Tuesday evening's open forum for the two candidates vying for a seat in the state legislature was an informative one with an array of topics discussed at length.
With a strong background in education, candidate Ardel Bengtson felt strongly about making higher education affordable for students, stating she was pro-tuition reimbursement programs, something she herself had available to her when she graduated and went into teaching. Her concern with a lack of well-paying jobs in northeast Nebraska to entice fresh grads was apparent as she explained the domino effect coming out of college with a large amount of debt can cause.
Coming from a city and relocating to a farm in the Thurston area, candidate Joni Albrecht shared her musings on changing the way poperty taxes are determined, especially for farmers. Her comments centered around the farming community paying on what the land produced, but stated the trickle-down would immensely affect counties, cities and school budgets. She said she didn't think there was a clear-cut answer for the problem, but that the formulas involved need to be changed.
Pick up a copy of the Wayne Herald to read the full story on the candidate forum.
