In a public debate Thursday night, Mayor Sharon McShurley and State Rep. Dennis Tyler discussed issues such as tax spending, local government and city parks.
The event, held at Northside Middle School, was organized by the Muncie-Delaware County Chamber of Commerce and the Muncie-Delaware County League of Women Voters.
The debate drew a crowd of roughly 300 people to the auditorium in a meeting 26 days before the municipal election.
Tyler, a Democrat who has represented the Muncie area as state representative since 2006, said he believes the subject of jobs in Muncie is key to the election.
"Jobs was the most important thing we discussed tonight," he said. "Jobs, and building those coalitions and those co-operations that you need to sell your community on. People want to see into your community and how it is working. We haven't done a good job with that the last three of four years."
McShurley, the Republican incumbent since 2008, said she felt the questions covered multiple issues critical to the city.
"We talked about education, we talked about jobs, we touched on quality of life not directly, but we touched on it," she said. "We talked about quality of life by talking about our parks system and how important it is to invest in a quality of life that people want to be a part of."
Ball State senior Chris Griffith, who attended the debate, said he was impressed with how it turned out. He said he knew jobs would be a major theme.
"I feel like with mayoral debates there are three things that get pushed a lot: security, roads and education, and how they all tie into bringing jobs to Muncie," he said. "Both candidates touched on that a lot."
The Muncie municipal election will take place Nov. 8.
Read More
Spring donation drive
By Amelia Winter / YesterdayBrand-new spring donation drive to help international students at Ball State University.
Late Nite preparing for annual carnival
By Evan Shotts / YesterdayNight of April 19th marks the annual carnival put on by Ball State’s Late Nite association.
Tranquil weather to round out the week before active pattern sets up
By Hope Kleitsch / YesterdayHigh pressure will replace the breezy and rainy conditions, but for how long? Chief Weather Forecaster Hope Kleitsch has the details.
