so businesses, patrons and hospitality continue to thrive in harmony. 3) Housing: Many middle-income families are being priced out of affordable homes — including multi-family options. We must work with MIBOR and nonprofits so current and prospective residents are accessing and utilizing all benefits available. 4) Economic development: We need quality over quantity. Let’s ensure new companies bring positions with potential for upward mobility, higher pay and accessible continued education for good-paying jobs so people will stick around. 5) Social Services: While our city has a thriving parks and recreation program, we can benefit from more inclusive programming at these facilities for mental health, domestic violence, homelessness, ESL/citizenship classes, home buying, etc. 6) Transparency and inclusion: The council and city officials must engage with the residents openly to understand and respond to community needs. With all this said, the biggest elephant in the room is funding. We have to find creative and least-painful ways to fund necessary programs and projects for our city to continue to thrive as we continue to grow.
What do you think the city council should do to address public safety?
Betron: When ordinances or resolutions (and) those things come up, if we can vote toward the things that will help build those and (have) everybody be on board and understanding how important that is; that’s definitely one thing that we can do as a city council. I would like to see more emphasis from higher up, from within the council, to help with some of those initiatives. The food and beverage tax was supposed to go help pay for some of that, and I don’t feel like it has gone to pay for that. They showed me that meet and confer there was a small amount that went to the police department to help pay for body cams and some things for the vehicles. But it didn’t go towards the recruitment efforts like it was originally stated that it would so I would like those things to come to fruition; to make good on those promises.
Campbell: All of us on the council are concerned (about public safety). …. The mayor and his staff who put the budget together, they decide what they want. When it comes to us on the council, we can approve it with no changes, or we can approve it with reductions, but we cannot increase the budget. That’s the way the state law is written. So, if the mayor comes to us and says we want three new firefighters and three new police officers, and we go, ‘No, we want six of each.’ We can’t do that. We can’t increase the funding for those. We’re in a position where … the budgets have increased, the personnel have increased and the council has approved all of that. I think a lot of that works out, and I think we’ve done well at that we’ve done all that with while staying within budget. … Most of us would like to hire more public safety people, but it doesn’t really fit into the budget. When we did the 1% food and beverage tax, we were all in favor of that because we wanted to use that money for public safety. Then when the state passed the law that let us do that, they specifically said you cannot use it for public safety and so that was a disappointment. While we don’t use it directly for public safety, it has freed up money to help us with public safety.
Moan: Let me start by saying that I have always felt safe in Greenwood. Regarding the fire department: We need to ensure that as we grow we have appropriately placed station houses that are properly equipped and firefighters that are well-trained to respond to the various citizen needs in a city of our size. I think we need to be adequately stationed, staffed and equipped in our fire service. As far as Greenwood Police, we must work hard to ensure that we have a police force that is adequate for our population and in tune with the areas with higher crime rates. In talking to people as this campaign has gone on, people expressed concerns around the mall, for example…. They feel like the mall may not be as safe as it once was. … But we need to be forward-thinking related to the mall, our mall is an attraction for people from and outside of Greenwood. The intentions of people are not always good. Our police force must be ready when people do bad things.
Sceniak: I want to make sure our salaries are competitive and make sure we have an adequate number of officers for the growth that we are projected at. Additionally, make sure we have enough firemen to staff both what we currently have and then, again with that new station coming in, ensure we have an adequate pay structure that draws those coming in and want to do that public service. … I want to just make sure they have the resources but also that we’re being very accountable to the taxpayer and what we’re buying within the budget. … [Regarding Greenwood Police’s planned purchase of virtual reality training software:] I just want to make sure that whatever stimulation that is, it’s going to adequately train our officers for real-life situations such as what happened at the Greenwood mall. Putting money upfront to save money, in the long run, can be a positive if it is accurate training and the longevity of the software can be within that program. So looking at how long we can use that program for and making sure that it’s a wise resource for Greenwood.
Stambaugh: Public safety requires a multi-faceted approach and collaboration among the council, city officials, first responders and the community. Firstly, budget allocation needs to be addressed. It’s time for council to roll up their sleeves and work side-by-side with our controller, mayor and each city department to identify real funding needs and sustainable funding sources. First responders expressed their staffing, equipment, facility, contract, capital and compensation needs and it’s our responsibility to prioritize, strategize and implement these changes. If the funds aren’t available yet, let’s find it. If we need to restructure districts, reallocate expenditures, re-appropriate income, write grants, team up with contiguous cities or assess a possible slight tax increase, let’s vet all options and make a plan. No more complaining behind closed doors without fruitful results. Let’s serve together as a team with one goal in mind — to have the strongest public safety program in our state. Next, let’s look at training and accountability and implement programs that emphasize de-escalation, diversity and inclusion for effective crisis intervention teams to respond to mental health-related calls. Finally, while statistics show our city’s crime level is average — and even lower — compared to nearby cities of the same size, we have to identify and address social determinants of crime. We need transparent crime stat reporting with evidence-based strategies to address hotspot areas and categories of crime.
ABOUT THE JOB
What: Greenwood City Council At-Large
Term: Four years
Pay: $13,058 a year (2024)
Duties: Set annual spending for the city, make policy changes, adopt new local rules and ordinances, approve new taxes, appoint members to various city boards.
THE BETRON FILE
Name: Erin Maurine Betron
Party: Republican
Age: 46
Family: Two children
Occupation: Associate Director/Leadership Coach, Eli Lilly & Co.
Education: New Palestine High School; Walden University
Military service: U.S. Army/Army National Guard, 1997-2022
Political experience: Incumbent since February
Memberships: Impact Team Member, Emmanuel Church of Greenwood; Greenwood American Legion Post 252; Johnson County Women’s Republican Club; National Guard Association of Indiana
THE CAMPBELL FILE
Name: Mike Campbell
Party: Republican
Age: 70
Family: Wife, Maggie; two children
Occupation: Bus driver, Center Grove Community School Corporation
Education: Emmerich Manual High School, Indianapolis; Indiana Wesleyan University,
Military service: None
Political experience: Incumbent since 2012
Memberships: NA
THE MOAN FILE
Name: Steven “Steve” F. Moan
Party: Republican
Age: 53
Family: Wife, Elizabeth; one child
Occupation: Accountant, Laurie & Dunbar CPAs
Education: Greenwood Community High School; Butler University
Military service: None
Political experience: Greenwood Community Corp. Board of Trustees from 2008-2020; Unsuccessfully ran for city council in 2019
Memberships: Redeemer Bible Church; Appointed member of the Greenwood Redevelopment Commission
THE SCENIAK FILE
Name: James M. Sceniak
Party: Libertarian
Age: 35
Family: None
Occupation: Behavioral therapist, Life Skills Autism Academy
Education: Pleastantwood Christian Academy (homeschooled), Goshen; Bethel College (University), Mishawaka
Political experience: Unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in 2022
Memberships: Libertarian Party of Johnson County
THE STAMBAUGH FILE
Name: Charrie Stambaugh
Party: Democrat
Age: 40
Family: Husband, Jason; three children; three stepchildren
Occupation: Owner/Photographer/Graphic Designer, Photog Boss Babe LLC
Education: Southwood High School, Wabash; Purdue University School of Science, Indianapolis; Indiana University Indianapolis School of Medicine
Political experience: None
Memberships: Youth Cheer Director, Whiteland Warriors Youth Cheerleading
