 |
Candidates were questioned by Midway Messenger reporters, students in the University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media. The moderator was their Community Journalism instructor, Al Cross, editor and publisher of the Midway Messenger.
|
By Gage O'DellUniversity of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media
Candidates for Midway City Council mostly agreed on issues
in an online forum Monday evening, but the idea of funding public restrooms
downtown brought some disagreement.
Questions in the forum sponsored by the Midway Woman’s Club and run by the Midway Messenger also included strategy on tax rates, industrial rezoning around
Midway Station, funding another round of covid-19 relief for businesses, and
speeding on city streets.
After four candidates said they were open to funding a
public restroom downtown for visitors, Council Member Logan Nance disagreed.
“At this point I don’t believe I support public funding for
a restroom downtown,” Nance said. “I have concerns with the logistics of
building the facility and maintaining it.” He said city employees are already
overworked, and “Not having public restrooms does force people into the
restaurants.”
Candidate Mary Raglin, who answered immediately after Nance,
agreed.
“I don’t really see a need for a public restroom,” Raglin
said. “It would force them to go into the restaurants that they are supporting
and use the restrooms there.”
Steve Simoff, who answered eighth and last, was a strong
proponent for the restroom idea.
“I think there is a way to work it out,” Simoff said. “I
firmly believe there is a need for public restrooms downtown and we need to
take that burden away from the store owners and restaurants.”
Council Member Stacy Thurman said businesses have been seeking
public restrooms for years, “which makes me think there is a need, of sorts,”
but more research is needed.
“I would talk to other cities that have a public restroom
and see how it works, who maintains it and is it opened twenty-four hours,”
Thurman said. “These are all questions I would want answered before I approach
having it publicly funded.”
She said such a project would need to be a partnership with
the Midway Business Association, but “I do think there is a need.”
The other candidates also took a cautious approach. Council
Member Kaye Nita Gallagher, who answered first, said she was willing to
consider the idea.
Adam Bailey said it is “definitely something to explore” but
probably not until the pandemic has ended.
Council Member Sara Hicks said, “I don’t see us doing it
right now, though it would be great to have.”
Andrew Nelle was more skeptical. He said most people in need
of a restroom probably use restaurants’ restrooms, and “I would like to see a
serious need.”
Council Member Bruce Southworth and former member John
McDaniel did not participate in the forum, which was broadcast on the
Messenger’s Facebook page and YouTube. The order of questions was rotated among
the candidates, in pairs of the five incumbents and non-incumbents.
Taxes: Asked if the city should continue to reduce property tax
rates if real estate assessments continue to go up, reduce the occupational tax
rates, or enact some other kind of relief, candidates generally took a
wait-and-see attitude.
But Nance again stood out, saying, “If we’ve decided there’s
not a ton of places to build more homes, I do think we need to look at reducing
or getting rid of property taxes at the city level altogether.”
Hicks, who answered this question first, said, “I think
during this covid period, we need to see how we are doing in terms of income
for the city before we think about reducing property tax further or reducing
occupational tax.”
The other six candidates generally agreed with Hicks that
with the current climate, it would be tough to predict if they could continue
to reduce property taxes in the future.
Development: The candidates also agreed that it was time to stop rezoning
land in and around Midway for industry, especially once Midway Station hits
capacity.
“Once we get Midway Station full, which it’s almost done,
that’s it,” said Gallagher, who answered first. “No, we don’t need to develop
anymore.”
Bailey, who answered next, said, “I think it’s critical that
we use that urban service development area, those boundaries and stay within
that.”
Thurman and Nance also opposed expanding the urban services
boundary, which limits industrial and commercial development. Nance noted that
he voted last year against annexation and industrial zoning of 138 acres next
to Midway Station.
Speeding: Asked what should the city do about speeding on city
streets, candidates had a variety of thoughts.
Thurman, who answered first, said “I think we should look at
speed tables,” which raise the entire wheelbase of a vehicle, are flat-topped
and can form crosswalks. “We’ve talked about bulb-outs at the post office, and
caution lights.”
Bulb-outs are circular extensions of curbs at intersections,
which narrow the street, discouraging speeding.
Simoff, who spoke next, said, “I think students at the
university could help a great deal. I know they’re rushing to class, but I’ve
sat at intersections many times and seen them going at excessive speeds.”
Gallagher said, “I think we need speed humps again on
Stephens Street.”
The other candidates agreed with some of the options
mentioned, and said the city should work with the state, which has rejected the
idea of lowering the 35 m.p.h. speed limit on Winter Street, which is a state highway.
Summing up: During opening and closing statements, candidates said why
they’re running and made appeals to the nearly 100 voters watching.
Bailey said he wants to “give back to the community who’ve
given myself and my family so much.”
Nelle said he “wants to bring a fresh set of eyes and
perspective to the council” as well as “create an environment of prosperity.”
Raglin said she “wants to be that voice you don’t hear; I
want to be that Black voice. I’ve lived in Midway all my life and I’ve been
silent. I don’t want to be silent anymore, I want my voice to be heard.”
Simoff, who was on the council in 2017-18, said his
objective is to “serve the city and citizens of Midway and to finish the work
the present City Council has started and to further better the community.”
Gallagher said she is running for re-election because “she
wants to see some of the projects the current council has going finished.”
Hicks said she is seeking her fourth term because “I have
been chair of the property and cemetery committee and those are places I still
have work that I’d like to see done.”
Nance said he is running for his second term because he
“wants to make sure to protect that farmland that surrounds us and reinvesting
in our infrastructure.”
Thurman said she is seeking a second term because “I can
help my community and I can be a part of the change.”