Wednesday, Oct. 22, a local candidate meet and greet was held at The Balkan and Block22 ahead of the upcoming Nov. 4, elections. There are six candidates running for three available seats in the Pittsburg City Commission. Candidates spoke personally with members of the community one on one at tables set up around a room.
The six candidates running for the commission are retired Director of Development at the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, Mayor Dawn McNay; Pittsburg State University Police Chief, Commissioner Stu Hite; retired Master Sergeant of the United States Army, DJ Perry; owner of multiple businesses, Commissioner Cheryl Brooks; PSU grad student majoring in human resource development, Jackson Bertoncino; and PSU Alumnus and lifelong Pittsburg resident, Isaiah Harris.
All six candidates commented on a range of topics including successes and needed improvements in the city, internet backlashes, reasons for running, and messages to our students. However, due to limited space in the paper and the nature of fitting six interviews into one article, most of the content was cut. In the interest of responsibly sourcing quotes and preserving the context in which points were made, this article will focus on the questions of affordability and the role of the commission as it pertains to the city budget and taxes.
At the Oct. 20, candidate forum held by the Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce and the Morning Sun, the subject of affordability was brought up as an important topic. However, as is common when speaking to a general audience, the candidates often gave vague responses about affordability. When the Collegio spoke with candidates at the meet and greet, they were each asked to present their specific plans or ideas for how affordability can be achieved.
McNay said that often developers demand financial incentives in order to create affordable housing and is proud of Pittsburg’s ongoing efforts with the City Housing Incentive Program as a way to create housing and jobs.
“Developers that add housing for lower income levels need incentives,” McNay said. “Several projects have received tax credits though the state, the Smithsonian is an example. But I’m really proud of our city manger who had grant money that had been sitting there for a while and we’re using that to add homes on land bank lots that will be for low to moderate income families. And we’re working with local developers and contractors, so the money stays local.”
Hite said that difficulties with affordability are experienced by leaders all over the United States and presented budget balancing measures as a solution.
“It’s a nationwide situation (affordability) that every city leader and every small or large town has to contend with,” Hite said. “If we lower our revenue through (lowering) taxes, then we obviously have to lower our expenses somewhere.”
Perry said he is a fan of the City Housing Incentive Program and sees it as an intersection of improving housing and filling trade jobs.
“I’ve been doing a lot of research for months and one of the things that’s affecting (affordability) right now is that the city is a 70% rental property economy,” Perry said. “The number of trade job vacancies that we have in the entire world right now is a big part of this. Working with local tradesmen, wanting them to build in our area, and making it an environment where they want to come here is a big key to that. We’ve all been talking about the CHIP program, I’m a big fan of that, it’s working great. There is no one answer that will make this next day fixed, but we can do it, Pittsburg’s worth it.”
Brooks reframed the topic of affordability away from government plans and instead as a personal responsibility to live within individual means and understand “everything’s not handed to you.” While this is not directly a plan, this view of individual responsibility is popular and can be seen as a policy.
“Affordability means a lot to different people,” Brooks said. “A lot of times, people want the gold ring, but they don’t want to do the work for it; they want the big house, but they want somebody else to pay for it. We don’t live beyond our means. Personal finance and understanding how the world works and that everything’s not handed to you. My husband and I – we’re guilty of working 24/7, 365, but we’re a small business, we’ve been around forever, we have a good reputation, and I’m happy. (As for) taxes, I understand capturing the growth, but you can’t keep taking from the people all the time.”
Bertoncino said that zoning reform would help with affordability and draw more people to the city. Currently the majority of residential zoning in Pittsburg does not allow for the increase in density that Bertoncino believes would meet the needs of a “thriving community.”
“If we want Pittsburg to be a thriving community that encourages people to live here, we have to make sure that we are meeting everybody’s unique housing needs,” Bertoncino said. “That requires modernizing our zoning laws and reducing red tape. Right now, 70% of Pittsburg is zoned for single family homes, if you want to live in an apartment, duplex, or add an accessory dwelling to your property to loan out to someone in need, that’s often not possible. Beyond that, looking to see if the city can partner with local banks, the county, and the state to help connect people with loans that they need to buy a house.”
