Smith looks to claim Parke County Commissioner seat

With eight years of county government under her belt, Dr. Donna Smith is looking to continue the trend next Tuesday, as she is a candidate for the Parke County Commissioner District 3 seat. 

Smith, a Republican, currently is the county's coroner, however, she has served her eight years and will look to unseat incumbent Jim Meece in the May primary. 

"I have lived in this community my entire life, and I have a chiropractic office in Rockville. Ten years ago, I decided to join the Coroner's office and opted to run for that office. A lot of people don't realize that is an office with term limits, so you can only two consecutive terms. As a result of serving as Coroner, I went to some of the meetings and found myself fascinated by the county government process. The Commissioner spot was something I talked about with several other officials and thought it would be a good fit," Smith told The Parke County Post. 

Smith said her experience as Coroner, as well as being a small business owner has helped prepare for the possibility of serving as Commissioner.

"It helped open my eyes as to how things work, what the county budget looks like and those kind of things. Fortunately, the coroner's department doesn't impact a whole lot of people in a short period of time, so you don't deal with complaints and disgruntled people. Running my business has been as helpful as anything, just managing people and the people skills of listening to people," she said.

Smith finds herself going up against someone who has been a commissioner for 24 years, and has embraced the challenge. 

"Jim and I have known each other a really long time. He was my high school government teacher and high school tennis coach. Our families literally live about two tenths of a mile apart. I appreciate the years he has served our community, and I don't know if he has ever had a challenger in the primary in those six terms he has served. I am thankful he was willing to serve that long. People have an option now if they are ready for something different," Smith acknowledged. 

When it comes to issues, Smith said growth is one big one. 

"I think that is a challenge for any rural community. There is that balance between liking being a rural community, but that doesn't pay the improvements and keep things rolling. You have to start asking growth how and in what order. Some people say you need jobs, but if you are going to bring jobs, you need houses," Smith said. 

When it comes to getting people to transition from tourist to resident, Smith said there is a good start when it comes to the lake. 

"I am not saying that creates year round residence, but it is super helpful. When you talk retirement, you don't necessarily need jobs, but you need housing. And, you need good schools for the families with school aged kids. We have to be mindful that our public schools are funded well and have to provide a good education so those kids don't have to go elsewhere. We also need to try to keep what we have here. There is definitely the affordable housing aspect, but we also have to make sure we have enough stuff to make it a desirable place to live," Smith said. 

Road and bridges are another major topic facing the county, and Smith said she believes the current highway superintendent is doing a "great job."

"I have heard from patients of areas that are getting plowed when we had snow that weren't plowed in recent years. Obviously, the entities the county has hired to do the long paving, those are in good shape and those roads are holding up well. If there are roads that are not holding up well, we need to identify why. I think we do have a little bit of an issue where as we have more Amish coming into the community and bringing business, which is great, we have let them put them wherever, and, as a result, we have some added truck traffic in areas that were never intended for that. That has caused some issues in the northern part of the county. Looking at those things and what you can address proactively, as well as fixing what is in need of repair," she said. 

In addition, Smith said fallout from Senate Bill 1 will bring about a lot of changes for the county government to maneuver through. 

"That will probably be our biggest issue to combat. It is going to change how much of our funding is falling onto local governments and figuring out how to do that within the tax structure we have. I opened my property tax bill last week too, and I have the same story as most everyone else. My own business doubled in assessed value and taxes. I made a phone call to the assessor and got an explanation," Smith said. 

With election day nearing, Smith said voters should vote for her if they want a leader.

"Leadership positions seem to find me. Going back to being a youth myself, with the 4-H clubs, student government and all those things, I have been an officer with almost every organization I have been a part of. That continued with PTO and booster club, and I see this as a step in that direction in a much larger scale. Not everybody wants to take those positions and that on their shoulders, but I am very willing and excited about the opportunity to be a leader in the community I grew up in," Smith said.