Election: In District 4, 2 candidates differ on roads, flood control

CEDAR RAPIDS - Night and day defines the differences between incumbent west-side council member Scott Olson and challenger Lisa Kuzela in the District 4 council race.

Olson said last week that progress within the city has been 'impressive” in his nearly four years as a council member in post-flood Cedar Rapids, but he added that the city's potential for the future 'remains to be tapped.”

Kuzela said 'the establishment” has been running city government for 'far too long,” and the council is 'not listening to the people.”

Kuzela, 52, 341 Carter St. NW, and Olson, 69, 6467 Quail Ridge Dr. SW, made their comments in interviews with The Gazette editorial board.

Fixing streets

Kuzela said the city's 10-year, $180 million Paving for Progress program 'has not been successful,” as the city is fixing roads that don't need it and not fixing the worst.

She said the city didn't need 'fancy equipment” to help analyze streets to develop a plan to fix them. She said 'driving the streets” can determine what to fix. The city needs to fix the worst first, and she has her own suggestions of what is worst, she said.

Olson said Paving for Progress was particularly successful in the way the city has used laser technology, expert consultants and Iowa State University to prioritize which streets to tackle. The analysis of the work, he said, is widely available for public scrutiny.

He said the city's street repair master plan is focusing on maintenance of some streets to extend their life, rehabilitation of others and replacement of the worst. The approach allows the city to keep more streets from deterioriating while fixing the worst, he said.

Under the city's system, he said no council member can call up the Public Works Department's engineering staff to tell them which streets to fix. The city's master plan dictates what gets done and 'takes the politics out,” he said.

He said he is helping to develop a similar master plan to repair the storm sewer system.

Flood Control

Asked about flood control, Kuzela said she was in favor of flood protection but didn't support the city's plan.

She said 'one of the best things” would be to dredge the Cedar River even when told that dredging has been dismissed by officials as expensive and ineffective. She said she did not oppose levees, but they only would 'make the city look good” to show it is doing something about flood control.

Olson said the city has begun to build its flood control system with the help of state funding, so 'people are confident” that the city will have the system in place in 20 years or less. As a result, he said people are willing to invest and build in flood-risk areas. Even so, most of the building incorporates flood-proofing measures, he said.

SAFE-CR Program

Kuzela said the city's two-year-old nuisance abatement program needs improvement, and residents now can be afraid to call police over domestic violence for fear their landlord will get penalized.

Olson said the nuisance program, known as SAFE-CR, is working. Of 2,100 landlords in the city and 18,000 rental units, only 48 properties are in violation. Landlords aren't penalized when victims call for help, he said. Even so, he said a city-led committee is working to 'tweak” the nuisance ordinance to address criticism.

Development

Olson, a commercial Realtor, said the city is seeing a surge in retail development, which he said is vital because retail sales generate sales tax for the city's Paving for Progress program and flood control system. Attractive retail options also are a must to get employers and people to move to town, he said.

Kuzela said the city is 'overdeveloping.”

She said she would provide more limits on the use of property tax breaks for developers. Olson said he'd like to see limits on projects that simply move existing businesses from one building to another.

Kuzela said she does not support the proposed 27-cent library levy but would favor an 8-cent levy. The library can cut costs, she said.

Olson said he supports the 27-cent library levy.

Kuzela said the city needs more programs for children, and it should offer bigger rewards through CrimeStoppers to get the public to contribute information on crimes.

Olson said he is working on a panhandling ordinance.