Ferdinand Election Forum: Candidate declines open question and answer session

A forum at the Tri-County YMCA involving the two candidates for the only contested council seat on the Ferdinand Town Council ended abruptly.

It was standing room only for the 72 attendees of the forum in which incumbent Democrate Ken Sicard and challenging independent Don Farina Sr. — vying for the District 1 seat on the council — were expected to give a short speech and then field questions from the audience. As in similar forums held in Jasper and Huntingburg, the Q&A would be moderated and retired Vincennes University Jasper Campus dean Dr. Alan Johnson was there to act as moderator.

However, Farina objected to the format involving the open question and answer session from the audience.

So, after the brief speeches by the two candidates, rather than the candidates taking questions from the audience, Ferdinand Chamber president Brian Dale ended the event. He informed those attending that the two candidates would be available in separate rooms of the YMCA to answer any questions individually.

Some attendees to the event were disappointed at not being allowed the open question and answer session. Resident Betsey Corley pulled out her phone to show the questions she had jotted down to ask. Resident and YMCA Director Mike Steffe had several prepared questions on sheets of paper.

But, nobody was given the opportunity to hear the candidates respond to questions while on the hot seat.

In regards to those opening pitches to the audience, while Sicard spent much of his time expounding on his dedication to the town and his own background and experience that made him a good candidate, Farina used his time to announce some initiatives he had planned and dig at some issues and shortcomings he had with the current council.

Sicard, 63, has been on the Town Council for nearly 16 years and has acted as council president for 12. He spoke about his volunteer activities with the Jaycees and his service as an EMT and volunteer firefighter that he took part in to embed himself in the community when he moved to here in 1973. He also volunteered with the Ferdinand Youth Soccer league as a coach and volunteer for 19 years.

In 2008, Sicard founded a committee of 60 volunteers to create a vision for Ferdinand’s future. This became the Hometown Competitiveness Program which was later picked up as a state-wide initiative. He also helped establish the Leadership Academy, a Dubois County-wide leadership training program that has created several beneficial projects across the county.

In January, Sicard will be appointed to the Board of Directors for the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns.

He has worked for Kimball International and Electronics for 37 years.

In regards to his position on the council, Sicard said he has “the fire in my body and in my mind to continue to work for our town. To give whatever it takes. And I want to be on the town council.”

He explained he wanted to see the town through the completion of its comprehensive plan and the current state-mandated phosphorous remediation project at the town’s wastewater facility. “Our goal is to keep the cost of this unfunded mandate as low as possible,” he said.

He pointed out that town needs to prepare and address the town’s budget as tax caps continue to eat away at it annually. “As we progress through the years, the tax money we get is less and less,” he said. “We have to find ways to buy more with less. At the same time, a balanced budget is a must. We cannot go in the hole.”

He explained the town is looking for ways to attract developers to the area to create more housing opportunities.

He acknowledged that the town needs to continue to work on bringing youth back to the area although he acknowledged that some returned as they began to have families.

He pointed out that tax abatement had been used by Best Home Furnishings and MasterBrand for expansion creating over 500 new jobs in Ferdinand.

In closing, Sicard said that some have suggested he has lost the leadership skills necessary on the council due to his length of service. “I would say that if I was retired and sitting around not doing anything every day, I would agree with that statement,” Sicard said. “But let me tell you, it ain’t right. I use those skills every day at the job I have and the town I live in. As an environmental health and safety manager, I have a plant with over 500 people in it that I have to deal with on a daily basis to keep them safe so they can go home in one piece.

“I work with the international group. There are seven plants in Kimball Electronics around the world and I deal with those people every day on the safety and environmental side,” he continued. “On a daily basis, I am in town meeting people. They stop me and ask questions or make suggestions. I stand and I listen. The decisions that I make are always for what’s best for Ferdinand.”

Farina, 59, is retired. He graduated from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and was an EMT serving in Dubois County. He worked in the construction trades for 35 years before retiring. He volunteers as a weather spotter for Ferdinand.

