The three Muncie mayoral candidates met again for another forum Thursday at the Church of the Living God, hosted by the NAACP.
At the forum, candidates were given one minute each to respond to questions from the audience on their views on issues faced by the Muncie community.
The forum began with the candidates’ opening statements, during which Dan Ridenour (R) took his time to address a racist remark made by an associate of his campaign to fellow candidate Terry Whitt Bailey (D).
“When I was told about [the comment], I reached out to this individual told them that they were no longer going to be part of anything going on with our team and told him that it was totally unacceptable, what he did, and asked him to reach out to her and apologize,” Ridenour said.
Following the closing statements, during which Bailey said she accepted the individual in question’s apology, the Q&A session began.
Some of the more prominent questions asked included the ways the candidates would deal with corruption, the city’s relationship with Ball State and racial disparities in the Muncie police and fire departments.
When asked by an audience member about raising the number of African Americans on the police and fire departments, Steve Smith (L) differed slightly from Bailey and Ridenour, who said they would increase the number of black and female officers.
“I will not look at it as a race, but I will make sure that we do have people in position to do the job to get it done well,” Smith said. “If there is minorities that can do the job, we got a place for you.”
The city’s opioid crisis was also addressed by the candidates, who each proposed different solutions.
While Bailey addressed prescribed opioids as a cause of the crisis and Smith said looking at the crisis as a criminal problem was keeping people with addictions in the legal system, Ridenour said he would look for different solutions by reaching out to victims of the crisis.
“One of the things that I believe is that change happens from the grassroots level, and so I've been to numerous meetings of the Serenity Club … with groups that are fighting that challenge right now to learn what their needs are,” Ridenour said about the nonprofit recovery organization. “Until we know what their needs are, it's difficult for me to propose a solution.”
Enforcement of the city’s rental codes in regards to Ball State’s housing rentals also was called into question by the audience.
Bailey, Ridenour and Smith all said that the owners of the properties needed to be held accountable for following property rental codes to ensure the safety of the students living there and to improve the appeal of the community at large.
“...it's important to make sure that we have code enforcement that's put into place so that we don't just look at a wonderful facade of buildings, and then these students, I'm going to talk about students in particular, they go and live in a house that is uninhabitable,” Bailey said.
One of the shortest answers of the night came when the candidates were asked whether they supported President Donald Trump’s administration, the answer from Bailey: “No.”
Smith said he did not condone the president’s administration and Ridenour said he did vote for the president.
“President Trump’s style is definitely not my style,” Ridenour said. “I am not the type of person that goes at someone, but I'm not going to sit up here and lie to you. I did not vote for him in the primary, but I did vote for him in the fall.”
The candidates concluded the forum with their closing statements, reminding the audience to vote on Nov. 5 for their respective campaigns.
Contact John Lynch with comments at jplynch@bsu.edu or on Twitter @WritesLynch.
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