Shelbyville’s two mayoral candidates took part in a debate Tuesday at the Strand Theatre organized by GIANT fm radio.

Audio from Tuesday's debate can be heard here:

Republican candidate Scott Furgeson and Democrat candidate Nic Weber addressed the audience in attendance at the downtown Shelbyville theatre as well as listeners of the live broadcast on 96.5 fm for nearly an hour.

One of the two men will be elected mayor on Nov. 7 and replace three-term mayor Tom DeBaun, who opted not to run for a fourth term, on Jan. 1, 2024.

Furgeson is the experienced candidate. He was the mayor for two terms before DeBaun and served two terms as a city councilman before becoming mayor. He is currently serving on the city council once again representing the fourth district.

“We did a lot of things when I was mayor and I am thankful to the people for putting up with what we got done at that point and time,” said Furgeson in his opening remarks Tuesday. “We have gone about things trying to change Shelbyville. We’ve been trying to change Shelbyville.

“Mayor (Bob) Williams tried to change Shelbyville. Mayor (Frank) Zerr tried to change Shelbyville. Mayor (Betsy) Stephens tried to change Shelbyville. I tried to change Shelbyville for eight years. And mayor DeBaun has tried to change what we are in Shelbyville.”

Furgeson admitted his perspective has changed 20 years after first becoming a public servant.

“I don’t know if changing Shelbyville is what I would focus on this time,” said Furgeson. “I think we are a great community. We have a lot of great things in our community. We have gone about change and all kind of done things similarly.

“I think we need to approach it in a different way. We are only as good as our weakest citizens in our community.”

Dealing with homelessness, drugs and mental health issues are key talking points in this election. Weber, a two-decade firefighter and paramedic with the Shelbyville Fire Department and a plumbing contractor for three decades, has seen the struggles of local citizens first hand.

“I believe my strongest quality to apply to being mayor will be communication and my problem-solving skills that I’ve developed with the fire department and in the plumbing business,” said Weber in his opening remarks. “You find yourself thrown into situations that many people don’t have the answer to and we just seem to figure it out, try to do the best thing for whomever we are serving at the time and try to give them the dignity they deserve and the care they deserve.”

GIANT fm News Director Johnny McCrory moderated the event. Questions and talking points included city emergency services, housing growth that could spur desired retail and restaurant growth, improving business opportunities on the city’s west side and improvements to the State Road 9 corridor from the north into downtown Shelbyville.

The radio broadcast will be available to listen to Thursday at the Shelby County Post (www.shelbycountypost.com) – the digital newspaper operated by GIANT fm – by clicking on the “Podcasts” header near the top of the page.

Weber was added to the Democratic ticket May 2. He is seeking to follow fellow Democrat Tom DeBaun into the city’s leadership role.

“I am a first-time politician. Well, I am not a politician. I am a first-time candidate,” said Weber. “This is 100% new to me. I would really like to think it’s something I’ve fantasized for years, (having) common sense applied to politics and to leadership for our community. We’ve been very fortunate to have some great leaders in our community but I feel like it’s a different perspective that I bring.”

Furgeson defeated Brad Ridgeway, the Republican candidate for mayor against DeBaun in 2019, and David Finkel, who is a member of the city’s Board of Works and is a member of the Shelbyville Central Schools board, in the primary election in May.

He is the owner of Cagney’s Pizza King restaurant in Shelbyville.

“We are going to continue to spin our wheels trying to be better but we are never going to make it,” he continued in his opening remarks. “We need more of our citizens in the work force. We need people to be active. We need to make people more productive in our community.”

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