Race To The Top
Race To The Top
A New Generation Of Candidates Campaigns For Mayor Of Columbia
By Kathy Casteel
Photos By L.G. Patterson
Columbia hasn’t seen a campaign season like this for 15 years. The April 6 municipal ballot will be missing a familiar name on the list of mayoral candidates. Longtime Mayor Darwin Hindman announced last summer he would not seek a sixth term this year and six candidates eagerly tossed their hats in the ring to replace him.
This new generation of mayor wannabes faces a different set of challenges than Hindman did when he first ran in 1995. As Columbia moves into the second decade of the 21st century, worrisome issues are on voters’ minds: the uncertain effects of a growing population, fiscal pains in a changing economic base and new fears for personal safety.
The six men vying for your vote to lead this city come from varying backgrounds and offer diverse perspectives on the needs of the community. Each has a unique approach to the same issues that are important to Columbians.
But don’t take our word for it. We’ll just let them speak for themselves.
Paul Love
Web site: love4mayor.org
Facebook and Twitter: Love4Mayor
love4mayor@gmail.com
573-443-6093
Paul Love, 39, lives in Columbia’s Second Ward. A University of Missouri graduate, he works as a Carfax network administrator. He moved to Columbia 22 years ago from Paris, Mo.
Love spent 10 years in the National Guard, including a domestic flood deployment in 1993. He is a Columbia Jaycee and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He served as chairman of the Downtown Holiday Parade in 2008.
If elected, what will be your top three priorities as mayor of Columbia?
1. Crime reduction and community safety
2. Fiscal responsibility — both ours and with money we receive from other sources
3. Bring new high-tech industries to Columbia
Columbia’s population recently reached a milestone. What new challenges does the city face as a community of 100,000-plus residents?
As a community of more than 100,000, we have begun to outgrow our former economic drivers and face economic stagnation. How long can we keep selling each other sneakers and sandwiches?
As the city grows, Columbia faces increased crime not only as a linear progression of size and population, but as a sustained lifestyle. It’s not a single instance of some guys short on money who hold up a convenience store: It’s a series of home break-ins over the summer months; it’s the systemized break-in of more than 50 homes during the holiday season.
Columbians have become increasingly concerned with the incidence of crime in the city. What areas would you focus on to enable the police department to provide greater safety for all Columbians?
Up front is crime prevention. The city needs to fund the police department to bring it up to the mandated strength. We are currently 10 to 15 officers down at any given time. We must provide funding to move four or five detectives back to major crimes/narcotics and Internet crime investigation. Chief Ken Burton’s current geographical policing model is a good one, allowing officers to become familiar with areas, but we need to intensify the contact between the officers on the beat and the neighborhood watches. We should form neighborhood watches in areas where they don’t currently exist and expand participation in areas that already have a watch.
Once we have taken care of the immediate issue, we need to work on the root causes of the problem through youth outreach programs, providing activities and training for at-risk youth to instill in them a sense of pride and responsibility to the community. Long term, young people have to see more benefit to being part of society than to preying on it.
The City Council is often taken to task for what is perceived as an unfriendly business climate in Columbia. Does the schism between development interests and those who favor more controls on the city’s growth concern you? How would you balance the needs of economic development with environmental and quality-of-life concerns?
Columbia has been, for many years, a college town. Much like many such towns all across the country, it enjoyed a good lifestyle as the general education and wealth of the average individual citizen was high compared to local and national averages. Columbia has grown past the small college town and we need more industries to sustain our standard of living.
We have a chance to select the types of industries we want to attract to our town, industries that provide a good fit for our values and population. Technology jobs would provide the high pay/low impact that would be acceptable to the community in industries like software and Web development, data centers, e-commerce, Internet art sales … the sort of jobs that fit the generally higher base education level of our population. We need to make these choices and move decisively to secure business opportunities for Columbia.
There is a movement at the state level to replace Missouri’s current tax system with a single sales tax on all goods and services — the so-called Fair Tax. Do you see such a change as beneficial or detrimental for the city treasury?
I see this as primarily beneficial, depending, of course, on the exact final implementation. Currently, Columbia is a shopping center for the region and our primary revenue is sales tax driven. However, it is apparent — especially in areas covered by Tax Increment Financing and Transportation Development Districts — that we have a significantly higher tax rate than many of the smaller surrounding communities. If the sales tax structure were raised across the board, the difference in costs in those special districts would be proportionally less in comparison to the overall tax rate.
