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Town council candidates square off in forum

Jesse Hollett
Posted 3/22/17

CUTLINE: From left, Ron Raymond, Eddie Henley, Larry Nichols, Alan Watt and Eugene Nix.

Town council candidates square off in forum

By Jesse Hollett

Staff Writer

ORANGE PARK – Despite …

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Town council candidates square off in forum


Posted

ORANGE PARK – Despite the competition between five candidates vying for two seats on the Orange Park Town Council, hopefuls left their first and only public forum with relatively few bruises Monday night.

Much of the theatrics that plagued other elections on a local, state and national the past year remained in candidates’ back pockets during the 90-minute forum at First Baptist Church of Orange Park. The debate gave the crowd of roughly 85 the chance to know where their future council member stands on a number issues.

Candidates discussed red light cameras, the state’s incursion into municipal power and reserve fund spending.

But that’s not to say there wasn’t contention. More than once, current Mayor Eugene Nix came under fire for running what his opponents call a dysfunctional town government.

“Our town is not in bad shape, and not everything is a problem, but failing to lead or act then blaming the staff for the poor outcome is not the kind of leadership that we need,” said Alan Watt, running to replace Nix on seat two, in his opening statements.

Former journalist and Vietnam veteran Larry Nichols shared a similar sentiment to Watt’s in his opening statements. Nichols and resident Eddie Henley are running against 1980s-era former council member Ron Raymond to fill Seat 1, which is wide open as council member Steve Howard is term-limited.

Each candidate held a different view of where the town currently stands, and where the town could go, which was apparent in their opening statements.

In his opening comments, Raymond spoke mainly of the town’s budget and business practices, which he said need substantial reworking, demystifying and streamlining, while Nichols stressed the importance of biking and kayak trails and inviting businesses other than fast food joints and gas stations.

Henley appeared visibly nervous throughout much of his opening and debate. His opening introduced himself as a family man and retiree with the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Nix exhausted his opening and ending statements reading from a list of town projects completed under his tenure as mayor.

The forum included questions both from audience members and the moderator. Quickly into the meeting, candidates answered questions on their view of municipal power, sometimes referred to as home rule.

A bill working its way through legislature right now, HB 17, would bar local governments from passing new regulations on businesses, professions or occupations. Opponents say the bill is so broad that it would essentially strip the regulatory capabilities from much of Florida’s 67 counties and its cities.

The Florida League of Cities, which advocates for Florida’s municipalities, has come out vehemently opposing the bill.

“I think the home rule we have is defined by our charter and is allowed by our state constitution,” Raymond said. He added that, in his opinion, the League of Cities is an association for bureaucrats.

Nichols opposed Raymond’s view, and said town officials need to get on a first name basis with their legislators and other advocacy agencies to have their needs heard.

“Those are the people you’ve got to network with, those are the people you’ve got to talk to get your point across. Other than that, you have to work into the League of Cities. We’re just not that large of a town,” he said. “There are 20 million people in the State of Florida – Orange Park has 8,500 – not a lot.”

When the moderator asked Henley for his reaction to the bill and his opinion on home rule, he conceded he was not familiar with the term or the bill.

“I realize that I come in as a newcomer…there are many doors that I have not yet opened to have access to, and I’m here today to tell you once I am able to be able to sit on these committees…then I will have an opportunity to make a conscious decision to do what is right for all citizens,” He said.

When the topic turned to the hotly contested red light cameras in the town, opinions varied between candidates. Watt came out in favor of the red light cameras, citing safety reasons. Raymond said the funds generated should not go to fund the town’s day-to-day operations. Watt went a step further and said he agreed with an opinion formerly voiced by council member Connie Thomas.

He said he liked Thomas’ idea of using red light camera revenue to shore up the town’s reserve fund.

Nix said he opposes the red light cameras because too often they are simply a revenue stream instead of a safety benefit.

The town currently relies on the red light cameras as an essential revenue crutch. The draft 2016-17 budget proposed by staff, while originally balanced, inflated after council members moved to add two new employees.

The budget passed, but had to use the reserve fund to make it balanced. The council rectified the budget by voting to extend the red light camera contract for another three years in January.

Nix said he opposes deficit spending, however, and prefers to use the reserve funds for what they were meant to be – a rainy day fund.

He then blamed the town manager for the budget’s deficit.

“That money should not be used for fun money, it should be based on a need basis and not to fund projects that are just fun to do,” he said. “So frequently we tend to – I say we, it’s the town manager’s budget.”

The forum then turned towards a more pressing issue – why young people have consistently avoided moving to the town lately.

“The thing that’s going to make the kids want to come back is they’ve got to have a reasonable cost of living. We’ve had our water rates go through the roof, we’ve had our taxes go through the roof,” Raymond said. “We’re beginning to see some of the young professionals come in but the regular kids haven’t been able to come back.”

Henley said the way to attract more young people was to invite more diversity, to add more activity centers and clean up neighborhood blight.

Nichols echoed this and said bike trails and kayak launch points would invite more young people to the area. He said there was state and federal grant money available to help accomplish this. Watt added that new amenities and fresh businesses would attract more young people and improve the quality of life in the town.

Nix disagreed, and said the quality of life is just fine. He said it was ultimately the town’s price tag that prevented new families from relocating.

Voters will head to the polls on April 11.