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ELECTIONS
Mayoral face off
Huntington Democratic mayoral candidates Bob Bailey, from left, Shawn Bresnahan, David Felinton and Lucile Wight participate in a forum sponsored by The Herald-Dispatch and WSAZ-TV on Tuesday, April 29, 2008, at Marshall University's Don Morris Room.
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HUNTINGTON — Democratic mayoral candidates for the city of Huntington covered a variety of topics at Tuesday night’s mayoral forum in the Marshall University Memorial Student Center.
Cabell County Commission President Bob Bailey, incumbent Huntington Mayor David Felinton, local business owner Shawn Bresnahan and Guyandotte resident Lucille “Lucy” Wight took prepared questions from sponsors WSAZ NewsChannel 3 and The Herald-Dispatch and the audience. The forum included questions about stimulating the city’s economy, fixing the local drug and crime problem and repaving the streets.
Candidates were limited to a one-minute response to answer the questions and were given time at the end of the forum for rebuttals. Aside from a few political jabs exchanged by Bailey and Felinton, candidates focused on what needs to be done to improve the city and take it out of its current financial struggles.
“We need someone who can run this city like a business,” Bresnahan said. “We need to increase revenue into this city, and we have to bring in outside money.”
Bresnahan, operating partner of Le Cook Store on 3rd Avenue, touted his years of business experience and spent most of the forum focused on bringing in new businesses, events and sponsorships to share in the city’s costs of improving the city.
Bailey, a veteran politician, said the next mayor needs experience and leadership to run Huntington.
“I manage people, I manage businesses. I know how to do this,” Bailey said. “I offer 37 years of leadership and experience.”
Felinton, a two-term incumbent, answered questions about both current and long-standing issues. During his opening and closing remarks, Felinton said he looked forward to the future and to helping implement changes that will take Huntington in a new directions focusing on art and tourism.
Wight, 81, expressed her willingness to fight for the city, literally. She often said she has solved problems in her own life by taking a hands-on approach, and she plans to do the same if she is elected.
A main staple of the forum was a discussion on the rising police and firefighter pension plan that now accounts for 20 percent of the city’s budget. Both Felinton and Bailey said they will attempt to once again pressure local state representatives to introduce Senate Bill 677, which would devote $15 million a year in state funding to help cities shore up their pension funds.
Bresnahan said increasing revenue in the city and grandfathering in new employees will help fund the city’s fledgling pension system.
In terms of a long-term plan for the advancement of Huntington, Felinton cited recent visits to Morgantown and Paducah, Ky., as inspiration for improvements to be made in the city. The installation of a surveillance system that offers Wi-Fi technology, the implementation of artistic elements and the further development of the Downtown area are only a few of the ideas for citywide improvement.
But before those improvements can be made, Felinton said the city has to find federal and state grants to help with the funding and pool the county’s resources to save on spending. Felinton favored a metro form of government that shares surrounding town services.
“We need to be able to put egos aside and combine services to be efficient,” he said. “The community should govern from the bottom up.”
Bailey said the city should be focusing on cleaning up the city’s drug and crime problem by hiring new police officers through attrition and taking care of the city’s dilapidated housing problem.
“We need to hold insurance companies responsible,” Bailey said. “Insurance money should be set aside until the houses (owned by out-of-state landlords) are torn down.”
Felinton said a recently hired additional housing inspector will help the city locate abandoned and dilapidated properties and take a proactive approach in collecting property fees. Recent legislation under the Home Rule Pilot Program, Felinton said, would also help the city combat the housing situation.
While Wight did not comment on the problem, Bresnahan said the dilapidated housing problem and crime are directly linked. It is the responsibility of the city to increase job opportunities in the area to ensure dilapidated houses are not used for illegal crime activities, he said
“We have to improve opportunities in the city,” he said. “When we increase job opportunities, we’ll have more people looking (for quality houses.)”
Bresnahan said he intends on bringing in more money, and business opportunities, by naming local buildings and locations after certain companies that will pay the city for the sponsorship. Holding more festivals and marketing them more frequently, he said, will bring more tourism dollars into town. Bresnahan said he would also like to see a riverboat gambling establishment make weekend stops in Huntington.
“We can be the regional hub for tourism,” Bresnahan said. “We need more festivals and events that’ll keep students in town and spending their money. We need to aggressively market the riverfront.”
Wight said before any activities are planned for Harris Riverfront Park, more should be done to clean up the graffiti-ridden area. Cleaning up the park, she said, will allow the city to host more events and recreational activities.
The winner of the Democratic primary on May 13 will face Republican Kim Wolfe and Independents Robin Howell and Tom McCallister in the Nov. 4 general election.
