For the first time this election season, Peachtree City voters were treated Monday night to a side-by-side comparison of the two candidates seeking the Post 1 City Council seat.
Newcomer Steve Allen, who works in information technology services and incumbent Eric Imker, who is retired, answered a number of pointed questions from the audience about city government operations, cost cutting and more.
Allen said, if elected to office, he wants to have his performance measured on the effect on home values, quality of life and enhancement of the city’s village retail centers.
One question challenged Imker’s pledge to serve for only one term on council when he was appointed in 2009 to the seat formerly held by Mayor Don Haddix. Imker countered that he hasn’t even served half of a four-year term yet.
“If me saying that I will run for only one term is an issue, then you’re going down the wrong street,” Imker said. “That does not affect the quality of life of citizens.”
Imker also defended his vote to increase property taxes in the city last year by 1.25 mills. Imker noted that he suggested $2 million in budget cuts, which were rebuffed by council, and had he supported a .5 mill increase instead, the city would have “gone bankrupt” in the following two years since it faced an $18-20 million shortfall over a five-year period.
Imker further noted that the City Council has put an additional $1 million into the city reserves last year and this year, with the plan to spend those funds down in the next three years to avoid property tax increases.
Allen said he would have “gone along with the voters” based on survey results about the millage rate which showed more than 49 percent of respondents were okay with a .25 mill increase. Allen also noted that more than 24 percent of survey takers favored a .5 millage rate increase.
Allen did not specifically say if he supported any specific millage rate increase.
“I would have gone along with the voters and made that happen, and looked at the following year in that context,” Allen said.
Allen said he favored doing more for economic development to expand city revenues, but Imker countered that in the current economy there was no way to close the $18-20 million shortfall with new and expanding businesses.
When asked about the proposed regional transportation sales tax, both Imker and Allen said they did not support the tax. Allen suggested that approval of that tax would help bring light rail and MARTA to Fayette County.
Later in the forum, Imker said neither MARTA nor light rail are coming to Fayette County, and he encouraged the audience to not believe such “fear mongers.”
Imker said a top-ranking state transportation official told council “if a municipality doesn’t want something, they are not going to spend money to put it there.”
“We have told them we don’t want light rail and we don’t want mass transportation,” Imker said.
In regard to the city’s development authority, Imker said he supported continuation of the seven-member volunteer group in its mission to help retail areas by encouraging new business and renovations. Imker said while the city council last year did not budget any money for the authority, it did allocate $7,000 this year.
Allen said he too favored the use of a development authority along with a professional full-time economic development coordinator in an effort to enhance city revenues. Allen said the Fayette County Development Authority does not work with retailers and small businesses, so there is no overlap in that regard.
Imker also defended a vote to downsize the staff of the city’s recreation department, saying that recreation services were being expanded, and not cut.
Allen said he agreed the city needs to be economical with its recreation expenditures, but also make sure they are strong.
Allen also suggested while the city could not stop further retail development from coming just across the county line in Coweta County, he wants to meet with officials in Coweta and Fayette counties in an effort to influence the development for the city’s benefit. He acknowledged that the city has no direct influence on the developments.
Allen said he thought the new stores “were dragging revenue” from the city. Imker countered that in terms of sales tax revenue from Sam’s Club as an example, the city was only missing about $50,000 a year; the city currently gets about $6 million a year in sales tax revenues, he added.
Imker did not address, however, the revenue the development would have generated in annual property taxes.
Imker argued that adding more retail to the city would “destroy” existing retailers in the city while adding an undesired traffic and crime problem
In terms of disposing of the city’s surplus vehicles, Allen said he would rather have city staff make the decision on which ones to eliminate instead of that directive coming from council.
“I would step back and ask the department heads to determine what they need, but I would let them tell me,” Allen said.
Imker noted that the city just approved a pilot program to lease seven vehicles with included maintenance for one year, and there is anticipated to be a cost savings there.
The city is working to get rid of more than 30 to 40 vehicles it doesn’t need, Imker said.
The candidates were also asked how they plan to improve civility in how city business is being conducted. Imker replied that he is not a “polished politician” and lacks “political correctness.”
“I try to work from the truth and the facts, and I hate it when people distort it or don’t give the entire picture for some political purpose. And I’m going to correct them,” Imker said. “And I’m going to give you my points of view, politically correct or not.”
Allen said that sometimes compromise is needed to avoid “warring camps.”
“Unless you have specific defined goals, and listen to everybody in a respectful way, things just don’t happen and they become battle zones,” Allen said, adding that reaching that point won’t happen immediately.
In his closing statement, Allen said the City Council needs to conduct itself to avoid embarrassing headlines that might harm the city’s ability to draw business here. He also said he supported efforts to attract colleges and technical schools here to increase workforce quality in an effort to attract more employers.
Imker’s closing statement highlighted fiscal achievements of the city, including a paring down of the city’s annual $3 million debt payment to $1 million within five years.
Earlier in the meeting, Imker admitted that the elimination of Randy Gaddo as leisure services director was “handled poorly” in part because little advance warning was given of the council vote on the matter.
The forum was hosted at The Gathering Place senior citizen’s center by the Peachtree City Rotary Club. The forum is an election-time tradition in Peachtree City.
