Candidates in dog fight
Seven white guys and a yellow lab are running for mayor in Fairhope. Actually just the bipeds are in the race, since the dog announced too late to make the ballot cutoff date. So when the Citizens for Responsible Government and the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce sponsored a candidate Q&A at the Civic Center, only Jack Burrell, Rick Gambino, Bob Gentle, Tim Kant, Dean Mosher, Vince Valentim and Chris Warner were seated on stage.
The format was an intro by each, five questions with all candidates responding and finally the candidates’ closing comments. Since each of these activities was restricted to a closely monitored two minutes per candidate, voters got only a glance into their characters. However, additional questions will be sent to the candidates and their responses posted on a Web site.
While there was much that was political fluff, the intros provided some unique insights. Rick Gambino talked about his business experience and the need to help the small downtown businesses. Bob Gentle explained why he decided not to run and then decided to toss his hat in the ring with five others (Vince declared later). “People asked me to run and I realized that I had unfinished business,” Gentle said.
Vince Valentim talked about the need to help Rock Creek and Quail Creek (by implication other subdivisions east of Greeno Road) recover from the damage done them in implementing the Comprehensive Plan. While Chris Warner talked of the failure of that plan in constraining growth – asserting that the city had doubled in size since 2000 and “lost its charm.”
So what did I learn about the incumbent and these aspiring successors? To the man everybody’s for transparency in government, improved communications, responsiveness to all citizens, Fairhope’s uniqueness, quality of life, motherhood, apple pie and the American way. Once we look past these pro formas, real differences among the candidates do show up.
While most everyone endorsed the comprehensive plan and advocated scrupulously adhering to it (it approached being a motherhood and apple pie issue), Vince Valentim, dismissed it and the process that created it, calling them too expensive, while ineffective in controlling growth and traffic. Chris Warner seemed to accept the concept of a plan – noting that he is an urban planner – but not its implementation.
As the incumbent, Tim Kant painted a rosy picture of the state of the city – even to the point of describing his favorite rose (Mr. Lincoln). He recalled the great improvements made in Fairhope during his terms in office – even harkening back to when what it was like before he was hired as the first city agronomist in the state – back in the pre-floral period. He spoke of his drive to the meeting noting the beautiful flowers, handsome new buildings, happy citizens – all underpinned by solid finances and fiscal soundness.
This last item provided the centerpiece of his opponents’ call for change – and change in mayors. While Chris Warner described Fairhope’s financial state as “bleak,” it was Dean Mosher who laid out the problem in detail: noting that Mayor Kant repeatedly stated that the city had a surplus, Dean described it as “smoke-and-mirrors accounting.” Asserting that there was no surplus, but rather hidden debt, he continued, “this was money borrowed by the utilities and made into revenues.” If Mosher’s correct, then the whole scheme looks less like “commonly accepted accounting practices” and more like ENRON.
Dean was especially effective too, in describing the city’s neglect of the predominately minority community south of town. He said that the residents there were frightened of annexation – fearing added taxes, infrastructure costs and changes in zoning that would affect their way of life. He called for studying how to being them into the city to the mutual benefit of both communities. He also brought up the related problem of having no land use controls on the S.R. 181 corridor south of Wal-Mart; the city has to develop an “actionable” plan to get control over this area before commercial building begins.
Other noteworthy comments included Gentle’s promise to “keep an open door to the public, not the few” and to “bring back respect to city hall.” “Grow or die,” was offered by Tim Kant. Jack Burrell reminded everyone that Fairhope will grow – “can’t put a fence around it” – but we have to follow the village concept and work on making communities attractive to walkers and cyclists. Dean Mosher repeated this thought in calling for “Greenways” and community connectivity to make cars less necessary, cutting congestion on major streets and lowering our carbon footprint.
The issue of public transportation got a good discussion as did the concern for the high cost of living in Fairhope and its consequences for moderate income families, but compared to other topics, these evoked little passion.
One thing that did surprise me was how frequently candidates mentioned the idea of creating voting districts and electing members of the council from them – no more “at large.” They cited the benefits as being more directly responsive to citizens, providing easier and faster communications, and even affording the prospect of greater diversity in the leadership of the city. This is how Daphne elects its council and if implemented in Fairhope it could really change the political landscape of the city.
Right now if asked to declare a winner of this forum, I’d pick Dean Mosher. He had the clearest positions on issues that are of general concern, offered the most well-developed ideas, and showed greatest imagination in considering future problems and how to address them.
And to the missing canine candidate, I’m throwing him a bone with his first ever appearance in Lagniappe (God knows he’s been everywhere else). Good dog Willie Bean.
Contact Pete Gleszer at jubilee@lagniappemobile.com.
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