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Heaston chosen to run against Matt Bell |
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Wednesday, July 02 2008 |
Local man chosen to run against state rep
By TJ HEMLINGER
Staff writer
Democrat precinct committee heads met Sunday in Churubusco to choose a candidate to run for the House seat in District 83 against incumbent Matt Bell, R-Avilla, and picked Whitley County resident Steven B. Heaston, a retired General Electric worker who has lived in the county for 53 years.
“I, along with many (voters), am greatly concerned about the representation we have received over the past two years concerning the Toll Road, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, daylight savings time and other issues where our state representatives have failed to vote the way the majority of the people who elected them have felt,” Heaston said.
“I feel that the people who vote for me, if they say that’s the way they want it, that’s the way it should be.”
As an example, Heaston cited the General Assembly’s decision to eliminate township assessors.
“That’s 900 people gone,” he said. “Now the assessor will have to pay salaries and mileage, and it may end up costing us more.
“When you take away people’s right to vote for government, you move away from democracy.
“People should have had a say-so when the state leased the Toll Road. Now we’re basically sending the money to Australia and Spain. They’ve raised the price of tolls and price of fuel and the roads are going bad.
“It’s not the way people wanted it, and it’s time to go back.”
Heaston also criticized the closing of license branches.
“That left people in long lines,” he said. “People can’t even go to the bathroom in places they lease or own (as taxpayers).”
Property tax relief was another sticking point with Heaston.
“The last legislative session they spent all that time shuffling taxes,” he said, adding that he thinks it will put a larger burden on Hoosiers.
“I fully understand the burden of the economic times that we are living in. I’ve spoken to may individuals who have lost their jobs, have lost or are in danger of losing their homes, those on fixed incomes, and those who don’t have the funds to be able to enjoy the pleasure of driving their vehicles.
“I believe it is time for our representatives in Indianapolis to start voting the will of majority of the people they represent.”
Heaston said he has seen the decisions Bell has made, and “as long as we have people running unopposed” there will be unaccountable decisions.
“I don’t have a price,” Heaston said. “No one has ever bought me. When I leave this world, that’s one thing they can say about me.”
Heaston and his wife, Cathy, have three adult children, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He graduated from Columbia City High School in 1965 and attended classes through GE’s manufacturing training program and at Indiana Vocational Technical College. He retired from GE after 32 years of service. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, July 03 2008 )
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