What’s behind your decision to seek public office at this time?
My heart is happy when I’m learning and helping others. Back in May 2015, I heard of the opportunity to represent my ward on the town council and jumped at the chance. It has been a wonderful experience to learn the mechanics of the town and get put to work helping in various forms, such as the park board and pool renovation project. But I feel I’ve just started and would appreciate having a full term if elected.
What do you think you can bring to the office?
I bring youth, energy and optimism. I also bring a wide range of working experience both in the public and private sectors. My first real job was headquartered in New Albany at a business called Samtec. I was a product marketer and developer and was able to travel often for the job. Then when I had children, I operated my own day care center business for four years. Plus, I have more than 15 years combined experience working as a teacher and track/basketball/weights coach as well as numerous years of volunteering as a Sunday school teacher in local churches.
What’s the most pressing issue facing the town at this time?
It is important to maintain the integrity and safety of our town and continue to approve project ideas that build up our economy and promote our local businesses. It is vital to continue to support our special forces and infrastructure — the police, fire, street and sewer departments. In addition, we must do what we can to help our local businesses thrive.
How do you plan to address it?
Being on the council, I’ve had a unique glimpse into how the town operates. Our council has the opportunity to review many requests and make decisions on what is best for the town. We already have wonderful people and companies addressing financial issues and explaining topics beyond our area of expertise, so we know what we are able to afford and what requires more time to save.
So what I will do to address maintaining our integrity and safety while promoting local businesses is to vote according to those principles and keep in mind that everyone has many requests, but we must decide where the money is best spent for the majority of the people. I appreciate when people talk with me about issues and ask me to consider their input, and I will continue to listen to what the public requests.
How prudent will you be with taxpayer money?
The decisions I make will be based on the core principle of staying out of debt and allocating money as it’s available. But with that said, there are special projects and situations that arise that are out of our control, and that’s when it’s beneficial to have our financial advisers address and recommend what is best to keep our town functioning at its best.
Also, it is a group decision, so I will never be able to personally decide to spend thousands of dollars. All decisions concerning large amounts of money are thoroughly researched and discussed with our advisers and other town council members.
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Name: Bethany Kay Botkin Brewster
Age: 32
Occupation: Third-grade teacher at Brownstown Elementary School
Education: Bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Indiana University; currently attending Moody Bible Institute for a certificate of Biblical studies
Family: Parents, Dan and Micki Botkin; husband, Ben Brewster; children, Conner, 6, and Owen, 4
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