By Adam Nussbaum
Don Metzler-Smith, seeking the Democratic nomination for the state Senate District 12 post, said he decided to enter the Senate race due to his concern for education in Indiana as well as the “tax mix” and how it affects education.
“Education has always been my main concern in Indiana,” said Metzler-Smith, who has been in the field for 17 years. He is a certified high school social studies teacher and has a master’s of science degree in education, with a focus in educating students with mild disabilities.
He currently teaches courses at Ivy Tech, and owns Empowering Educational Services, a tutoring service for at-risk youth.
Metzler-Smith is also concerned about the dropout rate in Indiana, which he said is around 25 percent.
“That 25 percent stays in our community. That’s our future work force. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that we’ve gotta do something with the population here that’s undereducated.”
Serving in the Senate appeals to Metzler-Smith, he said, because he would “like to do the same thing that I do for my students, with my constituents. When they have a problem, when they have a need, to respond and really excel in constituent services.”
He said he feels qualified to serve in the Senate due to his “people skills, leadership skills, and having been in the public policy and political realm as the leader of the county (Democratic) party for five years.”
If Metzler-Smith were elected, his goals would include advocating “for all Hoosier children, including special needs (students). When we start cutting services and tax money out of city schools, the special needs students and disadvantaged and underprivileged students” will suffer.
He would also address what he considers a “systemic problem” in state government.
“We are only one of two states in the union that does not have a confirmation process for gubernatorial appointees,” said Metzler-Smith. Currently, heads of departments such as the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Corrections are appointed by the governor without any review process by the House of Representatives or the Senate.
Without this process, said Metzler-Smith, appointees’ backgrounds are not publicly scrutinized.
“That’s a systemic problem in accountability,” he said, “and that needs to be changed.”
Metzler-Smith also said he would attempt to block a constitutional amendment capping property tax increases.
“I don’t think a permanent cap is what is needed,” he said. “I don’t think that is the end-all-be-all.”
Increasing funding for technical trade education would also be a priority. Metzler-Smith said Indiana needs to “have the jobs here” so people will stay in the state after receiving education.
Property taxes
“Until we see what trending does,” Metzler-Smith said, he doesn’t believe amending the state constitution is a good idea.
“We don’t know how this is going to play out yet. We should be really cautious about doing that type of thing.”
He doesn’t believe that the 1, 2 and 3 percent tax caps are fair and equitable.
“It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen,” he said, and will “probably be found as unconstitutional.”
He doesn’t like the fact that “homeowners on the high end got helped, and the middle and lower class got stuck — in rentals — with this so-called reform. It’s not true reform, it’s a Band-Aid.
“Maybe the tax formula should be looked into,” he continued, which, he said, couldn’t be resolved in a single legislative session.
To compensate for lost revenue, Metzler-Smith said cities will be looking at local option income taxes. He also said cities will likely begin consolidating government jobs, and charging user fees for services such as trash pickup.
“When it all washes out, you’re going to be paying for it in some way or another,” he said.
Regarding lost revenue for schools, he said, “I think schools are underfunded to begin with. They have more than just a property tax mix to make up.” He guessed schools will cut arts and band programs, field trips and mentoring programs.
In terms of local spending, Metzler-Smith said he believes Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman “has kept spending at a minimum.”
Metzler-Smith “has some real qualms” about the elimination of township assessors, because “they are closer to the people in the townships.” He believes the assessment process needs to be more uniform, but is also concerned that when elected officials are “taken out of the mix . . . the people have less voice.”
Immigration
“Personally, I’m tired of the shrillness on both sides,” said Metzler-Smith. “It’s really federal government’s issue. They need to secure the border, and the ones that are here, we need to assimilate them into the community as best as possible. We don’t want them to leave. It will create a vacuum that people can’t understand.
“It’s not an either/or question. Everybody is painting a false dilemma. That’s a propaganda method in government — ‘it’s either/or, and no in-between.’ And I don’t believe that.”
He said the federal government needs to find out who is actually here illegally, and help them become citizens.
“True, it’s illegal, but we’re beyond that point. One of our legislators likes to yell ‘It’s illegal, it’s illegal, it’s illegal!’ and I like to yell back, ‘They’re here, they’re here, they’re here!’
“We’re a nation of immigrants … Every one of us is from an immigrant background. We just need to find a way to help them process the ones that are here. The problem with documentation is it’s really backed up. Our system is overloaded, and it’s not conducive to individuals seeking naturalization, so they take the other route.”
He doesn’t believe that enforcing illegal immigrations laws “should be put on local law enforcement’s plate. They have enough.”
He also doesn’t think it would be prudent to revoke businesses’ licenses for hiring undocumented workers. To shut down a multi-location company which supplies 5,000 jobs, he said, “is ludicrous.”
“To create a bill like this, we better know how many jobs we have, and how many individuals we need for those jobs.”
Gambling
Metzler-Smith is against the state “using gambling to fill (its) coffers. We’re going to get ourselves into a point where we have more expenditures on the social, addiction end than we would profit. The government shouldn’t be in the business of endorsing gaming.”
He would therefore be against legislation such as the recent expansion of pull-tab gaming into bars and taverns.
“I don’t think the proceeds that come from gambling have been put to where they said it would be put. I don’t see any benefits to education or to lowering taxes, so I question the potency of the revenue that the state gains from that.”
U.S. 33 widening
Metzler-Smith believes widening U.S. 33 from Madison Street to C.R. 40 is a good option, and that within the historic district, from Main Street to Ninth Street, “it can be tastefully done. You can still feed that whole design into the historic nature of that neighborhood.”
He also said he would support the use of Major Moves money to build an under or overpass at Madison Street.
