I went down to the Bullhead Area Chamber of Commerce last night to hear what the candidates for City Council had to say. Ten of the 11 candidates showed up, and they all got equal opportunity to address the audience. I wouldn’t say they all seized the opportunity equally, but the format was very fair.
As it turned out, each candidate got two minutes for an opening statement and one minute for a closing statement. In between, Bruce Clark of The Morning Show did a fine job as he hurled four questions (instead of the originally scheduled three), while keeping it light and giving each hopeful three minutes to respond. As I said, the format was fair. Everyone got the same questions and the same amount of time to respond. By the way, thank you Mike, Teri, and the rest of the gang at the Chamber for hosting another successful event. They always step up!
I had grand plans of documenting the event in detail here on Bullhead City Blog, but my amateur journalism skills were not up to the challenge of the fast paced Q&A. In the end, I got more out of watching how the candidates handled themselves than anything else anyway.
The four questions went something like this:
- What specific expenses and/or services would you cut to offset the budget deficit? There was definitely some dancing right off the bat. After all, is there any response that won’t piss off a large group of voters?
Carina Spotts, a former City employee, said she would work with Laughlin, Nevada to encourage more sales tax revenue from tourists, push the shop local campaign, focus on marketing the community, cut little things, and look into reducing hours and even a city property tax. I vote NO on the property tax. She also suggested that being too reliant on sales tax was a bad thing, but many of her ideas seemed to revolve around generating more of it.Mark Clark also touted sales tax, while Leslie Blaydes made it clear she was against a property tax. I agree. Another interesting and creative idea from her was a special events department.
Chuck Flagge was probably the most direct on this question. He wants to reduce the work hours of every city employee, from the mayor on down, which he estimates will save a whopping $900,000. What services will we lose if that happens? He also made a point of placing a priority on protecting the city’s assets first. Property tax? “Not necessarily.” Hmmm.
Dennis Crane, teacher and school board member, put emphasis on the fact that Bullhead City has been working on cost cuts since late 2007. “They have cut through the fat, into the meat, and almost into the bone.” Nice visual. Dennis talked about staggered shifts, possible reduced work days or work weeks for city employees, and made it clear he was not in favor of increasing sales tax. Maybe at some point, but that would go to referendum. If it does, he suggests give the people multiple choice, not just yes/no option.To the best of my recollection, Michael McClurg spoke mostly about the sales tax idea, but to be fair, my notes are turning to chicken scratch. Janie Tinnon suggested we need to attract industry to the fine city, and Mickey McClure made it clear he was opposed to reducing work schedules, except as a “last ditch effort.”Sheila Shutts says “no” to sales tax for now, but maybe it should be considered in the future when times are better, “we haven’t changed the sales tax in 20 years.”
Jerry Duvall, I’m sorry, I know you spoke, too, but I have no idea what you said because my notes, they are not in human, much less English. My bad. I do know this: like Dennis Crane, Jerry Duvall is on the school board, and both of these guys have been dealing with MAJOR budget issues at that level. I thought, hey, that experience could probably come in handy. In the spirit of full disclosure, Dennis is a friend, and I will be voting for him. Give me a call or drop me an email and I’ll tell you why.I won’t be going into as much detail on the other questions, but here is what I have to say…
- Are you for or against raising the current restriction on building heights in Bullhead City? Sheila Shutts was opposed, except in some areas where it may be appropriate, such as parts of the Bullhead Parkway. She says she will rely on city experts for help and advice (paraphrasing). Jerry Duvall, he is opposed to a blanket rule disallowing, pretty much case by case. At this point, my notes turn to mush. Most of the candidates went down this path of case by case. Is that a cop out or common sense?
- Some incredibly ridiculous bomb of a question about water allocation.Poor Carina drew short straw on this. Not only was she first to attempt to answer that almost nobody in their right mind could know anything about without proper research and assistance from qualified experts, she also happened to be sitting immediately to the the right of the one guy who could answer the question, Mark Clark. This was a double-whammy that I hope nobody holds against her. I’ve spent time with Carina on the board of directors for the Palo Verde Meadows HOA, where we dealt with water issues. I know first hand that this critically important topic is immensely complex, and not for amateurs. Sorry, bad question.
- Do you support or oppose Bullhead City establishing an impact fee on new development? Duvall, McClure, Crane, Flagge, Blaydes, Spotts, were opposed, at least for now. Tinnon was pretty much neutral, Shutts was opposed, but qualified her position with “if we can find alternatives.” McClurg, knowingly jumped in the hot seat with “I would seriously look into them.” Bad idea.Also of note regarding this question, Blaydes seemed to think impact fees are not a tax. Hmmm. Do you agree?
- Where should the proposed second bridge go, Riverview or the south end of town?Oh wait, this question wasn’t asked, but it should have been.
I’m glad I got a chance to hear from the candidates (except for Thomas Grace, he wasn’t in attendance). I got some feel for their stance on issues, but more than that I got to know them a little. Well done!
If you want to have your chance to chat with the candidates, the Bullhead Area Chamber of Commerce is once again stepping up, hosting an event on March, 5 at 6 pm in their conference center. From what I gather, it’s an informal setting.
Editors Note: I am a great real estate broker and all around good guy, but not a professional journalist. If I misstated any material facts, misquoted anyone, or botched anything in general let me know and I’ll fix it.
Also, if any candidates would like to be interviewed or prehaps guest post right here on Bullhead City Blog, drop me a note.
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How interesting………..call if you like!
Sheila Shutts