District 1 City Council candidates talk taxes, streets

District 1 council incumbent Kris Gulick told two dozen residents at a Gazette-sponsored candidate forum last night that city government is fiscally sound, has a vision in place and is following a long-range strategic plan. Gulick called himself an “objective decision-maker,” and he said he has delivered on a promise to listen, analyze and make informed decisions.

Gulick, 50, 2103 Linmar Dr. NE, is being challenged by Tim Pugh, 32, who owns a small landscaping business, and Ryan Russell, 28, a logistics specialist for LimoLink International in Marion.

Pugh, 518 17th St. NE, told the audience at Pierce Elementary School in District 1 that he was running to bring “responsibility back into City Hall” and to find ways to cut spending and taxes so residents can afford to live in the city. He called himself a “penny-pincher” and said the City Council spent “like a drunken sailor.” The city has moved too slowly on flood recovery, he said.

Russell, 1322 O Ave. NE, said he intended to bring a “progressive” agenda to the City Council, an agenda he said the current council had not delivered on. Neighborhoods should be enhanced if there's an Enhance Our Neighborhood program, but they aren't; streets should be improving if tax dollars are going for that, but they aren't, he said.

Russell said he is bothered by the type of violent crime in the city, and he noted that the 70-year-old woman in the city who was the victim of a recent break-in and sexual assault lives close by him. Older neighbors in his neighborhood don't feel as safe as they did five or 10 years ago, he said.

All three candidates acknowledged that the condition of many of the city's streets is poor. Gulick said 20 percent or 130 miles of street are in “failed” condition, while Pugh said he suspected the figure is higher.

Russell expressed support for trying to find new ways to raise revenue other than property taxes, and he noted that council member Chuck Wieneke recently floated the idea of a wheel tax on those who work here and live elsewhere. Ideas like that might have merit, Russell said.

Gulick said he and his council colleagues, in fact, had been lobbying the state legislature for permission to raise money with different kinds of taxes and fees. He said much discussion yet needs to take place about a wheel tax should the state allow it.

Pugh called revenue diversification “a slippery slope,” and he said property taxes have continued to increase even with a new franchise fee on heating bills and a new local-option sales tax. Gulick said the property-tax increase for the most part was needed to fix the streets.

In an answer to a question about the return of city government to the flood-damaged Veterans Memorial Building on May's Island, Gulick spoke as directly as he ever has on the subject when he said the city simply can't afford to build a new City Hall/Community Services Center unless the county and/or school district join in the expense.

Short of “co-location,” he said he favors returning some functions of city government to the Veterans Memorial Building and using existing buildings for others. Both Russell and Pugh favored returning city government to the Veterans Memorial Building, too.

Russell and Pugh said they support and would vote for Ron Corbett for mayor. Gulick said Corbett and his council colleague Brian Fagan are “very good” mayoral candidates, but he said he doesn't make public who he votes for.