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Kaley Mills -
Adam Ropp
The Guthrie Chamber of Commerce sponsored a forum for the candidates running for the Ward 1 seat on the City Council this past Tuesday. The forum was held in the council chamber at City Hall and gave an opportunity for both candidates, Kaley Mills and Adam Ropp, to speak on their views regarding the city and its needs, and how they hope to help if they are elected.
The forum had a format of two minutes per answer for each candidate. They were able to make an introduction, then each provided an answer to ten questions submitted by the public. A wildcard question was added at the end, to enable each candidate to talk about an issue or a topic that stood out to them as part of their time on the campaign trail. Finally, each was given two minutes for closing remarks. Before the forum, the candidates drew numbers to see who would give the first answer, and Mr. Ropp won the draw.
During their introductory remarks, the candidates worked to emphasize their ties to the community and their desire to serve. Mr. Ropp opened and underscored his existing ties and service in Guthrie, serving on Guthrie’s Historic Preservation Commission, and his wife’s volunteer work for the town’s Christmas festivities. Ms. Mills talked about her work in helping craft policy with local legislators at the state capitol and her desire to help the government do good in serving the public.
Several topics were addressed through the public questions, including why each candidate chose Guthrie (both are transplants), stipends for council members, what the candidates feel Guthrie has done well and what needs improvement, working with the new City Manager Eddie Faulkner, addressing the blight of empty buildings and retail spaces downtown, and how to approach economic development.
Regarding what the city has done well, Ms. Mills talked about the diligence of City staff in getting grants to fund the city’s many needs and improvements. She mentioned the pop-up shops and the water system improvements all funded through grants. Mr. Ropp said he likes the improvements in the parks and city facilities but what he appreciates the most is the city management’s efforts to get the city budget balanced. “We used to be in the red and now we’re in the black,” he said. As part of these issues, funding for Guthrie PD and Fire was a recurring point that came up in several discussions. Both candidates stated that they would work creatively to help the city’s fire and police departments into a better state, as staffing is a critical issue for both.
On the issue of stipends for council members, a contentious local issue, both candidates indicated they were against it personally. However, Mr. Ropp said that while he understands the frustration of council members in requesting stipends, he’d rather see the funds used for needs like police or fire funding. Ms. Mills said that while she is against it, she would take the same approach that she takes in her work with the Legislature: what do other places like ours do, what works and doesn’t work, and could it work for us? She feels the issue deserves more study into what other cities like Guthrie do in this area.
The greatest differentiator between the candidates came from their discussions on their approach to addressing the city’s challenges. While discussing working with the incoming city manager, Mr. Ropp talked about understanding that not everyone will agree but that it’s important to be respectful in disagreement and try to continue to move forward as best as possible. Ms. Mills again highlighted her policy work with the Legislature and building good relationships; “relationships are the most effective way to get things done”. She also emphasized that the best policy is made by listening to as many stakeholders as possible, to recognize weak areas as the work goes and find creative ways to address those concerns.
This led to one of the more tense moments of the forum. In discussing economic development in the city, Mr. Ropp talked about his work in bringing developers in to look at properties along the I-35 corridor for potential development, work he is already doing to try to help spur economic activity and growth within the city. Ms. Mills expressed concern, stating that the role of the Council is in governance and policy, and not in execution; it’s up to City management and staff to get things done. Mr. Ropp responded that what he did was as a private citizen, and he felt he didn’t overstep any bounds with what he did; he did what any citizen could do in trying to help drive business activity.
Another key area of discussion was around the issue of empty space in downtown as an issue to be addressed, specifically by applying a vacancy tax to business owners who don’t use their space. Both candidates expressed that it isn’t really an option, legally. Ms. Mills highlighted more research into what might be working in other communities and stepping up code enforcement.
Mr. Ropp suggested having the fire marshal pick up annual inspections to find things that need to be taken care of and using that to encourage property owners to not only do needed repairs and upgrades, but the costs to address those concerns would potentially push them to find tenants, which fills the vacant space.
The election for the Ward 1 council seat will be held on Tuesday, April 4th.