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SM Kiwanis City Council Candidate
Forum
Tuesday, March 18, 2005
Video 1 (coming soon) Video 2 (coming
soon)
Sierra Madre Council Candidates (Minus 1)
Square Off at Kiwanis
By Bill Coburn
Sierra Madre Kiwanis held a
City Council candidate forum on Tuesday, and all but one candidate showed up.
According to moderator Clem Bartolai, Kiwanis received word Tuesday morning that
candidate Kevin Paschall would be unable to attend, but had asked his campaign
manager to read a statement for him. The statement informed attendees that
Paschall’s business as an auto broker did not allow him the luxury of taking a
day off, and that he was out of town, but hoped to be back in time to make it to
Mary’s Market for Taco Tuesday. I drove by Mary’s around 7:45, and he had made
it back in time.
Each candidate had a couple
minutes to make an opening statement. Mayor Joffe went first, stating that she
was running again because it’s been a challenging, satisfying job, and that
there are many good things that have gotten started, and there are a lot of
things she’d like to bring to completion. She stated that all the candidates
all want to preserve our small town, and that while we may not all agree on the
means, we all can agree on that end. She stated that she’s an environmentalist,
driving an electric car and owning an environmental business. She said she also
stands for fiscal responsibility, and that the City needs to tackle the budget
issues, not always a popular thing to do, but it is the right thing to do. She
said she also stands for responsible development, noting that there are several
important projects pending in town, and that while we can’t stop them, we do
need to control them very strongly.
Maryann MacGillivray was
next and said she was standing before the crowd for the second time, having let
eighteen years lapse from the first time that she did this. She said that
during her previous term, the council had re-written the General Plan, put in
place a Youth Master Plan because of changing demographics, and put an economic
development committee in place. She said the things that are prompting her to
run again are the same things that prompted her to run eighteen years ago,
protecting hillsides, developing responsible fiscal policy, maintaining our
autonomy, while at the same time providing essential services such as police,
paramedics, and the library.
“Eagle” Bill Tice went next
and noting that the city is divided, quoted John 3:16 and said we need to return
to the Cross and we need to forgive people. He stated that he thinks we need
prayer at the City Council meetings. He told everyone that he is very impressed
with Maryann MacGillivray, and that he thought she was the best Mayor we’ve ever
had.
John Buchanan spoke next,
advising Tice that “I can assure you, even if we don’t have public displays, a
lot of prayers are said silently at Council meetings.” He said that he’s
running because his service of the last four years has made him care possibly
even more than he did when he ran before. He said he wants to see a safe Sierra
Madre, a financially sound Sierra Madre. He wants to maintain the library,
because as a former trustee of the library, it’s near and dear to his heart. He
said he also wants to gather the random environmental policies that are around
the country, and put them into one place, the General plan, and make them the
economic base of this city to attract green businesses and promote green
policies. He said that what he will not do is walk around telling you that
there’s a phantom enemy out there that you should be afraid of, that you should
worry about what your neighbor is doing on the other side of the city. He noted
several local volunteer organizations and that these organizations make him
optimistic for the future, not afraid.
Following the opening
statements, was a Question and Answer session, in which questions from the
audience were fielded by the candidates. The questions ranged from the silly,
such as is it true that there are stoplights already stored in town, waiting to
be put up?, to the more serious such as If Measure P passes and Measure U fails,
how will you fund essential services? Candidates were asked about their
definition of family, an issue that involved MacGillivray in her first term.
They were asked how they planned to balance the City budget, and all candidates
noted that we have a balanced budget, but the budget needs help. All four
candidates stated in response to a question that they were in favor of Measure
U. Frequently discussed topics were the budget, the possibility of cutting
expenses, the desire to find new revenue sources. The General Plan and the
Hillside ordinance, 1 Carter and Stonehouse were discussed.
The complete forum will be
available for viewing on SMTV3 at some time in the future, but is available for
viewing online now at www.SierraMadreNews.Net/2008election.
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