ABC57 Leo Goldman covers St. Joseph's County Council District's A, B, and C

ST, JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- ABC57 Leo Goldman is covering the St. Joeph County Council District A, B, and C races and previews all three races before election day. 

St. Joseph County Council District A candidates spoke on local issues with challenger, Michael Hamman, who previously served as a county commissioner, councilman, and auditor, and is currently teaching at Marian high school.

Hamman said he's been done with local politics and any involvement in government, until policies implemented by President Donald Trump began to affect his family.

He tells ABC57 his son in law, who is Paraguayan, has not returned to America for three years, due to concerns related to ICE.

He also has immense concern about his stepson, who has autism and had his social security benefits misplaced.

However, he says above it all, his biggest priority if he's elected would be data centers.

"We've been pretty clear that you should not be bringing in anymore data centers in, not only that, we should never have had that huge tax giveaway to these billionaires. The main thing is to combat the whole culture we see, this is not the same culture that I grew up in or my kids grew up in, it's not the country I want my grandkids to grow up in. So much cruelty, and stupidity, and corruption, and there's a through line between what we see at the national level, and what we see at the local level," said Hamman.

On the republican side is Joe Thomas, an incumbent who is a Michiana native, and is a small business owner of more than 30 years.

Thomas, like Hamman, has data centers as a focal point for his campaign, and tells ABC57 his constituents brought their concerns to him about the long-term effects of this issue multiple times.

"We have to deal, in Olive Township and New Carlisle, with the tremendous Amazon data center growth, we literally have dozens of buildings being built, not just one data center, dozens of them. That is very controversial, I feel that listening to my constituents in Olive Township and New Carlisle, that we have had enough of data centers, we have to see the ramifications of them, and we really don't know what's going to happen with them down the road," said Thomas.

Candidates in district B tell ABC57 why they're running.

Amy Drake, whose 2022 win of the County Council position allowed republicans to form a majority on the council for the first time in the history of Saint Joseph County.

Drake is a former congressional speechwriter and was also a reporter.

Drake feels she's been an advocate for the people in her district, and believes there's plenty more work to be done, especially on the issue of data centers.

"I think I've led the way in pushing back on some of the data center overgrowth, a lot of concerns of our citizens has been in the data center arena, we see it on both sides of the aisle, republicans and democrats, and I've been happy to be the representative in this area," said Drake.

On the other side is a newcomer to the game of politics, Ranjan Rohatgi.

Rohatgi says his motivation to run for office came after he saw the county council fail to address certain concerns from residents, and after Portage Manor was shut down.

He says he has no interest in being a career politician but wants to address concerns he's heard from locals.

"I have a degree in mathematics and statistics, I teach math and stats at the college level, I know how to look at a budget and make sure we are investing our tax dollars wisely, but also, I'm smart enough to know that I need to trust other people, when it comes to their areas of expertise, I need to trust our librarians to do the right thing, moving our library and our programming forward, I need to trust the folks at the parks department, I need to trust the folks who work in public works for paving our streets," said Rohatgi.

District's C race features no incumbent but includes two challengers.

Republican Jamie O'Brien beat out current councilman Dan Schaetzle in the primary.

O'Brien says his CPA background gives him an advantage when it comes to financial knowledge for the county.

He's aiming to reduce taxes, specifically property tax, and wants improved snow removal, and no more Granger data centers.

He also said he'll donate his entire council paycheck to local groups and organizations in Granger.

"I want to serve my fellow Grangerites, and give my time, talent, and treasure back to the community. I love living in Saint Joseph county, particularly Granger, I've lived in Granger for 28 years, my wife and I of 38 years have raised our children in Granger, I'm in a position where I can devote the time, and use my background to help with the budget, land use matters, and other legislative matters for granger, and I'm pledging to return my after tax salary to local organizations."

On the other side, democrat Jan Cervelli said her experience as an urban planner in different cities in the country provide her with the knowledge necessary to be successful on the council.

She feels the county is headed in the wrong direction when it comes to the quality and the direction of development.

"I can tell you, after knocking on 1500 doors in Granger, the direction we are going in is not what people want, and they don't trust the government anymore, they see the government actually as an enemy, because they're bringing things that threaten them, they threaten their quality of life, they threaten their property values, that's not the way that decisions should be made in this county," said Cervelli.