Candidates tout experience, want more citizen input
Posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Don Conner thinks he’d be a good Fayetteville alderman because he thinks city government needs a little more input from citizens and neighborhoods and he’s willing to get it. Brenda Thiel said she’s a good alderman for Fayetteville and has her past experience on the City Council to prove it.
Both candidates for the Ward 1 Position 2 spot had a half hour Tuesday at an alderman candidate debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters to show the public more reasons why they deserved a spot behind the table.
Both Thiel and Conner agreed that an alderman should put the needs of the constituent in the forefront while keeping the needs of the entire city in mind when it comes to council decisions.
Though, Thiel said it gets confusing in the long run on whether you’re hearing the desires of the majority of a ward’s constituents or whether it’s a smaller, but outspoken, group.
Conner said serving the needs of one’s constituents should be an alderman’s number one job.
Conner and Thiel think public safety departments deserve funding over developing a trail system. But Thiel said the trails can’t be neglected because ultimately they boost sales tax by increasing the quality of life. Plus she thinks trails will ultimately minimize the city’s dependence on automobiles.
Parks are a different story. Thiel encourages the city’s development in that area, stating once again that parks and recreation benefit the economy. Conner said that megaparks are not the way for Fayetteville to go and that the city should really keep investing in pocket and community parks. He added that he would consider trimming the administration of the parks department and “ make it go towards actual workers who take care of the things. ”
Thiel and Conner agree that cutting into the city’s financial reserves is a bad idea and that the city should keep tightening the budget to avoid that.
“ In this budget cycle we certainly don’t want to look at increasing the sales tax or the property tax because it’s hard times for everyone, ” Thiel pointed out.
Conner said that Fayetteville “ needs to figure out how to live within its means. ”
The Fayetteville Pubic Library is a jewel, both candidates pointed out, but Conner wants to see it expanded and made more accessible, be it longer weekday or weekend hours, without straining the city’s budget. He said it’s kind of like a social program because most of the people who use the library do not have things like computers of their own to use.
Thiel said she supports merit raises for library employees like any other city worker, but thinks that the library should swap some weekday hours for weekend hours to save costs and increase open-door time.
Conner agreed for the most part adding that he would try to figure out a way to reduce impact fees for developers in blighted areas.
SouthPass and the Renaissance Tower were discussed. Conner said he’s against SouthPass, a large development on the south side of Fayetteville recently forwarded to the City Council for approval.
“ It’s not stated how much we’re going to have to pay in infrastructure. Right now we can’t afford it. It’d put a strain on the city, ” Conner said.
Both Thiel and Conner want to keep the Walton Arts Center downtown. Thiel thinks more parking will give the center some incentive to keep big shows coming to Fayetteville. Conner thinks tax breaks is the way.
Both support the arts but Thiel said the city needs to find a funding mechanism for festivals in Fayetteville that doesn’t include tax dollars.
Conner thinks events like Red, White and Boom and Lights of the Ozarks need to be able to fund themselves.
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