In the current economic climate, how do you balance funding priorities for basic city services against quality-of-life amenities?
You don’t. You can’t balance basic city services against quality of life simply because they are as described: basic services. It doesn’t matter how beautiful the art is — if the lights are off you won’t be able to see it. When a culture has reached the point where it chooses to neglect basic services, it is in decline. It is my intent that Columbia, as a growing, vibrant community, will not find itself in this situation.
Should the mayor and City Council members be paid positions? If yes, how much is a fair amount?
If they are to be paid, I defer to the desires of the voters. As a candidate, I was expecting to receive no pay and as a matter of impartiality, I feel it would be unfair of me to answer.
However, I offer the following thoughts: If the council and mayor are paid, they should be paid enough for it to be a working salary rather than a stipend. The purpose behind offering a salary would be to broaden the range of individuals who could serve in that capacity. Switching to a salary for the council and mayor probably should include a revision of duties to provide increased responsibility and thus would necessitate a change in the current charter.
What leadership qualities do you bring to the office of mayor? What can you offer the city?
I bring courage, candor, competence and commitment to the office of mayor. I won’t promise what I can’t deliver. I’ll work hard to spend your dollars as if they were my own, for the city’s monies are just that — a collective pooling of resources to make all of our lives better.
Everyone seems to agree that Columbia needs to attract high-tech industries. There is exactly one mayoral candidate working in the high-tech industry and he has more than 20 years experience working with technology. He has experience locally, nationally and internationally working in that industry. I am that candidate.
If elected I would work to leverage those years of experience to make Columbia attractive to those industries and to promote Columbia as a place to both start and relocate those industries.
Bob McDavid
Web site: mcdavidformayor.com
bob.mcdavid@gmail.com
573-474-4416
Retired physician Bob McDavid, 62, has lived in Columbia for 43 years. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Medicine, he practiced obstetrics and gynecology here for 27 years and is a consultant to the Missouri Board of Healing Arts.
He has served on the Boone Hospital Center Board of Trustees for 12 years, and has been chairman for the past two years.
McDavid and his wife, Suzanne, live in the Third Ward. They have two grown children, Kim and Scott, and three grandchildren.
If elected, what will be your top three priorities as mayor of Columbia?
1. Columbians don’t feel safe. High-profile violent crime, especially random crime, affects us all. We must reverse the alarming increase in Columbia’s violent crime, documented by FBI crime statistics.
2. We all know that Columbia is a wonderful place to live. We’ve got to preserve Columbia’s culture, identity, and character. This starts with recognizing the sanctity of our neighborhoods. We must protect our neighborhoods at all cost from unwise development.
3. City revenues are declining. Unchecked, this decline will result in fewer city services. We can reverse this decline by encouraging knowledge-based economic activity. Columbia’s mayor must lead our development agencies and aggressively partner with the University of Missouri. We have talent and ideas in this town. Let’s leverage them into increased economic activity. Then we’ll have the city revenues to enhance our city’s rich services. Columbia’s mayor must be an energetic and convincing salesman for clean economic development.
Columbia’s population recently reached a milestone. What new challenges does the city face as a community of 100,000-plus residents?
The 100,000 population mark is a milestone without great significance. Columbia is growing because it’s a wonderful city. Austin, Texas, is an example of good growth. Austin has more than 800,000 citizens now and is adding more than 19,000 people per year.
Our mayor and the City Council will make those policies that enhance Columbia’s reputation as one of America’s “most livable cities.” Columbia is a great place to live, people will want to live here, and Columbia will grow.
Columbians have become increasingly concerned with the incidence of crime in the city. What areas would you focus on to enable the police department to provide greater safety for all Columbians?
Violent crime is an urgent problem in Columbia. The FBI Uniform Crime Report shows a 38 percent increase in violent crime in Columbia between 2008 and 2009 while violent crime in the United States declined by 5 percent. How will these crime numbers affect the biotech entrepreneur looking for a place to locate his family? How will these numbers affect parents throughout the state looking for a safe place for their children to attend college?
I have great faith in our new police chief, Ken Burton. He has reallocated police officers, changed work patterns and placed more officers on the street. He’s a tough cop by reputation. I predict this alarming increase in violent crime will quickly reverse.
The City Council is often taken to task for what is perceived as an unfriendly business climate in Columbia. Does the schism between development interests and those who favor more controls on the city’s growth concern you? How would you balance the needs of economic development with environmental and quality-of-life concerns?
