Funding for projects is one of the biggest challenges the Jefferson City Council Ward 3 candidates expect to face.
The News Tribune hosted a virtual forum Thursday for candidates Mary Schantz and Scott Spencer to discuss issues and respond to questions from the community.
Schantz grew up in Ward 3. She was executive director of the Missouri Alliance for Home Care and is a longtime member of the Historic Preservation Commission.
Spencer was born and raised in Jefferson City. He's a retired city firefighter and captain and now works as an account specialist for Firehouse Design Studio Inc.
Both candidates said funding will be the biggest challenge faced, if elected.
The city needs to address infrastructure, road conditions and the stormwater system, Schantz said, which costs money.
"We can look at new development and new ideas so that we put in designs in the future for buildings and roads that are going to mitigate and reduce stormwater problems in the future," she said. "You can make a plan, you work on a plan, the plan has to be flexible because you have crises that come up that have to be dealt with."
Spencer agreed the common denominator when it comes to stormwater, streets, public safety and transportation, along with other issues, comes down to funding.
"I think what we have to do is develop and increase our economic development footprint," he said. "By partnering with the county and maybe even some other surrounding counties, we can do that. The city has to be a willing partner in embracing businesses into our community. We also want to encourage our local businesses to expand."
Housing
Jefferson City is facing an issue with buildings on a demolition list but lacks the current funding to complete that list, Spencer said.
This can cause issues with people's willingness to live in neighborhoods, he continued.
"I would be an advocate of maybe dipping into reserve fund balance and to deal with this issue and get some significant dollars in place," he said. "Have an open bid process for companies to come in and bid on the work for removing the list of those homes that need to be demolished."
The city needs to make affordable housing a priority and work with the other organizations to address it, Spencer said.
"This is where we need to have our state, county, nonprofit organizations, school board address the problem," he said. "We need to come together around the table and make it a priority. The city alone cannot solve this issue - we have to have partners - but the city can take the lead in this."
Schantz said it's a shame to see any buildings and housing fall into disrepair and the city needs to use the tools it has to keep more from getting to that point.
"There's some Community Development Block Grant money that can be used in certain neighborhoods and by certain homeowners to do things like help with code violations, weatherization, down payment assistance for people who want to purchase homes," she said. "We have some not-for-profits here in town, like the Historic City of Jefferson and others, that are concerned and will work with people that are trying to restore many of these houses."
Affordable housing, she said, has been an issue and was exacerbated by the 2019 tornado. Housing as a whole is an issue, and the city should work with those trying to address it.
"The city doesn't build houses, but the city, I think, has a role in creating the environment for affordable housing and all kinds of housing," Schantz said. "We have partnerships, like River City Habitat for Humanity and that's a good partnership and they take on a lot of the burden, but River City Habitat can't build the city out of an affordable housing crisis it's going to require some code changes. It's going to require some kind of out of the box thinking."
Transportation
Spencer said the city also needs to prioritize addressing deficiencies with public transportation within the city.
For instance, he addressed a need to increase the number of hours JeffTran operates, but the issue comes back to funding.
"I think our ability is to raise fares. I know that's been tried in the past, and its been opposed as well," he said. "Also, we can emphasize it as a priority based on our budget."
Schantz said the city needs to ask itself as a community if it is committed to alternative forms of transportation such as buses, biking and walking.
She suggested trying to work with businesses to discuss if they have reasons to be invested in public transportation, increasing ridership and working with their employees who use JeffTran.
"I think there might be a few ways to look at that," she said. "But I think we first need to answer that question because it is a cost issue. Is this a priority we want to take on, and are we committed as a community to alternative modes of transportation?"
Tax motions
Both candidates voiced support for two tax motions the City Council is considering putting on the August ballot for voters.
One would extend the city's capital improvement sales tax for another five years, while the other would introduce a public safety tax to address needs for entities such as the police and fire departments.
Schantz said, in terms of the capital improvement sales tax, it makes sense since a portion of that funding goes toward projects the city and county work on together.
"The new public safety tax, absolutely I support it," she said. "We've made a commitment that we have to have our public safety the way it needs to be. We had a survey done years ago that said our police and firefighters needed raises. We have not been able to implement those raises because we haven't had the financing."
Spencer said he would also support both taxes but with a caveat.
He argued the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department should not receive funding through the sales tax since it has its own tax that brings in approximately $5.5 million a year.
"I think that's a discussion we really need to have because that was the intent all along from the parks and rec to have that self- funded dedicated sales tax," he said. "The public safety tax, you know, that is a tax that is needed to address our safety personnel retention for salaries. As a community, we invest in our public safety personnel. We educate them, we equip them, we train them. But this all takes money. And when we lose them to other agencies, we lose that investment."