As the April election approaches, Jefferson City Council candidates in Ward 5 discussed Tuesday the needs of the community and how they would work to address them.
The News Tribune hosted a virtual forum for the Ward 5 candidates Mark Schreiber and Alicia Edwards to discuss their opinion on topics and respond to questions from the community.
Edwards said her top priority for Ward 5 would be to address the need for affordable housing and additional green spaces.
"I feel privileged to be in Ward 5 at this moment, but we do have some areas in Ward 5 that are eyesores and could get attended to in order to bring up the qualities of those areas to the rest of the areas in Ward 5," she said.
She also addressed pushing for a more community-based effort when it comes to leadership with departments such as police and fire.
"There's a big push for police body cameras, more funding for first responders and things like that," she said. "But if we don't know who these people are and how they're representing us, how are we supposed to want them to be funded?"
Schreiber agreed with Edwards on the importance of community engagement and voiced his support for police body cameras, calling them a necessary step.
"It's going to cost a great deal of money, but I think that we have to do it," he said. "We have to do it for the benefit of not only police officers, but for the benefit of the public as well."
Housing
Along the conversation of housing, Schreiber said, there needs to be a focus on providing people with what they need in terms of housing.
"I think, certainly, housing is an issue," he said. "(Schreiber's mother) was financially capable of living in a very nice retirement center when she moved, but there are many people that cannot. Some of the areas we have for citizens of our ages and economic, different backgrounds, some of the places they live are indeed starting to fail. They're outdated. They don't meet a lot of modern codes that are necessary."
Along the topic of housing, the city is looking at issues with properties in need of repairs.
Schreiber said it's the responsibility of residents and property owners to take care of the area.
"It is the responsibility of all of us to help keep our city looking beautiful," he said. "That requires responsibility of each of us as citizens to pick up the trash, to teach our young people that it's important that we do those types of things. That's why we have a cleanup on the east side."
Meanwhile, Edwards said the city should work with groups such as the housing authority and Habitat for Humanity to rehabilitate dilapidated buildings.
"We do have a housing shortage right now," she said. "(We should) redo these structures and give them to the families that are in need of them. There's structures that can be businesses, for small business owners, for young entrepreneurs."
The results of several studies and community input have discussed the need to expand public transportation through later hours and running routes on the weekend.
JeffTran
Both candidates agreed there's a need to expand JeffTran's hours of operations, which currently runs 6:40 a.m.-6 pm. on weekdays.
Edwards agreed with a need to expand the hours later in the day and on weekends, but recognized pushing past 6 p.m. could be a stretch at the moment.
"If we want to improve the economic status of our city, we have to on all levels, and transportation is a big need for our community," she said. "I believe that if we look at our budget, there's possibilities to extend that. I would definitely push to extend it for the weekends."
Schreiber said the transportation department has worked to address resident's concerns in the past with adjusting routes to certain locations. He also pointed out concern over funding, since the public transportation entity's purpose isn't to be a money maker.
"I agree, certainly on the weekends, would be an advantage for a lot of folks," he said. "I'm not exactly sure how we address all the issues with transportation. We're getting into issues now where we're more concerned about the age of the buses themselves and the safety standards that are met."
Sales and public safety tax motions
The City Council is currently discussing two tax motions that would go on the August ballot for voter consideration.
One would extend the city's sales tax for another five years while the other would introduce a public safety tax to address needs by entities such as the police and fire departments.
Schreiber said taking care of the city's needs come down to the residents and, for his part, he'd be willing to pay both of the potential taxes.
"It's yet to be determined whether both of those issues should be on the ballot at that time," he said. "Unfortunately, funding for the things we need in our city that money has to come from the citizens and the businesses that are here."
Edwards said she thinks a lot of time residents don't realize the cost behind the things they say they want.
"You want body cams, but they have a price tag. You want better streets and roadways, they have a price tag," she said. "It's a way we give back to get the things we're needing in our city."
This article was edited at 4:05 p.m. March 10, 2021, to correct the spelling of Mark Schreiber's last name and to correct a quote from Schreiber.