Every community has “slash and burn” developers and every community has “no development of any kind” constituents. We must thread the needle between these two extremes.
Our Community Visioning initiative describes good development as an “open, inclusive, transparent, predictable and accountable planning process.” Our city’s experience with the Crosscreek Center development fails those criteria. Adjacent neighbors were angry; developers were unhappy. Columbia is left with an incomplete project that is an eyesore.
There is a movement at the state level to replace Missouri’s current tax system with a single sales tax on all goods and services — the so-called Fair Tax. Do you see such a change as beneficial or detrimental for the city treasury?
The Fair Tax debate is a neutral for Columbia, since we are in the middle of the state. In St. Louis and Kansas City, it can be argued that increased sales taxes will drive sales across state borders.
Will a single state sales tax cause efficient tax collection and stable state tax revenues? Given that the University of Missouri relies on state subsidies, stable state tax revenues would be a plus to the university. Columbia has no income tax, and will be otherwise unaffected by changes in state tax collection strategies.
In the current economic climate, how do you balance funding priorities for basic city services against quality-of-life amenities?
We all agree that public safety and basic infrastructure are core city services. How efficiently we manage the $375 million that passes through our city government will determine how much revenue we have to expand social services and grow Columbia’s amenities.
Should the mayor and City Council members be paid positions? If yes, how much is a fair amount?
The argument goes both ways. Paying council members may open up government to those who otherwise cannot afford the substantial time commitment.
On the other hand, it makes no sense to pay council members and then lay off police officers and firemen. Many citizens do not want professional politicians whose primary efforts focus on re-election and maintaining power.
Currently Columbia has a highly engaged and hard-working City Council. Committed citizens continue to seek local public office.
What leadership qualities do you bring to the office of mayor? What can you offer the city?
I offer a broader work experience than many other council members. Columbia’s health care industry represents 20 percent of Columbia’s economy and has not been represented at the City Council level in the recent past. I want to bring my health care background to the City Council.
My experience as chair of Boone Hospital Center Board of Trustees dovetails with the leadership needs at the City Council. Boone Hospital employs more employees and has a larger budget than city government, if you exclude the electric utility purchases.
I am on the board of directors of BJC Healthcare, a position mandated by the hospital’s lease arrangement. I want to bring the efficiencies and discipline from these two superb organizations to Columbia city government.
Sal Nuccio
Facebook: www.facebook.com/people/Sal-Nuccio/1625469553
Eastside Tavern owner Sal Nuccio has lived in Columbia for more than 13 years. The First Ward resident says he has a “doctorate in life” and has spent a dozen years in public service to the community, if “babysitting the kids of MU” counts.
If elected, what will be your top three priorities as mayor of Columbia?
1. Intelligent growth and the economy
2. Public safety
3. Pay attention to the city budget and reduce unnecessary spending on things seen as wasteful or unneeded
Columbia’s population recently reached a milestone. What new challenges does the city face as a community of 100,000-plus residents?
Now that the city has reached 100,000-plus population, it would be wise to anticipate a population snowball effect, meaning that within the next 10 years the population will grow even more and even faster. In light of this foreseeable situation, the city should take steps now to prepare itself by improving and expanding water treatment and supply, improving and expanding sewer treatment and disposal, improving and expanding the sanitation department, improving and expanding utilities and supply, and building or expanding public schools.
Columbians have become increasingly concerned with the incidence of crime in the city. What areas would you focus on to enable the police department to provide greater safety for all Columbians?
As mayor, I would work closely with the Police Department to explore all options for better policing, using old school and more modern tactics. I understand that law enforcement is constantly evolving because the tools and methods of criminals are forever evolving and changing — so must law enforcement methods evolve and change. However, there are some tried-and-true old-school techniques that have proven the test of time in bigger cities and I will push to have them applied here in Columbia. Those simple but effective tactics are beat cops in high-crime neighborhoods and stationary police in business district hot spots well known for violence, vandalism and just plain unruliness.
The City Council is often taken to task for what is perceived as an unfriendly business climate in Columbia. Does the schism between development interests and those who favor more controls on the city’s growth concern you? How would you balance the needs of economic development with environmental and quality-of-life concerns?
I’m pro-development, especially when it comes to building up the infrastructure, and I believe a lot of the concerns about the impact on the environment are not as bad as some would make them out to be because anti-development types aren’t looking at the situation logically and scientifically. Building up is more environmentally sound than expanding city limits even more, which requires the destruction of thousands of more acres of forest and the wildlife that inhabits them. Building up creates thousands of jobs in the professional tradesmen communities, and those tradesmen put a lot of that money back into Columbia, which fuels the economy even more.