He told the audience that although he is a strong Democrat, he decided to run as an independent to avoid the primary election.

He stated that he chose to run to increase the public’s voice in the decision-making processes of the Town Council. “I will solicit more input and listen to that input while making decisions to make Ferdinand a better place to work and live,” he said.

He pointed out that although there was an identified lack of housing in the area, he didn’t feel building apartment complexes would remedy the problem. “There are a lot of houses that have come up for sale here,” he said. “Young people are looking for new, affordable homes.”

In regards to attracting youth, he explained that wages needed to be increased.

He criticized the town for an apparent lack of progress on bringing the sidewalks up to American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance.

Along the same lines, he stated that the town needed to add more sidewalks and some streets and curbs were in need of repairs. “Let’s get an engineer from in town, have him go around and complete a cost analysis of the whole project,” he explained. “Let’s put it out for bids and if we have to, let’s utilize our town employees to do that job.”

He explained that in regards to the phosphorous issue at the wastewater plant he would push to find out where the phosphorous was coming from and then work with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to research less costly solutions than adding equipment to the wastewater plant.

He explained that he would like to seek a resolution to the lost recycling program. “Everyone had their blue bucket, you can use it to take your recyclables to the county dump southwest of town,” Farina said.

To assist the growth of the town, he suggested working with the YMCA to build a pool and to continue to build programs at the 18th Street Park.

He stated he would create a strong vocational program at Forest Park beginning in the seventh and eighth grades. He would like to see training in welding, pipe fitting, electrical operations, heavy equipment and more. He told the crowd about a program where the students design and build a home and then sell it to support the program.

He pointed out that economic growth must be done in a way to support the current businesses as well attract new companies.

He explained that the utility poles along Main Street were still standing although power lines had been removed from them.

“I would like to say that when you cast your vote, you won’t only be voting for me but for the residents of Ferdinand,” he said in closing.

Without the follow-up from the audience, Sicard wasn’t given an opportunity to respond to Farina’s comments. The abrupt end came as much of a surprise to him as to the rest attending. In his separate room, he held a paper outlining answers to Farina’s complaints in preparation for any questions from the audience.

In regards to Farina’s criticism of the sidewalk updates, Sicard explained that based on the work that was done to complete the walking trail around the park, library and YMCA, he estimated that adding sidewalks throughout the city would cost in excess $500,000. A large bite from a $2.5 million town budget.

He added that the town enacted an ADA compliance plan as directed by the federal government. “We have an ADA plan that we had to put out and we have in there that we will spend $25,000 a year on ADA sidewalk to slowly upgrade,” Sicard said. “That is how the plan was supposed to be laid out. They knew we couldn’t do it all at one time and we are one of the leaders in Indiana of actually having a plan in place and are actually working on it.”

In response to Farina’s comments about the phosphorous problem, Sicard stated that Farina didn’t have any idea what that had entailed up to this point. Facing a deadline by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management the town council is rushing to complete the project in time to avoid fines. “We will begin testing to find out who is not in compliance,” Sicard said. “The problem with what he was proposing is that even if we made everyone become compliant, if something happens and too much phosphorous is detect, the town will be responsible for that and could face fines. It’s a complicated issue.”

On the utility poles along Main Street, Sicard explained they were owned by Frontier Communications. “First off the town doesn’t own those poles,” he explained. “We have asked Frontier and they have said they would be happy to take them down if the town would pay them $1.5 million.”

Sicard added that the electrical service has been removed from the poles and now the cable company has begun to remove there lines leaving Frontier’s own lines on the poles.

Sicard said the council is working on a resolution to the lost recycling program but the cost estimates so far have come in at $11 to $14 per household. “Our people were getting excited when we told them it would cost $2 or $3 per home,” he said. “I am working on something now but recycling is a difficult business due to the constant up and down of the prices for those recyclables.”

Recycling companies make money by selling the collected recyclables and the market can be very volatile.

The polls open next Tuesday, November 3.