Crane, Albaugh take part in first candidate forum

What took place in West Central Indiana Wednesday night had almost nothing in common with the event in Cleveland much of the country watched one night earlier.

Sure, a Republican incumbent and Democratic challenger got together for a political debate, but this time it was incumbent State Sen. John Crane and Stan Albaugh on the stage.

There wasn’t exactly a stage, though, as the candidate forum, presented by the Greencastle League of Women Voters, WGRE and the Banner Graphic, was conducted via Zoom, with each man joining from his respective Hendricks County home.

The big difference, though, was the civility. No interruptions, no speaking over the opponent and, dare we say it, some common ground?

Make no mistake, Crane and Albaugh differ in their priorities for District 24 and the state of Indiana, but neither man was afraid to say when he agreed with his opponent once in a while.

One such point of agreement was on the matter of ensuring that money flows to counties and municipalities, even as the state faces shortfalls in the coming years as a result of reduced income taxes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Crane emphasized maintaining good working relationships with community and county leaders and strong lines of communication.

“That has never been more important than now as we continue to navigate through COVID,” Crane said. “We need to make sure we are getting clear communication from the bottom up and how we can help.”

Albaugh found no reason to disagree on this matter.

“On this particular issue, I’m going to have to agree with John,” Albaugh said. “The necessity to maintain open communication with the counties is essential.”

He did, however, emphasize that now is the time to access the state’s rainy day fund that the state’s GOP-led administration and legislature have protected.

“If we’re not going to use it now, I don’t know what we’re going to use it for,” Albaugh said.

Crane added that one thing good to come out of the pandemic has been some unity of purpose, regardless of party.

“I think, to Stan’s point, it’s a bi-partisan issue,” Crane said. “I think one of the things that pandemics create is a spirit of unity.”

Unfortunately, this has been one of the only good things to come out of the pandemic, a topic that hung over most discussions throughout the forum.

Panelist Rhoda Alexander from the LWV asked how the candidates would go about balancing a budget in the aftermath of COVID-19, what they would cut and what they would protect.

“Of things that absolutely need protection, public education is first on the list,” Albaugh said, pointing out that Indiana lags behind other states in terms of teacher pay keeping up with inflation.

“It’s a race to the bottom if we’re not keeping up with public education,” he said, pointing out that education will become increasingly important in a knowledge-based economy.

“I want jobs that pay more money to help lift our economy,” he added.

Crane agreed, but emphasized that education already is a priority, taking up well in excess of half of the state budget.

“I take exception when people say we need to make it a priority,” Crane said.

“Another area that I think needs continued support is shoring up the foster care system and DCS,” Crane said, noting that about 30,000 children are in the DCS and foster care system in the state.

“That is an absolute tragedy.”

Education was on the minds of candidates, panelists and audience members on more than one occasion.

Both men were asked if school corporations should continue to receive full funding for virtual students, rather than the 85 percent that is currently guaranteed by statute.

With states dealing with COVID-19, the State Board of Education took emergency action to fully fund all students until the first of the year.

“The legislature should continue to fund it that way,” Albaugh said. “I want local control. I want local officials making the decision if it’s safe to continue.”

What Albaugh does not want is what he sees as the legislature putting pressure on local school officials, as he felt Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray (the other senator currently representing Putnam County) did with a letter to schools during the summer.

“The idea of the legislature putting pressure on those local officials is just wrong,” Albaugh said.

Crane addressed this as a misconception, saying Bray’s letter was not meant to intimidate, but simply to inform schools of the state law, which remains in place except for the emergency situation of this fall. The funding formula – with schools receiving 85 percent funding for virtual students – was not intended for the COVID-19 era.

“Of course, with COVID, it created an environment that nobody could have anticipated,” Crane said. “We went from an e-learning model that was basically prepared for snow days to one in which students were doing it long-term.”

Though the General Assembly is not in session, Crane said the discussion of what to do with funding is already taking place.

“The bottom line is, we want to make sure every child has a high-quality education,” Crane said. “I’ve called the coronavirus the great revealer. If we don’t shore up education, we will have more students falling through the cracks.”

One area that revealed stronger disagreement between the two men came in their opinions on school choice, with Kelly Keefe of WGRE asking if they would restrict parental school choice.

“I am a strong advocate for parental choice,” Crane said. “As others have told me, ‘Parents are the first and best teachers.’ Parents are better suited to know exactly what the best environment is.”

Albaugh also said he supports parental choice, but had questions about who should fund certain school choices.

“Clearly, parents should decide where their children should go to school,” Albaugh said. “But the follow-up to that is, who should pay for it?”

He said he had a problem with public money going to private entities such as charter or private schools, especially if there is less accountability for these institutions.

“Anywhere public money goes, I think public accountability should follow,” Albaugh said. “If you want your child to have a private school education, I’m all for it. However, if you want tax dollars for it, I think tax dollars are for public good.”

Crane disagreed with the term “public money.”

“I’ve heard this argument and I would take exception to that,” Crane said. “It’s private money that started in the wallets of taxpayers.”

He said the challenge is to remain a guardian of the public trust, regardless of where the money is flowing.

Albaugh disagreed with this.

“Of course it’s public money, once it’s collected and given to the state,” he said.

A number of topics were also touched upon during the audience questions portion of the program. The full video of both parts of the program is now available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nIWSbZrsUk.

Also new to the forum this year were a pair of breakout sessions in which voters could continue the Zoom conversation with one or the other candidate. This portion will not be available to stream.

The event was the first of two candidate forums planned locally. On Thursday, Oct. 8, District 37 candidates Rodric Bray (R) and Tom Wallace (D) will be featured. More details will be released later.

In Putnam County, District 24 includes the northern part of Putnam County, including part of Greencastle (north of Washington Street). District 37 includes the southern part of the county.