Harris said affordability can be improved by ensuring community programs are able to help those that need a hand. Harris said area nonprofit organizations are easier to fund through the city rather than have the city try to replace the same services and resources already provided by these organizations.
“Oftentimes, the cheapest way to get things done, is to support the organizations that are already doing that work,” Harris said. “The Humane Society, the recycling center, the Southeast Kansas Community Action Program, the Safe House Crisis Center, and the Wesley House – all of these groups are nuanced and complicated. The role of a city commissioner is to not only understand the City Government, but how we can use the resources that the City Government has to support these organizations to help continue to provide support for the City of Pittsburg.”
In recent interviews and public statements from the three candidates running for reelection, Brooks, Hite, and McNay, there were some conflicting statements about the role of the city commission in the budget process. Some of this stemming from a Sept. 8, city commission meeting, in which the commission voted on a budget proposal that caused an increase in taxes to cover the budget. At the meet and greet, the Collegio asked each candidate to weigh in on the role of the commission when it comes to the budget.
McNay said the commissioners review the budget and give input, but they focus on the overall direction, not the details which are left to the city manager.
“We do have several opportunities to review the budget and share what our opinions are,” McNay said. “But managing the budget, managing operations, is the city manager. So are we going to sit there and go page by page on the budget? No. We’re going to confirm the priorities and focus that we have, and then the city manager operationalizes that.”
Hite said he disagrees with the assertion that making changes to the budget is not the commission’s job. Hite said it was a primary responsibility.
“I would very respectfully disagree with that,” Hite said. “It’s absolutely one of our primary responsibilities. We have to approve all appropriations. That’s up to us to review those things. A city that’s progressive rarely has no changes in their needs whether it be manpower or supplies.”
Perry said the commission should be more hands on with the budget with more time involved in order to be effective, citing his experience working on budgets for the Kansas National Guard.
“I think the commission needs to be more involved with the budget,” Perry said. “As an operations NCO for the Kansas National Guard, I worked on a budget for roughly six months for every annual budget. Commissioners need to be involved for a series of months, have hands on information, and have some effect on what’s going on.”
Brooks said budget cuts are not part of the job, the commissioners do not run the city, and are not allowed to “interfere with the day-to-day operations.”
“It is not part of the job for us to make cuts to the budget,” Brooks said. “We can suggest, but the city manager is the one who does the operations of the city. That’s the biggest misconception, that the city commissioners run the city. We do not, the city manager runs the city. The municipal code states that the commissioners are not to interfere with the day-to-day operations.”
Brooks, like Perry, said the commissioners should be more involved and she wants to know more about the budget with more time.
“If we are going to be involved, we need to be involved,” Brooks said. “I want to know more about what’s going on and where the money’s being spent. We need a study session, an all-day event that takes it by sectors. To say that we have this book for five months, I can’t tell you that every commissioner has read it from front to back and understands it. The budget book needs to be better than the paper that it’s written on. You don’t want to get in a big hurry when you’re using numbers, and a lot of times it’s very confusing.”
Bertoncino said part of the job of providing for the city is cutting excess waste, comparing taxes to an investment with an expectation of improved lives.
“I do think it is part of the job, if there is excess waste that we can cut,” Bertoncino said. “The job is to make sure we’re providing for Pittsburg. Taxes are an investment that the people make to the government with the expectation that we’re going to use that money to improve their lives. I don’t think cuts (in services) are anything people want to see, especially when it comes to vital services that people rely on.”
Harris credited a phrase Hite used at the recent candidate forum that the job is stewardship of taxpayer money along with Harris’ belief in delivering for the people of Pittsburg.
“I really respected how Stu describes ‘being a good steward of the taxpayer’s money,’” Harris said. “That ultimately is the role of the city commission. To make sure that the things the budget is going toward is, with a high degree of confidence, things that will deliver for the people of Pittsburg. And I think the city manager does a lot of great work in providing financial transparency that was not seen before.”