Candidates running for office fielded questions during a forum on Oct. 11.

The forum was hosted by the Elma Chamber of Commerce. In total, the forum lasted a little more than an hour.

Attending candidates were County Treasurer Ken Albert, Hospital District 1 position 1 candidates Carolyn Wescott and Georgette Hiles, Elma Council position 1 incumbent Pat Miller, Elma Council position 2 incumbent David Blackett and challenger Elroy Papke, Elma Council position 3 incumbent Tom Boling, school district director Teresa Boling, and Fire District 5 position 1 candidate Dave Hauge.

Albert, Miller, Tom Boling and Teresa Boling are all unchallenged.

The general election will be held on Nov. 7. Ballots will be mailed by Oct. 20.

Forum

Following a brief introduction by each candidate, few questions were asked by the public. But the questions that were asked were directed to the candidates who are vying against each other.

Fire District 5 candidate Dave Hauge suggested some fire districts and cities could combine and consolidate for better efficiency. For example, Fire District 5 and the City of Elma Fire Department have redundancies in equipment, and both suffer staffing shortages. Combined, there would be less of a staffing issue and fewer redundancies.

“Dealing with other entities is very difficult — we need help from the public to understand and assist us with applying pressure to everybody to say, ‘Yes, this is something that we need,’” Hauge said. “We don’t need all of the fire engines within this small area. We need a group effort to consolidate our resources and our efforts toward protecting the community.”

Eric Patton is running for the same position has Hauge, but Patton was not at the forum.

City Councilman Tom Boling noted that the city and Fire District 5 have already taken some steps to share resources. He pointed to the recent decision to allow Fire District 5’s Adam Fullbright to have an office at the Elma fire hall. But questions remain regarding total consolidation, Boling said.

“The one hold up has been how do you merge the different entities where everyone has an equal vote, so the citizens of Elma are protected and the citizens of the county and district 5 are protected also,” Boling said.

Councilman David Blackett, who is being challenged by Papke, said there are funding differences between Elma’s fire department and Fire District 5. Fire District 5 has full-time employees, while Elma’s staff is volunteer.

“What it really comes down to for Elma is it’s our responsibility to manage the resources and the taxpayers’ dollars here,” Blackett said. “With district 5, they have full-time employees 24-7. Union jobs with benefits. Great jobs for them, but it’s expensive. They have a higher tax that’s on their levy that they voted for. Ours right now just comes out of the general fund… Right now in Elma, we pay significantly less for fire protection…”

Blackett noted that the city does pay a fee to the fire district for emergency medical services.

When asked, Papke said would be willing to consider consolidation if he’s elected.

Wescott was asked about her financial management experience. She noted that she has experience managing the finances of the businesses she’s owned over the years, but she understands that she will need to learn on the job if elected. She commended Beerbower Hiles for her years of financing and accounting experience while working for the hospital district.