The latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Heartland

OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Candidates hoped to woo Wapello county voters Thursday night.

The League of Women voters in Ottumwa held a forum questioning candidates on a variety of topics.

Candidates for county auditor, county supervisor, and state representative for district 90 and 93 were in attendance.

Kelly Spurgeon and Vickie Elliott Smith hoped to win Wapello County support for the auditor position. Current auditor, Phyllis Dean, is retiring.

Both women currently work in the county auditor's office.

"I feel like I have experience. I have worked in every aspect of the office. Phyllis has prepared me in showing me the different things that are done in the office, throughout the whole office and getting me prepared for her retirement," Spurgeon said.

"I know I have the most experience. I've been there for eighteen years. I'm very dependable and reliable employee. I have an awesome working relationship with my fellow coworkers, my fellow employees," Smith said.

Throughout the evening, the women faced questions from both residents and representatives of the League of Women Voters.

During the questioning, both agreed that their Republican and Democratic Party affiliations had no bearing on auditor responsibilities.      

Candidates for supervisor also faced tough questions.

Steve Siegel is the democratic candidate, and Jim Leichty is running independently.

KTVO asked how both men plan to deal with the county road system after a harsh winter and flood waters left many gravel roads damaged.

"We have worked really hard this past year to add a lot of gravel to the gravel roads, which are ones we're primarily having trouble with; our paved roads are in good shape. We're currently conducting asphalt jobs on three of those and you can bond for those, for pavement jobs. You can't bond for gravel because it's not considered a permanent improvement, but it's going to be a challenge, but we're up to it and we're going to make better use out of what resources we have," Siegel said.

"Secondary roads are very, very important because it's a farmers market here and there's some things happening in the legislature up north in Des Moines that might be a problem and one of those is the Time 21 Solution that they're talking about. They're actually talking about reducing some of our funds. We need to fight that. We need to take care of that. We need to get up in that and say 'you know what? Let's be fair'," Leichty said.

Siegel is the incumbent. He’s worked as acounty supervisor for twelve years.

Mary Gaskill and Rick McClure also addressed the audience. They're vying for the State Representative for District 93 position.

John Whitaker and Dan Cesar are running for the State Representative for District 90 position. Cesar, however, was unable to attend the forum on Thursday.