Photo by Janelle Patterson Congressman Bill Johnson speaks with attendees of the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce candidates forum at Marietta College Wednesday before ascending the stage.

MARIETTA — Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce partnered with Marietta College Wednesday to host a meet the candidates forum featuring local, state and regional race candidates on the November ballot.

Both candidates from each race to appear on Washington County ballots were present to answer questions posed in part by the chamber, and by members of the audience. Those questions involved civility in politics, the opioid epidemic and the Devola sewer issue.

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Ohio’s Sixth Congressional District

Incumbent Republican Congressman Bill Johnson faced off against Democratic Challenger Shawna Roberts Wednesday on questions concerning growing the economy of southeast Ohio and top goals if elected in the next term.

Photo by Janelle Patterson Candidates Shoshanna Brooker, left, and Shawna Roberts, right, speak with Sue Sipe, center, before the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce candidates forum at Marietta College Wednesday.

Roberts cited needs for infrastructure investment in roads, water, sewer, cell coverage and broadband.

“We need to have the federal government chip into that,” she noted, before mentioning her priority to also protect and strengthen health care access for rural Ohioans.

Johnson cited bills he has sponsored concerning infrastructure and added that his next priorities are to reform regulations impeding oil and gas development in Ohio.

“In Ohio we’ve got more jobs than there are workers to fill them, we need people that are on welfare and are able-bodied to step up and fill those jobs,” he said.

Ohio House of Representatives 94th District

Incumbent Ohio Rep. Jay Edwards, a Republican, was joined on stage by a fellow peer of Nelsonville, Democrat Taylor Sappington and the two answered questions of how they could best represent rural Ohio in Columbus.

“You cannot beat local control when it comes to most things,” noted Edwards, before mentioning that Ohio’s largest counties, by population, include its largest cities. “And 12 people represent those three counties where the three (major) cities are… This is why I’ve tried to bring about the Appalachian Caucus, so we can form a partnership that focuses on the betterment of the region.”

Sappington noted a need for balance between local control and state intervention, mentioning his service as a Nelsonville city councilman.

“But the statehouse has to jump in with unjust, unfair and unequal circumstances and I have to be open to work with either (gubernatorial) candidate,” he explained, noting a need for advocacy for the four-county district.

The pair also spoke to rural broadband access, differing only in the form the service should take.

“I firmly believe broadband is a public utility,” said Sappington.

Edwards said incentives for private investment should first be utilized before making the service a public utility.

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Ohio House of Representatives 95th District

Two candidates are vying for the seat currently held by Andy Thompson in the statehouse.

Both are from Harrison County, and echoed similar sentiments regarding working with businesses and local governments to support services from a local level first.

But where Republican Don Jones and Democrat Dan Milleson differed was on the discussion of welfare.

“I think it starts in our education system where we provide those services on the front end,” said Milleson. “We need to break this cycle of generational poverty.”

Jones noted a need for more funding for education services and the desire to end Common Core in Ohio but said the current welfare system needs to fixed immediately.

“It needs to be tiered, not just an all or nothing approach to welfare,” he explained. “A single mother with two kids, of course, needs services, but may still be able to work.”

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Washington County Auditor

Both candidates for the county’s fiscal officer played to their experience crunching numbers in their current roles.

Republican Matthew Livengood frequently referred to his five years of experience in the county auditor’s office as second in command and noted his goals to increase public communication to educate the county on how to find public information.

Meanwhile, Independent candidate Leslie Pittenger explained how her nine years as auditor for Belpre qualifies her to not only run the county office, but advance its technology.

Pittenger said if elected she would upgrade software and work with the county treasurer to have online information interface with online payments for services.

Livengood said if he’s elected to replace Washington County Auditor Bill McFarland he’d work to streamline property transfer processes in the office.

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Washington County Commissioner

Republican Kevin Ritter and Democrat James Raney took the stage Wednesday with different priorities voiced if elected to represent Washington County.

Ritter said the most prevalent topic he’s discussed while campaigning has been the Devola sewer issue currently mired in the court system with two lawsuits over the area’s residential septic systems. He is against residents being forced to sewer.

Raney said his top priority is to review with citizen input the 2004 county comprehensive plan and audit what progress has been accomplished in the last 14 years.

Both also agreed that the opioid epidemic should receive top priority in discretionary funding with Raney noting his current service on the Washington County Behavioral Health Board and Ritter calling for the building of a recovery center in the county.

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Washington County Common Pleas Judge

The final two candidates to take the stage were Shoshanna Brooker and John Triplett. They both expressed support for Common Pleas Judge Mark Kerenyi’s efforts to build a certified drug court in his courtroom and said they’d work to get certified as well if elected.

But they differed on a question of moral compass dictating judgments.

“We are not to make law from the bench, it’s inappropriate,” stated Brooker, but noted that discretion and understanding of the impact of drugs on families she sees daily as a magistrate would be used in her rulings.

Triplett disagreed, saying a moral compass is the basis for a compassionate but firm decision.

“Not everyone who comes through the court comes through with the same circumstances,” he said. “You have to have compassion and also be able to stand firm behind a decision and live with it.”

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What’s Next…

* The deadline for voter registration is Tuesday.

* Early voting begins Wednesday at the Washington County Board of Elections office on Davis Avenue in Marietta.

Source: Washington County Board of Elections