Huntingburg candidates sign Civility Challenge, handshakes and smiles pervade the room at the Old Town Hall

bw at the table — The two parties sat across from each other but smiles and laughter belayed any tension about the upcoming campaigns.

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glen and glenn — Glenn Kayes signs the pledge while Glen Kissling waits his turn

Today the candidates in the 2011 Huntingburg city election joined together to sign a Political Civility Challenge offered by the Huntingburg Chamber of Commerce. This is in keeping with a similar pledge signed between Russ Stillwell and Sue Ellspermann during their election campaigns and follows the Jasper Chamber pledge signed by Jasper candidates last month.

All the candidates for Huntingburg Common Council and the two mayoral candidates were available today to sign the challenge. Chamber President Josh Morrison presented the challenge to the candidates and invited them to sign. Each pair of opposing candidates then signed and shook hands promising a civil campaign.

The mood was lighthearted and congenial between the two parties represented at the event. After completing the signing the talk turned to ensuring the civility challenge was upheld. Each party pledged to monitor their own candidates and work together to ensure a clean campaign.

Marvin and Amy Lehr — Marvin Boeglin and Amy Lehr shake hands and wish each other good luck

Denny Spinner (R) stated that by signing this challenge the candidates have all agreed to conduct this campaign with the highest integrity. “I applaud Nick Stevens and the Chamber Board for offering this opportunity.”

“Today shows that we want to move forward in a positive way. Janet (Kemp) and I have talked about this in the past and we are both on board with this.” Spinner stated.

Janet Kemp said that she and Denny both feel the same way, “We spoke about this and we both agreed to concentrate on the issues. There are some tremendous issues facing Huntingburg and many other cities as well. We don’t have time to bicker we need to concentrate on the issues.”

Both candidates expect the media to assist in maintaining both parties pledge. Expressing concerns about social media and personal attacks that have occurred, Kemp and Spinner are relying on the media to remain objective in the coming election.