Varied views give Rochester voters real options at city Candidates Forum

From left, challengers Donna Ellis, Edwin Walker, Richard Krauss and Christopher Rice. (Rochester Voice photos)

ROCHESTER - Wednesday night's Candidates Forum was a night that allowed City Council incumbents to showcase their achievements and share their vision, while several newcomers to the political scene looked to stake out issues they were most passionate about.

Not unexpectedly, one of the first issues to be addressed was the transient population most visible downtown and how it might negatively impact the city's hopes for a downtown revival.

From left, City Council incumbents Jeremy Hutchinson, Elaine Lauterborn, Sandra Keans, Geoffrey Hamann and moderator and former mayor TJ Jean.

Ward 5, Seat A challenger Christopher Rice, who works as a law enforcement dispatcher, said if the city gives police the tools they need, "the transient problem goes away."

He also voiced his objections to bail reform, which allows most crime suspects to return to the street on no bail while awaiting trial, oftentimes reoffending multiple times in the process.

Ward 5, Seat B challenger Richard Krauss said police need better staffing to make the city safer. Krauss, Milton's Police Chief, also said he wanted to trim the elementary schools from eight to four and build efficiencies to make them more cost-effective.

Most of Wednesday night's discussion stayed fixed on the downtown, however, with Ward 6 Seat B challenger Donna Ellis saying she wanted to explore a different traffic pattern in the downtown, while incumbent Ward 5 Seat A councilor Ralph Torr had his focus on Route 11 where he said a traffic light is needed where Northgate Apartments and Cocheco Estates are both seeking egress onto Route 11.

"If you're at Cocheco Estates there's no way you're going to turn left toward downtown," he said.

Specifically regarding the transient and homeless problem, Torr fumed that all the social programs in the world wouldn't change the problem.

"I see "Help Wanted" signs everywhere, there's such a thing as laziness," he said.

Asked his ideas about the transient problem, Ward 1 Seat A incumbent Jeremy Hutchinson, a steadfast advocate for the homeless, said we should all be concerned about the problem but that compassion is key.

"I want us to work together to help these people, because when we work together, we work better," he said.

Rice, meanwhile, urged seeking a "Labor Ready"-type outfit to help transient populations get daily work. Now they have to go to Dover to seek day labor.

Another aspect of downtown was the recent discussion on whether smaller retail spaces or downstairs apartments should be allowed to subdivide on the first floor of several buildings expected to be rehabbed into commercial/mixed properties downtown. So far the plans are for restaurants on the first floor, with rental units on upper floors, but some believe there won't be enough larger-space seekers in those first floors.

Ward 4 Seat B councilor Geoffrey Hamann said the city needs to keep the buldings' larger commercial interests intact, while Ellis said smaller retail spaces could be an asset.

Regarding property rights and the curtailment of a city program that wanted to go into residences and recommend or mandate fixes using the "Broken Window" theory, Torr said that unless homeowners have an egregious safety hazard like a rotting porch or deck, property rights trump overzealous code enforcement.

Ward 2 Seat B incumbent Sandra Keans and challenger Palana Belken agreed on many items with Belken calling her youth and energy an asset while Keans leaned on her experience on the City Council.

Asked a question about whether the Rochester Fair, which draws thousands outside the region and state, should get some aid from the city, Belken said she might look into it, while, Keans, who has been a volunteer organizer on the fair for two years, said it would be entirely appropriate given the fair's important role in the city's vibrancy and economics.

During Mayor Caroline McCarley's Q&A with a media panel, she promised to look into the possibility of some sort of consideration for the fair in the future, noting its import to the city and region.

McCarley who is running unopposed, said she saw great things for Rochester, and she expected the momentum to continue. She said recent events like Pride Day and PorchFest continue to prove that the city is making strides toward that vaunted turnaround.

In closing remarks, she said she wants more development but she wants "smart development."

She also said she's hoping to foster a more "proactive civility" during City Council meetings.

"If some of the meetings weren't always that way I'll take some of the blame," she said. "We have to respect everyone's views."

The Candidates Forum was moderated by former mayor TJ Jean.