The talk at the city council candidate forum Thursday seemed like an echo of the current national political message — it’s all about jobs and safety.
For the jobs topic, the mayoral candidates at the Chamber of Commerce-sponsored forum were somewhat short on details as to how the to go about creating these jobs, a similar predicament to Washington’s. (Of course, that could have more to do with the two-minute limit for question responses and the crowded city ballot.) But, the concern among attendees about the economic situation was evident, despite Columbia’s relative insulation from the ravages of the economy at large.
There was definitely more agreement than disagreement. Everybody wants to be more of a partner with the universities; no way we’re raising taxes; we need to keep more graduates here; we need to attract good businesses to town, etc. All soundbites we’ve heard before.
The differences among candidates were more subtle.
Asked how they’d deal with the city’s budget gap, candidate and college student Sean O’Day at least gave a specific proposal: raise time allotments at city parking meters and lease parking garage spots to local businesses. Candidate Sid Sullivan, who ran for Boone County Commission in 2008, suggested the city save some sales tax dollars by issuing more general obligation bonds to fund capital projects. Candidate Jerry Wade, fourth ward councilman, said organizations need to promote buying locally and agitate for a national fix to non-taxable online sales.
Next question: How do you keep council meetings from going too long?
Candidate Bob McDavid touted his experience as the gavel-wielding chairman of the Boone Hospital Center board of trustees and said he’d make sure business moved along at the meetings. Wade suggested an optional council meeting each month for controversial items, which candidate Paul Love, a CarFax systems analyst, echoed.
When asked whether they’d support a requirement that the city contract services to only local businesses, there was some clear cut division. Wade said no, saying it was too easy for a company to just set up a local entity here in town in order to bid for the project. O’Day and Sullivan gave noncommittal answers, while Love and McDavid signaled their willingness to support the idea. McDavid cited his experience at Boone Hospital, saying the board has “bent over backwards to keep work local.”
When talking about economic development, Sullivan suggested attracting certain types of people, like retirees, that would in turn attract industries catering to that demographic. Wade said the city needs to continue its capital improvement investments, which will continue to attract businesses.
McDavid, citing his daughter’s work cleaning toilets at KFC, said every job is valuable because of the experience and character development it provides.
“We need to not be dismissive of retail jobs and lower end jobs,” he said.
In his closing remarks, Wade disagreed with that point, saying the city’s main focus needs to be on developing industries creating higher-paying jobs that “secondary economic activity” — retail and real estate development — naturally builds off of.
The final point marks the major division between the candidates with the strongest electoral positions (Wade because of his incumbency on the council and McDavid because of his backing by some of Columbia’s wealthier elites): growth of any kind versus more managed growth. McDavid’s stance was likely well received by his backers, because building a Taco Bell still pays very well for the guy who built it. Wade’s approach may take a little longer before that Taco Bell gets built, which translates into opportunity cost from a business perspective.
Wade addressed the 300-pound gorilla head on: “I’ve heard people say I’m not friendly to business. That’s not true and most of you know it.”
By emphasizing he would represent all of Columbia and that he was not beholden to special interests, Wade seemed to take a subtle jab at McDavid. For his part, McDavid may have been doing the same thing when he said, “I’ve never been a politician, so in that sense, I’m an outsider.”
Interestingly, Wade didn’t touch the crime issue, while McDavid took the populist stance that it needs to be addressed despite whether the stats indicate it’s up or down. “It doesn’t matter what the numbers are, it matters what people think,” he said.
The final political point of the day went to McDavid, who said the city council was “dismissive and disrespectful” to Karen Taylor, the champion of the downtown camera initiative. If he didn’t already have the support of the network she’s built up to get that issue on the ballot, he does now.
Categories: Business.
First off, Ms. Taylor’s son was violently accosted in an enclosed parking lot on campus property which has cameras in locations of the lot. The perpetrators were captured. The cameras helped. The cameras were paid by the college.
While I have no problem with cameras being placed all over town, I believe cameras should be paid by the property owners, in full.
(If enough businesses in Columbia buy their own cameras, the streets will have coverage, It is not practical or economical for the city to pay for the kind of camera coverage needed to fully discourage, solve or protect everyone at every moment. Ms. Taylor is understandably emotional about vulnerability. I think “The District” is using her to further their own agenda and abdicate responsibility to their patrons.
Secondly, it is quite obvious that it’s not our senior citizens who are out committing the crimes that we are all concerned about.
I liked Sid Sullivan’s approach to expand on Columbia’s ability to be viewed as a service town for seniors in that support jobs, health industry careers, retail jobs, maintenance work, etc will follow the seniors who view Columbia as a desirable place to relocate to.
I would much rather have a “retired” senior come to Columbia and purchase the house up for sale next to me then see it become a rental. Seniors also make great volunteers. (Several are running for mayor.)
While national competition for bigger industry/factory type “shovel ready” sites is fierce, the years of building parks, hospitals, senior centers, the Missouri theatre and other “old people friendly” venues makes Columbia a prime place to market for the sunset crowd.
At the same time. Paul Love acknowledged that IT businesses would provide opportunities for small computer-oriented entrepreneurs to set up shop and allow some of the College Grads to stay and find work in a town which currently has little to offer our college graduates. Perhaps more students opting for health related degrees would also help those who want to stay after graduation and raise a family in town. Especially if we market our town to Senior Citizens who don’t want the heat of Phoenix or Miami.
Finally, with regards to running more efficient council meetings, time wise. The city clerk presents a ton of “docket” items for approval, discussion or tabling. At the same time, like many of us, they like to talk. Additionally, the public gets to come off the street and have their say.
The council can handle the agenda better, banter less and have commissions and committees encourage public attendance of the work and issues they are involved in. If people who have issues are allowed to attend and participate, to some extent, at these commission and committee meetings, by the time council meets, the Chairs of these commissions and committees will have a better handle on the will and voice of the people. Of course for those who can’t make any meetings, except the ones held in council chambers, there should always be an opportunity to address the city council.
It just seems to me that when I’d hear Mayor Darwin declare that a low turnout of citizens were an indication that no one cared enough to show up could be a good thing, if the public has trust in committee and commissions having significant position statements.
Attending appropriate committee and commission meetings would be a good way for citizens to show their interest, heard and we’d be cultivating future potential members.
As no one else has bothered to correct me, please note that Ms. Taylor’s son was officially reported as being attacked on the inside of an enclosed city parking garage. I apology for any confusion.