There is a movement at the state level to replace Missouri’s current tax system with a single sales tax on all goods and services — the so-called Fair Tax. Do you see such a change as beneficial or detrimental for the city treasury?
Yes.
In the current economic climate, how do you balance funding priorities for basic city services against quality-of-life amenities?
I believe it’s fair to say one would have to see the numbers before they can say how they would balance that.
Should the mayor and City Council members be paid positions? If yes, how much is a fair amount?
Yes, they should get paid for all the hard work and time they put into the position and all the responsibilities they take on. I believe $15,000 a year would be fair compensation, paid monthly.
What leadership qualities do you bring to the office of mayor? What can you offer the city?
Well, I’m still young enough to relate to the youth of Columbia and that is important to the 35-and-under population who’d rather see an open-minded, youthful person as mayor, but I’m also old enough to relate to the more established, older citizens and their concerns, too. This middle ground — where I’m not an old man but I’m not just some dumb kid, either — puts me in a good position to be the leading man, or the face of Columbia.
My experience with running a business in Columbia shows management and social skills that go beyond some generic degree. My completion of a five-year apprenticeship with the industrial pipefitters union in northern New Jersey, which required 200 school hours a year and on-site training outside on the coldest or hottest of days, shows an understanding of hard work and a commitment to whatever I take on.
Sean O’Day
Facebook: Sean O’Day for Mayor of Columbia, MO
odayformayor@gmail.com
Sean O’Day is a 23-year-old student at Moberly Area Community College, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in physics. He works at Patricia’s Foods as a point-of-sale manager.
O’Day has lived in central Missouri for 18 years; he moved to Columbia from Hallsville six years ago. He is a resident of the Sixth Ward.
If elected, what will be your top three priorities as mayor of Columbia?
1. As Columbia continues to grow, it will be very important we strive to keep it an environmentally and fiscally conservative city.
2. The protection of civil liberties is always crucial. With an ever-expanding population, it is crucial to strike a balance between safety and freedom.
3. It is important to have transparency within government. I would like to see the City Council members better able to represent the citizens that elect them into office.
Columbia’s population recently reached a milestone. What new challenges does the city face as a community of 100,000-plus residents?
As the population continues to expand, growth must be accomplished wisely. Infrastructure is crucial for sustainable growth. Basic infrastructure — such as the sewer system — must be maintained regularly, even at considerable cost. We also must encourage increased use of public transportation. As energy becomes scarcer, we will have to establish viable alternatives to burning this vast store of carbon fuels we have inherited.
Infrastructure is not a new challenge, but a solid infrastructure is the backbone of smart growth.
Columbians have become increasingly concerned with the incidence of crime in the city. What areas would you focus on to enable the police department to provide greater safety for all Columbians?
I support Police Chief Ken Burton’s strategy for preserving the safe community we enjoy in this city. There is a difference between increased concern with the incidence of crime and increased incidence of crime. Statistics have repeatedly shown Columbia to have significantly lower crime rates than similarly sized cities in mid-Missouri, with half the crimes per capita of the similarly sized cities of Independence and Springfield, according the Missouri Highway Patrol’s Uniform Crime Report.
That said, we need to continue to focus enforcement efforts on prevention in high-crime areas by utilizing beat officers rather than focusing our resources on emergency responders or digital surveillance.
The City Council is often taken to task for what is perceived as an unfriendly business climate in Columbia. Does the schism between development interests and those who favor more controls on the city’s growth concern you? How would you balance the needs of economic development with environmental and quality-of-life concerns?
In fact, Columbia receives praise for being the top city in Missouri to start a business, fifth among cities of less than 250,000 and 14th overall in the nation, according to The District’s official Web site. Our city has gained this prosperous ranking while keeping growth under control. We ought to remain vigilant in developing our city in a way that will be fiscally and environmentally responsible.
There is a movement at the state level to replace Missouri’s current tax system with a single sales tax on all goods and services — the so-called Fair Tax. Do you see such a change as beneficial or detrimental for the city treasury?
A large percentage of our city’s revenue comes from sales tax, so the Fair Tax could be detrimental to the city treasury. Furthermore, Fair Tax may actually put a heavier burden upon those with little income, who spend a large amount of their money on goods and services.
