Candidates on the Saline County ballot represented themselves and answered questions for the public in the heat of the election campaign.

On Sunday, The Salina League of Women Voters hosted a candidate forum at the Watson Room inside the Stiefel Theatre. Candidates that appeared were:

• Clarke Sanders and Lori Blake (69th District House)
• John Baker (running for 24th Senate)
• Annie Grevas and Kathleen Malone Crouch (2nd District County Commissioner)

24th District Kansas State Senator J.R. Claeys was not in attendance.

A series of questions were asked from the media and the public. Each candidate had 1 minute to respond to a single question. Here are some questions and responses:

• What changes would like to see regarding abortion in Kansas? (asked to 69th District Kansas House of Representatives Candidates)

Clarke Sanders (Republican): “We need to get some legislation that gives power to men because as it stands right now, they have no say in the abortion issue. Even fathers do not have a say and the mother does not create the baby alone.”

Lori Blake (Democrat): “I am personally opposed to the government making personal decisions about women’s bodies. I believe that I trust women to include the fathers in those decisions regarding abortion and its something they should decide with their medical providers. In the case of our current law, I see no need to change anything.”

• There are several buildings in Salina that have available space. City and County leaders have been gathering ideas for potential use of the facilities. What are your ideas? (asked to 2nd District County Commissioner Candidates)

Kathleen Malone-Crouch (Write-in): “The basement in the old Saline County Jail would flood when I worked there. There were many officers and deputies who were trying to rescue evidence, records and court cases after the flood and that is not how we need to spend our time. The Health Department needs to be raised, pipes would burst overhead. There are buildings that are not worth using, but we are looking to use and keep some of the buildings like Memorial Hall. In all, there are certain buildings that need to be torn down.

Annie Grevas (Republican): “The Health Department needs a new space, there are leaks in the roof and it has been that way for a long time. Memorial Hall is currently being looked at as a space to be used. I am serving on the committee to get a Boys and Girls Club started in our community to help with these buildings. To tear down the old Saline County Jail alone is $1,000,000. Currency will be impacted and it will take millions of dollars to repurpose the old jail. We do not have the funds to do that right now, but there are other buildings that can be restored.

• What are the key education issues in Kansas for K-12 schools and Universities? (asked to 24th District Kansas Senate Candidates)

John Baker (Democrat): “Every single year in Topeka, it is a fight to fund our public schools which I think is ridiculous. We are still under-funding special education and we need to fix that. We have extra savings in the Rainy Day Fund and I think we should be allocating some of those resources to special education. Most of all, we need to be supporting our teachers so that our schools continue to be great as they are.”

Other topics of discussion that were touched by the candidates was school shooting, women’s health, healthcare and special education.

Each candidate gave their opening/closing remarks, contact information and thanked the public.

Early voting starts Monday October 21st.

For more information on the Saline County election go to https://www.salinecountyks.gov/election