Election city council at-large race Dovie Stidham

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The city recently shot down a proposal to annex three areas. What are your thoughts on annexation? Should the city be promoting growth this way? How will the city pay for the additional costs of that growth? Are there other areas you think could be good to bring into the city?

The possibility of increasing revenue and bringing more individuals into the city limits is a good thing, but we have to always be wary of the costs involved for the city to do so. Increasing tax revenue for the city is always a positive approach, but it needs to be balanced with the budget.

The city has been experiencing several years of increasing costs for health insurance because of large claims from employees. The mayor has said that drastic measures may have to be taken to help curb the problem. How would you propose the city tackle this problem? Should the city continue to offer health insurance, or should employees be responsible for getting their own health care?

If a person works for the City of Seymour, I believe they should have health care options provided by the city. There is a need to be cost-aware when it comes to providing this to employees, but it is vital that employees and their families are covered.

Seymour’s streets are showing the effects of yet another bad winter and many are in desperate need of work. The city has very limited funding available for road work. Do you believe the city needs to increase the amount of money it spends on road maintenance? How do you propose the city do that? Which roads should be addressed first?

Road repair is of major concern especially here in southern Indiana because we tend to have harsh weather. There is always a need to fix more roads, but there are only so many tax dollars available and hard decisions have to be made as to which roads are critical and those that need to be addressed in a timely manner.

How important do you feel it is for Seymour to establish a network of walking and biking trails throughout the city? A lot of time has gone into developing a trails committee and plan, but a lot of money is needed to put the plan in place. How should the trails be funded?

I believe that the walking and biking trails are a good idea, and I support any initiative that promotes healthy exercise without excess cost to the city.

What should the city be doing to revitalize the downtown and bring businesses to all the empty storefronts along the U.S. 50 corridor? What do you feel the city needs more of?

There needs to be more strides made in renovating the downtown area of Seymour. There are a lot of historical buildings downtown that could be transformed into productive businesses.

What other projects/issues do you think city officials need to address?

I believe the city needs to try to come up with more things for kids to do so we can keep them out of trouble.

Why did you decide to run for city council?

I decided that I wanted to run for Seymour city council to try and advance new ideas and ways of making the city a better place for all citizens.

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Dovie Stidham

Age: 59

Profession: Business owner

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