Published: April 21, 2008 10:13 am         

Joe Williams seeking state Senate nomination

Joseph P. Williams, a Democratic candidate for the state Senate District 12 nomination, said, “(Serving as senator) is something I want to do for the interest of the children going through school, particularly with the changing of the property taxes, and how it will change the funding of schools.”

Williams grew up in Zanesville, Ohio, and lived in “a very underfunded school district where opportunities . . . are very limited, and I don’t want to see that happen to the schools in this area.

“The ability to get in there and represent everyone in the district,” is what appeals to him about serving as senator.

“One of my goals is to attempt to bring everyone together. Obviously, there are a lot of different thoughts and philosophies out there, but to get people to realize that, hey, it’s one world, we can all co-exist and work together toward some of the same goals. Obviously not everyone’s going to agree on everything, but let’s try to do the best we can and make it work for Elkhart County.”

Williams believes his experience in the private sector as a human resources professional qualifies him for the Senate seat. He has worked in the health care, manufacturing and retail industries.

“It’s not a pleasant feeling to have to sit across the table from someone and say, ‘I hate to have to tell you this, but the way that you make your house payment and . . . feed your children no longer exists for you,’” said Williams. “So we need to be looking out for everyone and doing what we can.”

His main goal, if elected, would be to “make sure that education is funded. That is critical.”

Williams cited a 2007 report by the Elkhart Economic Council claiming that the reputation of Elkhart County public schools is keeping business executives from moving to the area.

“Some of that may be real, and some of it may be imaginary, but if that perception is out there, we need to overcome it.”

Part of the problem may be related to what Williams called “invisible progress.

“You may get a student who’s three years behind, who makes a year and a half of progress. But if they don’t pass the ISTEP, (the improvement) isn’t shown. That’s something that needs to be addressed.”

Another goal would be to prepare for what he said is “an oncoming eldercare crisis.

“Looking at classified ads, there are a lot of open RN positions at nursing homes that people don’t want. With the baby boomer population continually getting older, there’s going to be a greater need for those positions and facilities, and now, I’m not aware of anything anyone is doing proactively to be ready for that. It’s going to put a great burden on families who won’t be able to take care of elders at home.”

Williams would also like “to make people realize that we live in what is called a representative democracy, where the people you elect are supposed to represent you, not that, ‘Here are the one, two, three things that I stand for, and those of you that agree with me are in good shape, and those that disagree, well, too bad, you’ll need to wait until 2012.’ That’s not what it’s supposed to be about.”

Property Taxes

“I’d like to hold off on property tax becoming part of the Constitution. We just need to see how that shakes out. We don’t know whether it’s going to work, and to amend the Constitution for that, I don’t know if it’s the smartest thing in the world to do,” said Williams.

He doesn’t necessarily think repealing property taxes is a good idea, either.

“(It’s) a stable revenue source for the state, and my fear would be that if we would go to a completely economy-dependent tax system, like payroll taxes and sales tax, if you hit a period in the economy like we have now, where people are off payrolls, and not buying anything . . . then tax revenues are going to drop. Then where are you at if you can’t make the state expenditures?

“I’m like anyone else, I don’t want to pay any more taxes than I have to, but taxes are service fees, and if the government is going to provide you services, there’s a responsibility to pay for that.”

Under the property tax plan, schools and cities will receive less revenue, and this is worrisome to Williams.

“You want to be sure that your basic services are protected. Nobody thinks that a bad thing is going to happen to them. But people need to be sure that they’re protected with basic services.”

At this point, Williams doesn’t have specific changes he would make to the property tax plan. The thing to do now is observe how it all plays out.

To make up the difference in revenue, he said, “Every place is going to see some type of income tax increase. The residents need to be aware of that. The property tax plan is just a shift in the tax burden. And even with the caps, you’re still at the mercy of the assessment.”

Williams didn’t claim to know what programs and services schools and cities would cut, but said he would hate to see schools begin to consolidate classes and offer fewer courses, like the high school he attended.

“There was an honors English class and ancient history. Those were the two advanced classes you could take. Other than that, everybody took the same classes. It didn’t matter where (academically) you were. You’re all in there together, and that’s not a way to prepare our children for the future.”

Williams said he thinks Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman “seems to be pretty in tune to the spending, and how much he has.”

Without looking at a study, Williams didn’t want to comment on the elimination of township assessors.

Gambling

Regarding recent legislation allowing pull-tab gambling in bars and racetracks, Williams said, “I really don’t have an issue with that. It’s low level. The state itself is in the gambling business, so why can’t owners of private establishments?”

He would prefer not to see the expansion of gambling in Indiana, “but again,” he said, “when the state is involved in gambling itself, it’s difficult to tell others, ‘You can’t.’ You’re pulling in more service sector jobs, which may help certain areas of the state, but those certainly aren’t the jobs we necessarily want to spend our time pursuing.”

Immigration

In Williams’ opinion, it’s good the illegal immigration bill failed to pass last session.

“Until the federal government gets immigration under control it’s difficult for local government to do anything about it,” he said.

He doesn’t doubt that some employers intentionally hire illegal immigrants, but “industry’s hands are tied by the I-9 form,” or the federal form requiring workers to produce three forms of identification. If an employer receives these, there isn’t much else he or she can do.

Williams doesn’t believe revoking businesses’ licenses would lower the number of illegal immigrants in the area.

He also doesn’t think local law enforcement should be responsible for enforcing federal illegal immigration protocol.

U.S. 33 Widening Project

The U.S. 33 widening decision should be made by local officials, said Williams.

“The more local you can make the decisions, the better the decisions are probably going to be. That’s why they’re elected. They don’t need someone working down in Indianapolis to decide what’s best for Goshen.”

If U.S. 33 were widened between Main Street and C.R. 40, residential properties should be considered, he said.

“That’s personal real estate, and those people should have a pretty good say in it. You want to think of the property owners, of the heritage and history of the area. You hate to see history go away, and it happens all the time.”

Biographical Information

Williams lives with his wife and two daughters in Dunlap. He coaches his 7-year-old daughter’s softball team. They attend Faith Methodist Church, where he and his wife are on the Kids Council.

Final Statement

“It’s not about me imposing my beliefs in Indianapolis, it’s about me representing the people in the area.”