Ahead of the primary election next month, the St. Marys Rotary Club invited Dave Bambauer and Steve Henderson to come to their weekly meeting to discuss different things going on in the county and what they would do if they were elected commissioner.
Whoever wins the primary would run uncontested in November, as there is no democratic candidate running. He would take over for Don Regula, who has been an Auglaize County commissioner for over 10 years. Both men come from backgrounds of serving the county:
"I hope to bring my business experience along with my county fiscal officer experience to help keep the guiding the county in the direction that we’re going," Bambauer said.
"I’ve been a president of City Council in Wapakoneta for 22 years, the vice president of our economic development board, I hope to bring those leadership skills and past experience to the county level," said Henderson.
The candidates answered questions at the debate with topics including gun control, domestic violence, and county-wide construction. They shared similar views with those questions, as well as when we asked what they what they would like to see changed in Auglaize County.
"A big project might be expanding the jail, and whether you have to go back to the voters or maybe reduce levies for the voters and general fund," Henderson said. "It’s an unfortunate situation that you have to build because we're running out of room at the jail."
"Probably the first big project that the county will have is jail remodeling or adding an addition to the jail," Bambauer said. "We're lacking space in the female wing and the jail was built in '98, '99, in those years, and needs some updating, some remodeling."
Early voting has begun in the state of Ohio for the primary election, which will be officially held on March 17th.
