Three Grant City mayoral candidates discussed the recent progress that the community has experienced as well as the upcoming challenges for the city. Incumbent mayor Debbie Roach is facing two challengers, David Snow and Glen Hughes in the upcoming municipal election. Dennis Downing is unopposed as West Alderman as a write-in candidate; he filed as a write-in after incumbent Doug Pickering did not seek reelection to the post. East Alderman Cathy James is unopposed. In addition, there is a municipal telecommunications issue on the ballot; this is not a new tax, but a measure that would allow the city to collect franchise fees from telecommunications providers who already assess city taxes to customers without turning them over to the city. All three candidates made their remarks at the Times-Tribune Candidates' Forum Thursday. The candidates gave opening remarks and then took questions from the audience.
Mayor Debbie Roach said that she was proud of what has taken place in the last five years. She said that some of the priorities for the city included finishing the pool and getting it open in time for Memorial Day, completing the Nature Trail, and seeing the Downtown Renovation Project forward. She said that she wanted to continue to support the work of Code Enforcement Officer Patsy Worthington, implement the Strategic Plan, and seek funding for the new Bathhouse; the city has recently completed an application for a $166,000 grant towards that project. She said that her experience in writing grants was important to keep the city moving foward. Specifically, she talked about her experience in writing the grants for access roads for the Gunstock Factory and the Dollar Store and other projects.
Challenger David Snow faced off against Roach in the 2007 election and is challenging her again. He spoke briefly, saying that he was pleased that there were three candidates for mayor and promising to "serve for the city and not for myself." Glenn Hughes said that he felt that some changes were needed at City Hall, including more accountability, and said that he wanted to find more money for turning gravel roads in the city into pavement.
Asked about what specific grants they would pursue, Snow said that he had worked with grants when working on projects with KCP&L and said that he would look into getting some of the stimulus money and make sure that "Grant City gets their fair share." Specifically, he said that he wanted to see more money for streets and infrastructure. "We need water and sewer, or we will have nothing to offer," he said. Snow said that he wanted to improve the water supply, saying that he did not want to see a repeat of the drought of a few years ago, where he said that the Middlefork Water Company lake was "down to puddles." Hughes said that he would push for funding for the streets that needed finishing as well as the pool.
Roach said that the greatest challenge for the city would be facing government mandates on water systems that would be coming down the pipe; she said that Allendale's new water plant would not be able to meet them even though it was built two years ago. She said that it was a statewide issue as well as a federal issue as entities all over the state would not be able to meet the mandates either. She said that another challenge was getting everyone hooked up to city sewer; part of the problem with state funding was that they only provided a 50% match; she said that although the city had a sales tax for streets, there were not any grants out there for streets except for access roads for businesses like the Gunstock Factory. She said that another challenge was getting people involved in local organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce as well as the Progress Organization as well as other organizations in the city. She said that the city had a balanced budget and that $58,000 had been raised through donations for the pool.
Snow said that one of the biggest challenges for the city was the buildings and the need to remain viable. He said that although the budget was balanced, times were going to be tough; "we saw what happened in the 1980's" with rural communities. He said that for the next two years, things would be tough as the whole country continues to deal with the ripple effect of the current economic crisis. Hughes said that the biggest challenge was improving the roads and "finding out what it takes" to make the pool work. "It's up to everyone already here to make things work."
Councilwoman Linda Phipps asked about code enforcement, saying that first impressions were important for a town Grant City's side. She said that some of the messes were so bad that "who would want to move here?" Hugues said that a lot of the buildings on the square as well as old homes were a good place to start. But he said he wanted to relax the rules on unlicensed vehicles, saying that "they had to be put somewhere." Phipps replied that all of the city ordinances were there for a reason and Clerk Ayvonne Morin said that when the city got 10-15 complaints, that action from the city was needed. "If it needs to be taken care of, then it needs to be taken care of," responded Hughes. He said that it was important that enforcement efforts go deeper than 46. "We have to follow through," he said. Morin said that it was important for people to realize that it was not just a matter of city officials arbitrarily taking action, but a matter of the city acting on complaints from residents. Hughes asked if all the city statues were up to date; Cathy James said that the city had recently spent a lot of money to bring the city statues up to date and properly codified.
Snow agreed that the city ordinances should be enforced, saying that he was "bound by oath" to do so, and that enforcement would be up to the Code Enforcement Officer or himself. He said that it would not be a matter of "taking the hammer" to people and that the ultimate goal was to clean up the town and not to punish people.
Roach said that it was something that needed to be done and that the city could not "pick and choose" what to enforce and what not to enforce. She said that sometimes, the city acted on complaints; other times, they would send out letters. She said one of the worst complaints about a house came over one which she said was infested with coons, skunks, and snakes. "One person killed ten snakes in one day," she said. Roach said that in cases like that, the animals would get into neighbors' gardens and eat the plants. Roach said that it was also a hazard for children, who frequently get play around vacant houses. She said that Patsy Worthington was very good at what she did and at communicating the city's willingness to help people. "She doesn't just leave the problem hanging over peoples' heads," she said. "She goes out of her way to help. She'll make the calls and lines up the work so that it gets done," she said.
Dennis Downing asked about whether the city will use the municipal court system or do the cleanup work and assess the costs on peoples' taxes. Morin said that there was a process in place to determine which process was used. Hughes said that the court system was not the way to go and that he would clean up the property and assess it against that person's taxes. But Morin said that the work would have to be hired, for which she said the money was not in the budget for. Typically, Morin said that people were given 20 days to clean up their property, which she said was more than enough time for most people. "Charlie Sanders cleaned up his neighbor's former property in less time than that," added Debbie Roach. Morin added that if a person then failed to pay their taxes, that would be a lein against their property. Hughes said that whatever action the city takes against violators would be up to the council and that he would back whatever decision they made.
Snow said that for him, it would be a matter of using them as tools and that it was important to judge each situation individually in determining what action to pursue. He said that most of the work would be up to Worthington as Code Enforcement Officer, but that if a case was referred to him, then that meant that it had reached a "critical point." "I have to serve the community, so I would use the tools that we have in place to get results," he said. "It's not about punishment, but it's about getting a resolution."
Sherri James of the Pool Renovation Committee asked the two challengers how actively involved they would be on the pool. Both candidates said that they would help with the project as much as they can. Councilwoman Cathy James asked Hughes about his availability; Hughes, who is gone for much of the summer doing harvest work, said that he would make himself available by phone if something were to come up. In the past, the city has had a mayor pro tem run the meeting in the absence of the mayor.
New Presiding Commissioner Kevin Austin asked the challengers if they were willing to work with him to make sure the county and city were working as one unit. Hughes said that had been a problem in the past, but should not be a problem if he were elected. Snow agreed and said that the city could look at sharing resources with the county. He said that although the county was responsible for the Courthouse, for instance, it was still within city limits.
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