Candidate Forum

The En Evant Study Club sponsored a candidate forum tonight to allow voters an opportunity to hear candidates views on four separate issues facing our city. There were nine city council candidates who participated and Mayor Segraves was the only mayoral candidate present. The council candidates were myself, Mike Hawkins, Kevin Williams, Tim Pierce, Elaine Junkin, Mineo Lindsey, Boozer Pinkerton, and Cerell Metcalf. Steve Lolley, Gary Randolph, Randall Guin, Bill Green, Brian Wideman, and Ken Randolph did not participate.

Thank you to those 60 or so people who were in the audience for your support, but for those who were unable to attend, I am including the four questions we addressed. My response follows each question. I hope you'll find the information useful. If you have questions, feel free to comment and I'll be glad to respond.

1. Do you support the continuation of the school tax as it stands?

I believe the most important gift we can give our children is the gift of an education. The problem with this, though, is that a quality education can be costly. The state of Alabama has traditionally not funded education as well as we all would like. That puts a tremendous burden on communities around the state to fund their school systems sufficiently. Those communities who’ve taken on that responsibility through various funding projects and provided the necessary resources for their schools have seen a lot of success. Some of those schools and school systems are rated among the best in the country. Those who choose not to fund their systems sufficiently struggle to provide their children with the necessary resources for a quality education. And, unfortunately, those are some of the lowest rated schools in our country. This discrepancy in our state is very unfortunate, but one we have to deal with.

Several years ago, our community leaders decided it was important to provide needed resources to our schools through a one cent sales tax. Through this sales tax, our citizens funnel over $100,000 per year to our children. This money has been used over the years for facilities improvements, school supplies, technology, and many other areas needed to provide a quality education. Without this additional funding, there is no doubt much of this would not have been available to our kids.

I would love to see the day when we could find other avenues to provide sufficient funding to allow our children the education we all desire, but until that day comes, I will continue to support the 1% sales tax designated for our local schools. The future of our children is too important to not provide them with the very best education available.

At the end of each year, on this very stage, our students accept tens of thousands of dollars in scholarship money. This is a testament to the hard work of our students, but your tax dollars have provided them with the resources needed to prepare them for college. We should all feel a sense of pride for the small amount we may have contributed to the educational successes of these students.

2. Would you support land use regulation (zoning)?

Land use regulation or zoning is something our community has yet to face, but it’s something we’ll need to address as we look to grow our city. Zoning can entail many things, much of which I’m still learning. The primary purpose of zoning, though, is to segregate uses that are thought to be incompatible. Primarily, zoning is used as a permitting system to prevent new development from harming existing residents or businesses or to preserve the "character" of a community.

Zoning may include regulations of the kinds of activities which would be acceptable on certain lots such as open space, residential, commercial, agricultural, or industrial. It can include such things as regulating building heights, the amount of space a structure may occupy, how much parking should be provided, or even the type of landscaping required for certain structures. It’s yet to be seen whether or not any or all of this would apply to our community, but I do feel it’s something we have to look at. It’s important to Guin’s future that we bring in new business. And whether it be industrial or commercial, businesses look for these type regulations when scouting a community for potential expansion.

Creating a land use plan is a very complicated process and, I’m sure, can be a controversial topic, but it’s something we have to consider given the requirements of potential industry. I do support some type of zoning legislation for Guin, but not without significant involvement from all areas of our community. It’s very important we bring growth to our community, but, it’s also important we do it with the goals and aspirations of our citizens in mind. If we work together, this city can grow and succeed while maintaining the quality of life we all enjoy.

3. How do you propose the next city council avoid the bickering and other embarrassing conduct reported in the local newspaper?

Disagreement is nothing new to city government. I personally believe disagreement can be healthy for the process if it’s done in a professional manner. Expressing one’s opinion, whether we agree or not, allows us to see all aspects of the issues we face. And when we act on those issues, we can do so knowing we’ve considered all angles.

The problem, though, is that our city council sometimes disagrees or bickers in a way that’s a detriment to our city. That bickering, while achieving nothing, guarantees us a spot on the front page of our local newspaper for all the wrong reasons. While some may consider these antics entertaining, and many do, I consider them to be embarrassing. My goal is to do my very best to move Guin forward, but each time we create this circus, we, as a city, move one step back.

As our city council enters a new term, we approve a set of rules which establish order for our meetings. First and foremost, it’s important we know those rules of order and abide by them. Those rules require that an agenda of specific topics be established prior to the meeting and that any changes or additions be approved by the majority of the council on the day of the meeting. This ensures that each member of the council has time to sufficiently prepare for the items which require action and are not blind sided by issues or complaints that are brought up during a meeting.

Secondly, there are many issues and areas that don’t initially require action by the city council and need to be taken up with the department heads in charge of those aspects of Guin’s day-to-day business. If one cannot get the desired response through the proper channels, then those issues should be brought before the council. These day-to-day issues have proven, over the last four years, to be a significant source of much of the bickering we’ve encountered in our meetings. If we can take care of those issues with our department heads before a meeting, we eliminate this source of contention and are able to take action on those issues we are responsible for.

Lastly, council members should respect each other and the responsibility they’ve been given to lead our community. If we respect our colleagues, we can offer up differing opinions and views and debate in a manner that can be healthy for our community. It’s important that we support our views with factual information and refrain from personal attacks when someone disagrees with a certain viewpoint. We should also respect the position which our citizens have trusted us to. If we bicker and cause our city harm through our antics, we have disrespected the position we’ve been elected to perform.

Whether or not we believe it, prospective industry reads our local newspaper and knows exactly how we get along. The city council can disagree and debate the issues of our community, but it’s imperative we do it in a manner that doesn’t bring harm to this city.

4. Will you commit your support to whoever is elected as mayor and/or city council in their efforts to move the city forward?

Absolutely! Each candidate has their own views and opinions on how we move our community forward. Some of those opinions may correlate with others running for office, while others may wildly differ, but I sincerely believe we all have the best for Guin in mind. I’m running for re-election for that very reason. I love this community, want to raise a family here, and retire here. I want to provide our children and grandchildren opportunities to come back and live here if they so choose. I would be doing you a disservice if you entrust me with another four years on the city council and I refuse to work with my colleagues because their views differ from mine. If we’ll work together, I have no doubt that this community will grow and succeed and the goals and aspirations we all have for our city can be achieved.

I thank you so much for your time and respectfully ask for your support in our municipal election on Tuesday.