Rigdon Stumps District
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Jay Rigdon believes the number of unemployed workers in northeast Indiana is a travesty.
Steuben County has a 9 percent unemployment rate; the rate is 7 percent in Noble, DeKalb and Whitley counties; more than 5 percent in LaGrange and Allen counties; and 4.6 and 4.5 percent, respectively, in Elkhart and Kosciusko counties.
"If those were national numbers, the country would be up in arms," the Democrat said Thursday.
Since announcing his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives seat in May 2001, the local attorney has gone door-to-door throughout the newly created Third District, meeting with more than 5,000 citizens in the last 16 months.
This summer he and his family have walked in as many as three parades a day, talking to people gathered at festivals.
"The plain fact is we're not going to compete with Mexico and Guatamela. We have a highly educated workforce. We do succeed with our brains rather than by the number of bodies we can throw at a job," he said.
"When we have a representative that will sell the district, we'll have those jobs again.
"That's what's going on in the west side of the district where Tim Roemer has been working for them, as opposed to Mark Souder.
"Mr. Souder's priorities are different. My priorities are jobs and economic development for the district. It's been my No. 1 concern throughout this campaign and will be after I'm elected."
For the next few weeks, Rigdon, whose campaign office is in Fort Wayne, plans several town hall meetings focusing on the interests of various groups (see Saturday's "Just the Fax" column in the Times-Union for details).
He'll talk with senior citizens, military veterans, Hispanics, farmers and young adults at these meetings.
"I prefer to call these meetings 'listening sessions,' because listening is the key to responsive leadership," he said. "Listening is the basis upon which understanding, respect and real solutions are built."
At a recent meeting at Greencroft in Goshen, Rigdon heard the opinions of senior citizens regarding President George W. Bush's push to attack Iraq.
"Their opinion is we should be very concerned, very skeptical about declaring war on Iraq.
"They remember wars that were significantly damaging to this country. It won't be like the very clean Gulf War, with America going in and getting out.
"They remember thousands of people dying and want more information and evidence against Hussein," he said.
Rigdon doesn't share his opponent's views of a failing Social Security system. He estimates the program is safe and will be available for the retirement of today's workers.
He's concerned about the cutbacks at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Fort Wayne, which serves military veterans.
"They have the strangest arrangement of cutting services by contracting out the work," he said. "Services are being cut to serve fewer people; when fewer people use the services, that justifies their cutting back more because less people are using the services."
Rigdon's new community consists more than 675,000 people in Kosciusko, DeKalb , LaGrange, Noble, Steuben and Whitley counties, as well as townships in Elkhart and Allen counties. Fort Wayne is included in the district, where 43 percent of the voters reside.
If elected, Rigdon plans to request serving on the House Transportation Committee, which will be one way to ensure federal funds reach the district's vast network of highways and railroads.
Rigdon said the community, in addition to having concerns about jobs and the economy, is worried about health care issues: senior citizens want a prescription drug program under Medicare and young parents want affordable health insurance for their families.
Rigdon's received endorsements from the United Auto Workers and the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. On leave from the law firm of Rockhill Pinnick LLP, Rigdon plans to continue shaking hands and meeting with Third District citizens.
"Eight weeks from now I won't be sitting back and thinking, 'Gee, if I'd just have knocked on a few more doors, or shaken a few more hands'... the election would be different." [[In-content Ad]]
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Jay Rigdon believes the number of unemployed workers in northeast Indiana is a travesty.
Steuben County has a 9 percent unemployment rate; the rate is 7 percent in Noble, DeKalb and Whitley counties; more than 5 percent in LaGrange and Allen counties; and 4.6 and 4.5 percent, respectively, in Elkhart and Kosciusko counties.
"If those were national numbers, the country would be up in arms," the Democrat said Thursday.
Since announcing his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives seat in May 2001, the local attorney has gone door-to-door throughout the newly created Third District, meeting with more than 5,000 citizens in the last 16 months.
This summer he and his family have walked in as many as three parades a day, talking to people gathered at festivals.
"The plain fact is we're not going to compete with Mexico and Guatamela. We have a highly educated workforce. We do succeed with our brains rather than by the number of bodies we can throw at a job," he said.
"When we have a representative that will sell the district, we'll have those jobs again.
"That's what's going on in the west side of the district where Tim Roemer has been working for them, as opposed to Mark Souder.
"Mr. Souder's priorities are different. My priorities are jobs and economic development for the district. It's been my No. 1 concern throughout this campaign and will be after I'm elected."
For the next few weeks, Rigdon, whose campaign office is in Fort Wayne, plans several town hall meetings focusing on the interests of various groups (see Saturday's "Just the Fax" column in the Times-Union for details).
He'll talk with senior citizens, military veterans, Hispanics, farmers and young adults at these meetings.
"I prefer to call these meetings 'listening sessions,' because listening is the key to responsive leadership," he said. "Listening is the basis upon which understanding, respect and real solutions are built."
At a recent meeting at Greencroft in Goshen, Rigdon heard the opinions of senior citizens regarding President George W. Bush's push to attack Iraq.
"Their opinion is we should be very concerned, very skeptical about declaring war on Iraq.
"They remember wars that were significantly damaging to this country. It won't be like the very clean Gulf War, with America going in and getting out.
"They remember thousands of people dying and want more information and evidence against Hussein," he said.
Rigdon doesn't share his opponent's views of a failing Social Security system. He estimates the program is safe and will be available for the retirement of today's workers.
He's concerned about the cutbacks at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Fort Wayne, which serves military veterans.
"They have the strangest arrangement of cutting services by contracting out the work," he said. "Services are being cut to serve fewer people; when fewer people use the services, that justifies their cutting back more because less people are using the services."
Rigdon's new community consists more than 675,000 people in Kosciusko, DeKalb , LaGrange, Noble, Steuben and Whitley counties, as well as townships in Elkhart and Allen counties. Fort Wayne is included in the district, where 43 percent of the voters reside.
If elected, Rigdon plans to request serving on the House Transportation Committee, which will be one way to ensure federal funds reach the district's vast network of highways and railroads.
Rigdon said the community, in addition to having concerns about jobs and the economy, is worried about health care issues: senior citizens want a prescription drug program under Medicare and young parents want affordable health insurance for their families.
Rigdon's received endorsements from the United Auto Workers and the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. On leave from the law firm of Rockhill Pinnick LLP, Rigdon plans to continue shaking hands and meeting with Third District citizens.
"Eight weeks from now I won't be sitting back and thinking, 'Gee, if I'd just have knocked on a few more doors, or shaken a few more hands'... the election would be different." [[In-content Ad]]