By Gus Pearcy
Staff Writer
PLAINFIELD -- For Libertarian candidate for Governor Kenn Gividen, the means imitate the message.
"Smaller government, more efficient government is more effective government," he said at a Block Party in old town center here last weekend. "So to be effective, you have to be efficient. To be efficient, you have to be controllable. To be controllable, you have to be smaller."
His goals for government may be best expressed by his campaign: A grass roots effort with almost no overhead. There are no jets or large RVs -- just Gividen, a couple of handouts, and a lot of talk.
"I always tell people that I'm the only candidate who is against property taxes," he said as he launches into the problems with Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan's proposal to limit property taxes at 2 percent for homeowners.
It's part of his platform that he shared with anyone who would listen from a chair in front of the Uncommon Corner Bookstore.
Admitting that being elected governor is a long shot, Gividen says he still believes he might "pull a Jesse Ventura." Ventura is the former independent governor of Minnesota.
"The advantages of not having money -- and there are not many -- is where those guys get their money from," he said. "Wherever they're getting it, they owe those people. We don't owe anybody. There's no favorites going on."
Gividen claims that many former Republican candidate for Governor Eric Miller supporters are now in his corner. Miller lost to Mitch Daniels in the May Primary for the right to represent the Republicans on the Nov. 2 ballot.
"A lot of Miller supporters would rather have a Democrat as governor, knowing that the General Assembly will be controlled by Republicans, 'cause they're going to take the House this time," he said. "And they'll just let Kernan veto everything for four years. So (Miller supporters) are happy to have me take away Daniels' votes."
Gividen added that Miller's recent endorsement of the Daniels campaign -- the second endorsement -- was weak.
"The reason they had him do that is because we're taking away supporters," he said.
Still, Gividen said he doesn't want to be a spoiler. He wants to be a contender.
Gividen said he has worked as a direct-mail consultant for the past 20 years.
His platform also includes increasing worker's wages, an end to the inventory tax, and a return to single-class basketball. He also wants to reform education.
"We would do away with school corporations," he said. "If there's no school corporations, you don't need school boards. School boards are gone. So every school would become an entity unto itself. Currently it costs $8,500 a year to educate one child. That's going up 6 percent each year. We can cut that cost down to about $4,500 per student. That's what it costs private schools to teach them."
More information about Gividen's campaign may be found on his website at www.gividenforgovernor.com.
Gus Pearcy/Flyer photo
Libertarian candidate for governor, Kenn Gividen talks with Pat Reynolds of Avon at a weekend Block Party in downtown Plainfield.