Nice turnout at mayoral debate at Coe sees stark differences between frontrunners Fagan and Corbett

More than 150 people last night heard front-runner mayoral candidates Brian Fagan and Ron Corbett disagree about most everything, with Fagan, a current City Council member, saying the council has prepared the city for progress and Corbett saying the city has fallen off track.

The debate at Coe College's Sinclair Auditorium, which was sponsored by The Gazette and KCRG-TV9, was a spirited one at times, as noted by the third candidate, P.T. Larson, who at one point made note that Fagan and Corbett were going at each other “tit for tat.”

Fagan, 37, an attorney with Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman, and Corbett, 49, vice president at CRST Inc. and former speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives and former president of the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, went back and forth on: the use of consultants, taxes, diversifying city revenue, investment in the city streets, the power of the city manager, returning city government to the Veterans Memorial Building, the size of the downtown library and the concept of sustainability.

Larson, 52, a long shot by virtue of 12 previous unsuccessful runs for the City Council, promised to quit his job as “floating project worker” at ACT Inc. in Iowa City and work as a full-time mayor in the part-time job should he win election. P.T. doesn't stand for part time, he said.

Larson joined Corbett in questioning City Hall's use of consultants and, particularly, out-of-state ones. Larson noted City Hall's own recent figures that put the cost of consultants at more than $8 million in the last year.

Corbett said he would cut the out-of-state consultants and both cut and “reprioritize” spending for basics like improving streets and recruiting employers to locate in Cedar Rapids.

Fagan didn't flinch on the subject of consultants, saying they were hired, in part, to help maximize the amount of money that the city receives in flood-relief payments from the federal government. Case in point, Fagan broke the news that the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday afternoon had informed the city can build a new downtown library on a new site, a decision that Fagan said will bring an additional $4 million in FEMA payments with it.

Fagan noted that the City Council did raise property taxes in the last year, but Fagan said the raise was needed, in part, to fix the city streets, 20 percent of which he noted are in “failed” condition.

Corbett said Fagan has been part of a council that has raised property taxes each of the last four years, has implemented a new 1-percent franchise fee on utility bills and wants to implement other taxes, including what Corbett said was a local income tax, an entertainment tax and a wheel tax.

Fagan said Corbett was wrong on the issue and he argued that the city used restraint in imposing the franchise fee, noting that the city of Des Moines, for instance has a 5-percent franchise fee.

Fagan said the central issue for the City Council is trying to figure out a way to diversify how it gets its revenue so it can reduce property taxes, especially on business and industry, to make the city better able to attract and keep jobs.

Corbett said the best way to attract companies to the city is to cut City Hall spending, not in trying to raise new forms of revenue. He cited $49,000 for a citizen survey, $31,000 for a flyer to homes and the recent hiring of an out-of-state consultant for “team-building” among council members as a few ways to cut spending.

Fagan answered more directly than ever before in public when he said he would not return city government to the flood-damaged Veterans Memorial Building on May's Island. Both Corbett and Larson said they would return some city offices to the building.

Fagan also said he believed that Linn County and the Cedar Rapids school district might yet be willing to “co-locate” some functions or offices with the city.

Corbett recounted the history on co-location, noting that the City Council earlier this year expressed hope for co-location only to have the county and school district drop the idea. It was only when the City Council realized in September that building a new City Hall could cost more than $50 million, that the council decided it better try to talk to the county and school district again, Corbett said. The school district, he noted, already has bought property for its own new building.

Fagan said co-location did not necessarily mean a new building for the city. He noted that the Town Centre building in downtown might be one option. He also said the existing federal courthouse, which the city is scheduled to take ownership of, might be another.

Corbett repeated that he favors returning to existing city-owned buildings, and not building a new City Hall.

Corbett said the city manager leads the council; Fagan said the city manager has brought professional management to City Hall, while Corbett and Larson would bring “professional politicians” into government.

As for a new library, Fagan sees a new library that will serve as a key downtown “anchor.” Corbett said he didn't want to see a new library that was “so big” it hurt the viability of the west-side library. Larson wondered if the era had passed for big libraries, and he suggested that small libraries in each quadrant might serve the public better.

Fagan and most of his counterparts on the City Council are strong advocates for “sustainability,” which, in general terms, means planning and building and using resources today with an eye for reducing costs and protecting the environment and society in the future.

Fagan accused Corbett last night of calling the council's interest in sustainability “a fad” a couple months ago.

In response, Corbett said the city needed to take care in how it builds and invests. What he said was not sustainable, though, was the current City Council's habit of spending.