In the current economic climate, how do you balance funding priorities for basic city services against quality-of-life amenities?
Quality-of-life amenities are part of what places Columbia on lists of the top 100 places to live by magazines like Forbes, Money, and Outside year after year. I think we would do best to look at quality-of-life amenities as basic city services.
Should the mayor and City Council members be paid positions? If yes, how much is a fair amount?
We elect officials so that they will pay attention to things that are important to us without us having to know every detail about them. To ensure elected officials are able to devote their time to such diverse topics as transportation, electricity, parks and business development, they should be provided with at least a small stipend.
What leadership qualities do you bring to the office of mayor? What can you offer the city?
A top-down, world-round view of the city
Sid Sullivan
Web site: www.SidSullivan.com
sullivanformayor@gmail.com
Sid Sullivan, 66, is a retired sales and marketing manager for Roche Diagnostics Corp., a division of Hoffmann-LaRoche. He has spent the past nine years in Columbia, and has served as vice president of the Downtown Optimists, chairman of the Boone Electric Community Trust and president of the Maple Bluff Homeowners Association.
Other civic experiences include a stint as an aide to Sen. Jacob Javits (R-N.Y.) and leadership roles in the American Probation and Parole Association, American Correctional Association and the Illinois Academy of Criminology. He is the former editor of Perspectives: The Journal of the American Probation and Parole Association.
Sullivan holds a master’s degree in sociology and an MBA in finance; he also has done graduate-level studies of the European Union economy at the University of Paris-Sorbonne.
He and his wife, Joan, live in the Fifth Ward. They have two adult children.
If elected, what will be your top three priorities as mayor of Columbia?
1. Properly representing all the citizens of Columbia
2. Targeted economic development with a strategic marketing plan that fits Columbia
3. Governance that restores the proper, charter-defined roles of city manager and council
Columbia’s population recently reached a milestone. What new challenges does the city face as a community of 100,000-plus residents?
Providing adequate city services, including fire, police and road maintenance to the entire city on diminishing revenues is the current challenge. Preparing for how and where future residents will live, work and recreate is the new challenge. A modest city growth rate of 2 percent increases our population by 40,000 over the next 20 years.
Columbians have become increasingly concerned with the incidence of crime in the city. What areas would you focus on to enable the police department to provide greater safety for all Columbians?
The new police chief has done an excellent job of decreasing incidents of crime in our central commercial district by using crime data to redeploy our police force. However, his data now show at least 85 percent of crime in our neighborhoods. Council needs to have the policy discussion on how we will address and pay for neighborhood crime prevention.
The City Council is often taken to task for what is perceived as an unfriendly business climate in Columbia. Does the schism between development interests and those who favor more controls on the city’s growth concern you? How would you balance the needs of economic development with environmental and quality-of-life concerns?
Every city engages in mercantilism; we market ourselves to attract more jobs and money away from other cities and into our own community. It is the council’s responsibility, with the help of the community, to identify those industries that best fit our community, to develop with the aid of staff the strategies to entice, retain or increase industry, and to create the policy guidance for the city manager and the business community to follow.
There is a movement at the state level to replace Missouri’s current tax system with a single sales tax on all goods and services — the so-called Fair Tax. Do you see such a change as beneficial or detrimental for the city treasury?
This question is too hypothetical to answer. Our local legislator tells me the key to the “Fair Tax” is there be no exemptions. My experience with the state Legislature is that the bill will be decorated with so many amendments it will look like a Christmas tree when it is sent to the governor.
In the current economic climate, how do you balance funding priorities for basic city services against quality-of-life amenities?
The revenue streams for parks, schools and bike paths are earmarked. They can’t be transferred. The investments in conferences, festivals and special events attract outside monies and are part of our economic development. The state-driven stormwater ordinance protects our streams, stream banks, water treatment and basements. The whole community benefits from our contribution to youth programs, the arts and the handicapped.
Rather than pitting basic services against quality of life, we should be promoting our quality of life as a way to attract people and jobs with higher incomes.
Should the mayor and City Council members be paid positions? If yes, how much is a fair amount?
Of, course. Our local constitution, the city charter, tasks the City Council with policy development. This is different from an advisory board to the city manager. If the council accepts this responsibility, we should offer a salary. We are the only city our size in Missouri that does not pay council members. The average salary of a mayor in a city of our size in the United States is $42,000.
What leadership qualities do you bring to the office of mayor? What can you offer the city?
