Candidates vie for Putnam seats

Published:  Friday, February 22, 2008 (1 year, 11 months ago)
Print

Jerry Hohlbein of the Ottoville Chamber of Commerce introduces candidates during a “Meet the Candidates” forum Wednesday night. Approximately 65 residents attended and listened to why those running for various county seats would like to represent them. The March 4 primary also includes county representation in the nation’s capital.By TYLER HOWARD
The Delphos Herald

OTTOVILLE — Putnam County residents got a chance to “Meet the Candidates” for their county’s March 4 primary Wednesday at the Ottoville Municipal Center.
The event, sponsored by the Ottoville Chamber, drew about 65 people who listened to the candidates introduce themselves before engaging in a question-and-answer session.
The biggest seat up for grabs in the upcoming primary is the position of congressman for the 5th district.
Incumbent Robert Latta is a Republican who has held the position for 67 days after winning a special election in January following the untimely passing of Congressman Paul Gillmor. He was unable to attend due to illness and was represented by Press Secretary David Popp.
Popp characterized Latta as a staunch conservative and stressed his assistance in banning partial-birth abortion in Ohio and his belief in making President Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent.
Running against Latta in the Republican primary will be Scott Radcliffe and Michael Reynolds.
Radcliffe, a West Point graduate, was a platoon leader in Baghdad during his two stints in Iraq and assisted in the rebuilding of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. While in New Orleans, he made a phone call to the 5th district asking for assistance and received a tremendous response, which led to his desire to represent the district in Congress.
Reynolds worked in food service for 23 years and business management for 18 years. He said he would like to see the federal income tax “retired” and replaced by either a flat tax or a federal sales tax. He also stressed his pro-life stance and argued that not only is abortion immoral but a waste of taxpayer’s money.
The only Democrat to file thus far for the 5th District seat is George Mays, who was not present.
Running for County Commissioner for the Jan. 2 term is Democrat Robert Riepenhoff, unopposed, who introduced himself as pro-life and fiscally conservative. No Democrat has yet filed for the Jan. 3 term.
For the Republicans, incumbent Travis Jerwers and former Commissioner Ronald Leopold are battling it out for the Jan. 2 term. Jerwers argued he was honest, believed in governmental transparency and would be insistent on ending political divisions. During his introduction, he pulled out a dollar bill, read the “In God we trust” portion, and then said, “You can also trust in me.”
Leopold, who is currently a Realtor with Ron Spencer Real Estate, served as County Commissioner from 2001-04 and introduced himself as someone who “basically just wants to help people.”
Running for the Jan. 3 term is incumbent Vincent Schroeder. He argued that despite the rumors and insinuations, Putnam County is “booming” and the growth has been “phenomenal.”
Schroeder faces two opponents in his bid for re-election: Daniel Ellerbrock and Joseph Recker. Ellerbrock, who is in his fourth year as president of the Putnam County Township Association, said his focus as commissioner would be on bringing businesses and jobs to Putnam County. Recker labeled himself a “Reagan man” and said although he is a “number’s dummy,” the numbers don’t seem to be adding up lately. He added he would solve that by bringing a “common sense government” to Putnam County.
The only other contested race is for the position of treasurer. Representing the Democrats is Jodi Niese, who has worked for the Village of Leipsic for 11 years and has experience doing payroll and income tax. Tracy Warnecke, Republican, has served as Treasurer of Putnam County since April of 2007 and touted her 10 years of experience in government accounting and 12 years of public accounting.
In addition to the contested races, there are several candidates running unopposed: Teresa Lammers (D) for Clerk of Courts, Anna Horstman (R) for Coroner, Daniel Gerschutz (D) for Court of Common Pleas Judge, Terrence Recker (D) for Engineer, Gary Lammers (D) for Prosecutor, Cathy Recker (R) for Recorder, James Beutler (D) for Sheriff and Lynn Wachtmann (R) for State Representative of the 75th District.
The majority of the questions the audience posed were directed towards the contested races. Many of the questions referred to past conflicts that have dominated the conversation in Putnam County in recent years. When asked about one such conflict, Joseph Recker replied “the goal is to heal, not continue with old battles — they’re over.”
When Leopold was asked why he said he was happy when his term as County Commissioner ended in 2004, he replied the sense of happiness was more a sense of relief.
“You can’t imagine how stressful it was for me, but now I’m ready to go back,” he said.
When asked about the role federal government should play in the school system, Radcliffe responded “none” and added that we should take a second look at the “No Child Left Behind” program to make sure we are not over-testing the kids.

0 Reader Responses to “Candidates vie for Putnam seats”

Complete the form below to leave a response of your own.