Bob Corbett, the Republican incumbent, said he has worked closely with other commissioners for years to provide leadership and financial stability.
Audra Bean, his challenger, said she is active in several community organizations and could bring new ideas to the board of commissioners.
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The primary responsibility for county commissioners is to manage the county’s finances.
In conjunction with two other commissioners, Corbett said he’s worked for years to ensure the county is in a good position financially despite funding cuts from the state. Along with state cuts to Local Government Funds doled out to the county and other municipalities in recent years, the federal government last year ended the state’s collection of sales taxes on services from Medicaid managed-care organizations.
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“Those are all things we have to make up for and adjust for in the future,” said Corbett, who is serving in his 24th year as commissioner.
Corbett said he’s also developed a good relationship with other elected officials and county department heads over several years and has worked to ensure the county’s agencies are customer-friendly. And he said his experience has allowed him to know the county’s issues in-depth.
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Despite a challenging budget over the years, Corbett noted the county is debt-free and has an A-plus bond rating. For example, the county recently built a new garage for the Champaign County Transit System and paid cash for the project, he said. The county also made improvements to the Champaign County Jail facility in recent years.
“We try to watch our money and save up enough to do things like that so we don’t have debt,” Corbett said. “That’s one of our biggest pluses on this.”
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Bean said she originally considered running as a state representative but later decided she was more interested in serving as county commissioner.
If elected, she said she would focus on issues like economic development and looking for ways to address opiate abuse in Champaign County. Bean also said she would push for more transparency of the county’s finances by taking part in the Ohio Checkbook program in the Ohio Treasurer’s office.
Bean agreed with Corbett that state budget cuts to Local Government Funds have slashes resources available to the county and said she would lobby state lawmakers to restore funding.
“Our governor balanced his budget by taking money away from Champaign County,” Bean said. “We now get a fraction of that Local Government Fund money. We need to get that back into the hands of local government, where it can be utilized for better infrastructure, public safety and the upkeep of our roads and bridges.”
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Bean said she has played an active role in several community organizations and has served as Champaign County Republican chairwoman, which gives her a good understanding of the county’s challenges.
She said opiate abuse continues to be a problem in the county and she would work with officials in neighboring counties to look for ways to address the issue.
“I will team up with the surrounding counties to get accurate overdose numbers as well as share our struggles and our successes to learn what works best and what doesn’t,” Bean said.
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