I am retired from 14 years in sales and marketing from a Fortune 100 equivalent company, Hoffmann-LaRoche, and worked 15 years in the administration of a criminal justice agency in the Circuit Court of Cook County. I share an interest with urban planning members of my family for urban growth and development. I have the knowledge and leadership skills in business, government and development to facilitate and guide Columba through a difficult, near-term future.
Jerry Wade
Web site: jerrywade.org
wadeformayor@mchsi.com
Jerry Wade, 69, is a native Iowan who moved to Columbia in 1963. With the exception of seven years on the faculty of the University of Illinois-Springfield in the 1970s, he has spent nearly all of his professional life in Columbia. He holds two degrees from the University of Missouri — a master’s degree in community development and a Ph.D. in rural sociology — and is a retired community and economic development specialist with University of Missouri Extension.
Wade has represented the Fourth Ward on the Columbia City Council since 2007. He served on the Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission from 1995 to 2007 and was chairman from 2001 to 2007.
He and his wife, Edge, live in the Fourth Ward. Their daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren also live in Columbia.
If elected, what will be your top three priorities as mayor of Columbia?
1. Jobs: We must bring highly skilled jobs to our city –– technical, service, and professional –– while providing training and re-training for those currently without solid career opportunities.
2. Public Safety: We must involve families, schools, churches, neighborhoods and other community groups, in addition to our police force, in improving public safety.
3. Development Policy: We must create balanced planning and development policies to upgrade the city’s infrastructure while managing its growth.
Columbia’s population recently reached a milestone. What new challenges does the city face as a community of 100,000-plus residents?
Passing 100,000 puts Columbia on the radar screen for national businesses seeking new markets. We certainly want new investment in our community, but we also need to preserve the character of our community that makes it a special place in which to live. We must at all times balance the need for growth with preserving the essence of our city — our quality of life, our love of the outdoors and our caring for each other.
Columbians have become increasingly concerned with the incidence of crime in the city. What areas would you focus on to enable the police department to provide greater safety for all Columbians?
Public safety is too often considered the sole responsibility of the police force. Our families, neighborhoods, institutions and organizations must share the responsibility to build character, to provide the role models, and to develop the behavioral expectations and alternative opportunities for our youth.
The City Council is often taken to task for what is perceived as an unfriendly business climate in Columbia. Does the schism between development interests and those who favor more controls on the city’s growth concern you? How would you balance the needs of economic development with environmental and quality-of-life concerns?
As mayor, I would focus on bridging the factions that divide us. The divisiveness within our community is counterproductive to making Columbia the kind of place we all want to call home. We must work cooperatively to craft policies that guide our decision-making and reach decisions that result from the fair application of those policies.
Partnership opportunities with our universities and other governmental entities are key — for example, with the University of Missouri in the Enterprise Investment Program, with the city of Ashland in the expansion of business opportunities at the airport, and with Boone County in encouraging high-tech industry. At the same time, we must continue to enhance our community’s quality of life and attractiveness to all.
There is a movement at the state level to replace Missouri’s current tax system with a single sales tax on all goods and services — the so-called Fair Tax. Do you see such a change as beneficial or detrimental for the city treasury?
I fear that replacing the income tax with a sales tax would drive too many purchases from our stores to the Internet. While Columbia would not face the out-of-state purchasing pressures of St. Louis and Kansas City, it would suffer if total state revenue declined as a result of cross-border purchases. We need much more study of this tax scheme, its details and its implications before giving it serious consideration.
In the current economic climate, how do you balance funding priorities for basic city services against quality-of-life amenities?
Viewing quality of life and funding of city services in opposition to each other is wrong. We want to live in a community that is attractive both to those of us who reside here and to those who want to bring new opportunities to Columbia. In a difficult economic climate, we must carefully balance and justify what we undertake on all fronts.
Should the mayor and City Council members be paid positions? If yes, how much is a fair amount?
I favor a modest stipend for council members and the mayor. These positions are at least half-time jobs. Some modest compensation might enlarge the pool of those willing and able to serve.
What leadership qualities do you bring to the office of mayor? What can you offer the city?
I have been “in training” for the role of mayor for my entire professional life, helping citizens organize and take action so that their communities could survive and thrive. Having retired from working with other communities, and having served Columbia both on the Planning and Zoning Commission and now as a council member, the training is over. As mayor, I believe I could help build understanding and consensus as Columbia faces the challenges of a new decade.