Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

The League of Women Voters hosted back-to-back virtual candidate forms Tuesday night, for those seeking a seat on the Livingston County Board.

District 4 Democratic candidate Ella Nitikin, a proponent of public transportation, was asked about the ongoing debate over court funding.

"They absolutely need to have proper funding. They should not have the funding cut out from under them," said Nitikin. "I think that's just a given that departments can't do their jobs without being funded properly."

Republican Meghan Williams is challenging District 4 incumbent Wes Nakagiri, who did not participate.

"It always comes back to how are we spending the taxpayers' money and we need to be spending it responsibly," she said. "When it comes to courts, I would support funding them for the staffing budget they require to keep our county going, at least at the pace that they're doing now."

Democrat Paul Giessner is seeking the District 5 seat.

"As an engineer, I like to look at problems as things we can pull apart and work on together and solve them," he said. "I would be honored to serve as Livingston County commissioner and bring my problem solving and hard-working mindset to bear."

Republican Heather Williams is challenging District 5 incumbent Jay Drick, who was invited, but the League of Women Voters said he did not respond.

"Since 2020, Livingston County commissioners have placed increased scrutiny on the county health department, yet none of our commissioners have experience in the health field," said Williams.

"I paid my way through college working as a certified nursing assistant, so my election would correct that shortcoming."

Republican Tara Black Pearson the lone candidate for District 6 who participated.

"I am frustrated with the disfunction I see occurring on the Board of Commissioners," she said. "They are creating problems and not solving problems effectively with common sense."

Pearson is challenging incumbent Roger Deaton, who along with Democrat Matthew McClanahan, were no shows Tuesday night.