Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
With the Sidney town convention on Saturday, all four Democrat candidates running for town council were asked to respond to four questions.
The Democrats running are Brandon Allen, Gavin Parrett, Jack Wolfe and Rebecca Adams. Winners will face Republican Sharon Rancourt in the Nov. 7 town election.
Town clerk and Republican Lisa Parrett is unopposed.
Following are the responses given by Gavin and Allen. Wolfe and Adams did not respond to the questions.
Brandon AllenQuestion 1: What qualifications and experience do you possess make you the best candidate to be on the town council?
Allen: I have been a part of the community for nearly six years. I also serve as the Kosciusko County vice chair to the Democratic Party. I started my political career with campaigning for candidates and stepped into this role as an appointee from then-Chairman Brian J. Smith.
I’ve been involved with politics, mostly behind the scenes throughout the state of Indiana – from campaigning to helping create policies.
However, it is my belief that the party line does not need to exist at this level of government. Our goals should be to better our community, create avenues of improvements while maintaining a balanced budget. I also maintain my consulting business concentrating on small businesses in the restaurant and hospitality industry.
Parrett: I was a politics major in college and have been on the Sidney town board for three years since graduation.Question 2: How much experience do you have with budgets and how would you approach your town’s budget if you were elected to the council?
Allen: I think my record and our record for the current board is a sure sign that we’ve been able to manage our budget. For the first time in several years, our team has created a consistent balanced budget, worked with grants and managing money gained through the American Rescue Plan under the Biden administration and other state and federal legislation.
As far as my experience in budget planning and finance management, I have over 20 years of budget planning and finance management experience – it’s something that I do daily. Owning my own business, financial analysis services for other businesses, and in my role with the nonprofit organization I also work for, I help individuals create budgets for managing their own lives and expenses.
Parrett: My familiarity with the town budget is simple, being a board member for the previous three years while we shifted from written ledgers to electronic ledgers allowed the town to see a clearer breakdown of what categories we have funding for and which categories we need to ask for a higher allotment to accomplish necessary projects.
Question 3: How much input should the public have in town decisions and why?
Allen: Open dialogue is important – while I think citizens should have the ability to voice their opinions and concerns, our elected officials should welcome this dialogue. It’s hard. At the town level of government like Sidney, not all our issues and concerns as a community can be solved. However, I do believe in being proactive, having dialogue, and working toward goals – and that input from the community is a key important role.
One issue that came across during my first term was the township volunteer fire department was struggling with funding at their level of government. I do believe that our community does need to work with the fire department – between Town board Sharon Rancourt, Gavin Parrett and me, we were able to build into our current budget a public safety fund. Our board helped with grant requests and assisted in help fund projects. The township should play a much larger role in the operations of their fire department.
Another issue has been that we have a hard time with getting police coverage for our area. We have been working with county officials, neighboring communities, and police departments throughout Kosciusko County working towards having that presence – Pierceton and Claypool have played a huge role in this.
Parrett: I feel the towns' input is imperative, it's necessary to know which projects the town cares most about. Having said that, the town members must also be able to think critically and plan ahead. For instance, if a citizen approaches and asks to repair the sidewalks, it may seem required to prioritize that immediately. However, if you can delay the decision-making and combine the towns funding with grants, it's not impossible we could update the sidewalks and be able to repair the road simultaneously. Every decision the board makes affects everyone. You can't be hasty in making a decision without considering multiple options.
Question 4: If elected, what would be your goals for the town council for the next four years and how would you like to accomplish those goals?
Allen: Our big project in the coming years is working on finishing the roadways, installing/fixing sidewalks, and completing the replacement of signage. I also plan to continue our push to create a public safety system that works for the size of community we have, gaining that police coverage, and continuing to strengthen our relationship with the Sidney-Jackson Township Fire Department.
Parrett: The reason I used the example of a road project and sidewalks is because the town’s next important project is the sidewalks and alleyways. We are hoping to open some alleyways so the town can begin actually collecting revenue on these.
