You can listen to archived audio from the July 11 Seward County Commission candidate forum, with candidates for the Seward County Commission primary election in August.
Candidates in attendance at the forum, in their speaking order as randomly drawn before the forum: Todd Stanton, Commission District One candidate; C J Wettstein, District One incumbent; Bee Symons, District Five candidate; Steven Helm, District Five incumbent; Lamberto Flores MD, District Five candidate.
Tyler Parks of KSCB served as moderator for the forum; Parks previously served on the legislative affairs committee for the Liberal Chamber of Commerce. The Liberal Chamber helped sponsor the forum, along with area media outlets including Seward County Broadcasting.
The candidates began with opening statements, in their randomly drawn speaking order:
The moderator sometimes rephrased or paraphrased a question when repeating the question for candidates. This story sets in “quotation marks” the original phrasing of the question before the first candidate answered it.
Some questions prompted one or more candidates to exercise their option to follow-up with an additional half minute of speaking time.
Q1: “How much time are you willing to devote to the job of being a county commissioner, and how would you spend that time?”
C J Wettstein; Bee Symons; Steven Helm; Dr Lamberto Flores; Todd Stanton.
Q2: “If elected, would you take the commissioner training class in Topeka; why or why not?”
Symons; Helm; Flores; Stanton; Wettstein.
Q3: “What type of economic development would you like the county to pursue?”
Helm; Flores; Stanton; Wettstein; Symons. Follow-up by Wettstein; Stanton.
Q4: “How do you feel about building a new ambulance facility?”
Flores; Stanton; Wettstein; Symons; Helm.
Q5: “How important is it that you as a commissioner follow the same rules, regulations, and codes that you expect other residents of Seward County to follow?”
Stanton; Wettstein; Symons; Helm; Flores.
Q6: “What are your thoughts about our county roads?”
Wettstein; Symons; Helm; Flores; Stanton.
Q7: “How can you make county positions more attractive to retain or obtain new employees?”
Symons; Helm; Flores; Stanton; Wettstein. Follow-up by Helm.
Q8: “What are your ideas for future plans at the rodeo arena?”
Helm; Flores; Stanton; Wettstein; Symons. Follow-up by Helm; Stanton; Wettstein.
Q9: “What is the county’s role in having more housing, and what would you do to fix it?”
Flores; Stanton; Wettstein; Symons; Helm.
Q10: “What are your thoughts on funding a necessary project that is not in the budget currently?”
Wettstein; Stanton; Symons; Helm; Flores.
Q11: “If elected, what are the top two goals that you would like to see accomplished as a commissioner?”
Stanton; Wettstein; Symons; Helm; Flores. Follow-up by Stanton.
Q12: “What motivated you to run for a seat on the county commission?”
Symons; Helm; Flores; Stanton; Wettstein.
Q13: “In what ways would you advocate for the expansion of Highway 54?”
Helm; Flores; Stanton; Wettstein; Symons. Follow-up by Wettstein.
Q14: “What are your ideas on how to make Seward County a better place to live and work?”
Flores; Stanton; Wettstein; Symons; Helm.
Q15: “How important is collaboration between the county, the city, and other local entities?”
Stanton; Wettstein; Symons; Helm; Flores.
Q16: “Four years from now, what does the county look like, and how do you get us there?”
Wettstein; Symons; Helm; Flores; Stanton.
Closing statements, in this speaking order: Bee Symons; Steven Helm; Dr Lamberto Flores; Todd Stanton; C J Wettstein.
Moderator Parks then thanked the participants and concluded the forum.
