Three for 33

Greg Beumer decided in the spring that he would not run for re-election to a third full term.

Now a lawyer, a mayor and a farmer are vying to fill his seat.

Local voters will have three candidates to choose from when they take to the polls as Libertarian Dale Arnett, Democrat Shon Byrum and Republican J.D. Prescott are all vying to become state representative for District 33, which represents Jay and Randolph counties and part of Delaware County.

Arnett, 69, serves as a public defender in Randolph County. A graduate of Randolph Southern High School, he went on to earn a degree in psychology from Indiana University and graduated from Ohio Northern University’s school of law. He said his decision to run came because he feels there is a need for a strong third party with members who are not tightly tied to party agendas.

Bryum, 35, was elected as mayor of Winchester in 2016 and was previously a teacher at Burris Laboratory School in Muncie. He graduated from Winchester Community High School and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in education from Indiana University East. He said he’s learned a lot in his two years as mayor and wants to continue to strive to make lives better in District 33.

“One of my favorite things to do is work with people to solve problems,” said Byrum. “That’s the best part of my job. And if I’m the state representative, how much more could I do for people on a different level.”

Prescott, 26, farms in Randolph County. He is a 2010 Winchester Community High School graduate. He indicated that he had thought about running for office and made the decision to do so after encouragement from area leaders.



Priorities

Each candidate was given the opportunity to discuss what he feels are key issues facing the state, and District 33 specifically. For Byrum, those included rising healthcare costs, the opioid epidemic and workforce/economic development.

On health care, he noted the need to continue to make sure insurance companies cover pre-existing conditions. He also said rural Indiana needs more support for services such as ambulances and medical helicopters.

Prescott discussed the need for improved infrastructure, including roads, bridges and the internet. He mentioned internet connectivity as a key for both business and education, saying some funding may be available but that mostly he would like to work to eliminate roadblocks such as access to rights of way. He added that he wants to make sure counties have the funding available to them to properly take care of roads and bridges.

Arnett said his focus will be on education, a topic he continued to come back to, and the opioid crisis. 

He emphasized the need to make sure public schools are well-funded and said he is against vouchers for private schools. He also said he’d like to see testing such as ISTEP or the upcoming ILEARN deemphasized, in part because it does not offer an accurate comparison for schools with higher levels of students with disabilities, students who speak English as a second language or other educational hurdles.

“The most important issue, always, is education of our youth, because if we ever drop the ball there, our society will go downhill fast,” he said. “We’ll be in dire shape. We have to continue to educate our children.”



Opioids

All three candidates expressed the need to continue to fight the opioid scourge in District 33 and throughout the state.

Prescott’s prime objective in that area is children.

“I want to make sure our next generation does not become addicted,” he said. “My No. 1 priority is to educate and prevent the children from being addicted in the first place.”

He added that he’d like to see harsher penalties for dealers in an effort to cut off the drug supply, more rehabilitation programs and jobs available for recovering addicts to help them get back on their feet.

Arnett noted that there is no easy fix to the problem with opioids and other drugs and that education and rehabilitation are key. He emphasized the need for more drug rehabilitation facilities, in addition to more mental health treatment facilities.

Byrum agreed on the need for rehabilitation services, using Winchester House, a drug treatment facility for women and children that he fought for as mayor, as an example. He also agreed with Prescott that robust prevention programs are needed.

Economic and

workforce development

While saying that attempts to attract industry to the area can have a positive impact, Arnett said he’d like rural communities in Jay and Randolph counties to focus their energies on businesses that fit with the district’s profile.

“We are a rural, agrarian district,” he said. “Agriculture is our biggest business.

“I don’t want to lose our rural flavor. I’d like to see us attracting agribusiness into Jay, Randolph and Delaware counties because that’s what we do. That’s our big business.”

He added that there is a need for a continued push for more vocational training — he suggested a program similar to 21st Century Scholars for post-secondary vocational education — and said fixing the opioid problem is key to improving the area workforce.

Byrum noted that there are industries in District 33 that are unable to fill open positions, saying that points to a two-fold problem — workers who do not have the skills to fill those roles and, in some cases, wages that are not high enough to attract job-seekers. He added that low wages are also a problem for small communities because they leave their residents with less disposable income to support local businesses. 

Part of the workforce problem is that young Hoosiers are leaving rural areas for larger cities, said Prescott, noting the need to address quality of life issues, including internet access, and make District 33 an attractive place to live. He echoed Arnett’s thoughts about the need for vocational education, complimenting the efforts that are in place already at John Jay Center for Learning.

School safety

Byrum said school safety has always been a priority for him, noting that when he became mayor he told the Winchester police chief to create a beat specifically for schools in the city. That officer went on to become trained as a full-time school resource officer.

“I think that the state can take our model that we developed here,” said Byrum. “Local governments, we can’t wait on the state to act. The legislature sometimes wants to let others try it out first and then respond. I think the legislature needs to lead more. I think they need to come down to the local level and spend some time … and find out what the needs are.”

Prescott expressed a desire to continue to keep school safety grant funds available to districts. He said it’s key to provide boards and administrators information about best practices and encouraged making sure safety measures are part of school building projects as opposed to trying to retrofit buildings down the road.

Arnett agreed with Byrum’s stance that school resource officers are key to keeping students safe. He said he is supportive of efforts to have them in all schools.

All three candidates said they feel decisions about how best to protect schools, such as Jay School Corporation’s approval of a policy to allow trained personnel access to a gun in a locked safe in case of an active shooter or another emergency, should be left to local boards.

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Prescott feels he best represents the values of District 33. He said he believes in limited government, and that he wants to work with local leaders to help get local needs met.

“I’m a Christian, conservative and a farmer,” he said. “I’ll be both a social and fiscal conservative at the statehouse. I truly believe this rural ag district needs more ag representation in the statehouse.”

Arnett believes he is the most qualified candidate for the position, saying he has more life experience than the other two candidates combined. He also noted his law degree as key to understanding how to effectively draft, amend and abolish legislation.

Byrum pointed to his experience as mayor of Winchester, saying he has learned a lot and has operated the city with balanced budgets. He added that he’s proven that he can take on big projects, such as Winchester House, and see them through to fruition.