Two mayoral candidates, one council candidate participate in Co-Op Club forum

Two mayoral candidates and one city council candidate took part Tuesday night in the Ironton Women’s Co-operative Club’s Meet The Candidates Night at Ohio University Southern’s Bowman Auditorium.

In his opening statement, city council candidate Aaron Bollinger told the audience he loves his hometown and is pleased with the improvements that have been made within the city recently. Bollinger said he is eager to help continue the progress that has been made.

Bollinger was asked if he thought the city needed a full-time engineer. He replied he is willing to look at the city’s budget and see if it is more cost effective to have an in-house engineer or if hiring an outside consulting firm is the better solution.

In response to audience inquiries, Bollinger said he is opposed to Issue 2, and favors looking at expenses to see where cuts can be made rather than raising fees. Bollinger said he will not vote to approve a fee increase the voters have previously rejected. The political newcomer said he also wants to eliminate duplication of city services in an effort to cut costs.

Bollinger, who is a deputy at the sheriff’s office, was asked his thoughts on improving law enforcement within the city. He said, if its feasible, he would like to see staffing at both the police and fire departments kept at least at current levels. He would like to see more patrols and more done to prevent crime.

“Sadly, most law enforcement is reactive,” Bollinger said.

Bollinger told the audience he is running because he wants to give back to his community.

“I don’t feel I’m a politician,” he said. “I feel I’m a concerned citizen.”

Bollinger is one of four candidates running for three city council seats. The other candidates are incumbents Kevin Waldo and Frank Murphy and fellow newcomer Philip Heald. None of the other three submitted an RSVP by the required deadline to participate in the forum.

Bollinger was followed by two of the three mayoral candidates, incumbent Rich Blankenship and city councilman Bob Cleary.

In his opening statement, Blankenship said he is seeking another four years because he wants to “keep the momentum going.” He said when he took office a little more than three years ago, the city infrastructure was crumbling and there were flooding issues that needed to be solved.

Blankenship said, during his tenure, medical facilities have made a comeback, with some projects near completion or already in operation. He said he has gotten grants to pay for many of the improvements to the water and sewer lines and to pay for the new Nixon Hill water tank.

In his opening statement, Cleary said he is running for mayor because he is “not satisfied with the progress made today.” Cleary said, as a business owner, he understands the problems that face city businesses today. He said he would focus on every opportunity to bring jobs into the city and, if elected, would work to bring a spec building into the South Ironton Industrial Park. Cleary said he would also focus his attention on paving streets and alleys and said he though the city should hire an engineer instead of paying a consultant.

The candidates were asked about what could be done regarding poor building maintenance of downtown businesses. Cleary said he thought more effort should be made to bring in new business.

Blankenship said the responsibility for neglected buildings lies with the building’s owner. He said the city has a new code enforcement officer whose job it is to inspect such buildings. He said the city will work with businesses owners to get them to keep their property neat and he said city council should pass an ordinance to force property owners to take responsibility for their property.

In response to an audience question, both men described themselves as fiscal conservatives. Blankenship praised finance director Kristen Martin for her close supervision of city finances. Cleary said he thought tough times were coming up because the city’s annual carryover was getting smaller each year.

Cleary repeated his desire to build a spec building at the industrial park.

“The point got one eight years ago,” he said.

Blankenship said the problem with spec buildings is, if you build it and it does not get an occupant right away, the city then has an empty building on its hands.

“You don’t want an empty building,” Blankenship said. He said, in his tenure, 23 new businesses have moved into the city.

“I see continued interest in the city, people wanting to build,” he said.

Cleary countered that in that same time, 17 businesses have closed.

The two men were asked their thoughts on hiring an in-house engineer versus hiring an outside consultant. Cleary said when the city did have an engineering office, it paid $250,000 a year for a full-time engineer and four full-time employees but now that the city has E.L. Robinson as a consultant, the cost is nearly $1 million dollars.

Blankenship countered he did not think the city was big enough to have a full-time engineering office. He said when the city had an engineer, some projects still had to be farmed out, such as the water tank projected.

One person in the audience asked what creative way the two men have to raise revenues without raising taxes.

Cleary said the city should raise revenue without having the raise taxes and said he thought when the new water tank was built, it saved money on water filtration costs and that savings should be passed on to the consumer.

Blankenship said he is actively marketing the Ninth Street and former Ironton Iron sites in an effort to increase the tax base and, therefore, increase revenues.

Both men said they are opposed to Issue 2. A third candidate, Karl Wentz, was invited to participate in the forum but did not RSVP in time to take part.

The forum will be aired on Time Warner Cable’s educational access channel, Channel 25, at 7 p.m. Thursday, 7 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Tuesday.