Eric Hansen studied political science at Illinois State University. Still, the Minier native never imagined himself asking for anyone's vote.
“The funny thing is during my time at ISU, I said to many people I would never run for office. Guess I proved myself wrong,” Hansen said.
Hansen, a Democrat, was appointed to fill a vacancy on the McLean County Board about a year ago. He's running for a four-year term. His opponent is Republican Gary Stevens.
Stevens has lived in Illinois since 1987. He ran for the same seat two years ago. He said he's running again to give voters a choice. He believes in a limited role for government.
“I’m just concerned that the liberties we want are liberties that are part of the aspect of self-government,” Stevens said.
The race for the McLean County Board seat for central and west Bloomington shows a sharp contrast in how two candidates view both the role of government, and the experts who influence the government as it shapes policy.
Stevens worked in manufacturing for 35 years. He's now a shift leader for a pizza franchise. He makes his views on limited government apparent on several key issues the county currently faces.
Mental health
First mental health. When asked what the county should do if anything to improve its response to mental health — one of county government's top priorities over the last decade — Stevens offered little other than to say he knew of someone who experienced mental health counselors recently and got minimal results.
“I have no idea. I know they have a whole health department and a lot of people that work for it. Other than that, I can’t tell how effective they are,” Stevens said.
The Behavioral Health Coordinating Council leads the McLean County mental health plan, in coordination with private and public service providers, including the county health department.
Hansen is director of volunteers at the McLean County Museum of History. Before that, he worked with McLean County CASA, a nonprofit that supports abused and neglected children. Hansen says he realized then the area has a severe shortage of youth therapists.
“We barely have any in this community and the ones we do have are just absolutely booked because we don’t have enough of them,” Hansen said.
Hansen said he would like to see the county consider incentives for therapists and for nonprofits to encourage more to work here.
Climate
When it comes to renewable energy and the environment, Hansen said the county should embrace its prime location for wind and solar farms. He said he generally wants to support economic development, but said the county must also consider the wishes of those who live near them.
“I think it needs to be a sort of ‘yes, and’ conversation. Yes we want these things and how do we do them the right way,” Hansen said.
Hansen said he's open to carbon capture technology, where climate warming carbon dioxide is liquefied and buried deep underground. Hansen said he still needs to be convinced it can be done safely. If it could, Hansen said it would support Illinois farmers through the production of corn-based ethanol, something he said is necessary.
“Airplanes are not going to fly on lithium-ion batteries. We have to have some form or fuel and that most likely looks like ethanol, if we want to continue to move in an environmentally conscious way,” Hansen said.
There's still plenty of disagreement over just how effective carbon capture is in combating climate change. Critics argue it will only sustain fossil fuel use and delay substantive changes.
Stevens said he doesn't see the need to take any steps to reduce the carbon footprint.
“I don’t really see any real problem with the carbon we have in the atmosphere right now,” Stevens said, adding he does not believe global warming is a concern. “I think it’s just a hyped-up problem that a lot of people use just to spend money on certain businesses and make profits.”
The scientific consensus is clear that climate change is real and that human activity is a leading reason why.
Nearly half of Republicans in Congress are climate deniers. That number is actually down in recent years.
Housing
On the housing shortage, Hansen said he would like to see the county leaders in mental health take on that issue. He'd like to see the BHCC identity housing as a priority. As for what county government can do, Hansen said he's not sure it should, or can, throw money at the problem.
“We have the smallest chunk (on money compared to Bloomington and Normal) and so we have to ensure that we are providing the services that we have already said we are going to do,” Hansen said.
Stevens suggested fewer regulations would make homes cheaper to build and said using more prefabricated homes would also get homes up faster and at less cost.
Budget
Costs are a big concern for Stevens. He said he'll push to keep property taxes the same or lower.
“It seems like we have a lot of inflation. It seems like these are issued addressed by other parts of government. I’m not sure what the county can do to help when other parts of the government spend a lot of money and raise the prices for everybody,” Stevens said.
Stevens has campaign door hangers that say he'll be stingy with your money. He said he'll vote against using county money for people who are in the country illegally and "don't have good character."
Stevens said one way the county should explore keeping the tax rate low is by charging people more to use public parking — including at the Lincoln Parking garage downtown. It's across from the Government Center. Both the city and county operate it.
“I know they have a minimal charge to use it, but I know that at least two or three floors can be completely full of cars and the top floor usually is empty. I’d like to see if I can even that out and change the rates,” Stevens said.
Hansen said one way the county can be financially responsible is by taking on bigger projects in the short-term, such as road work. He said that saves money in the long run.
Election day is Nov 5. Early voting is underway.
