Some follow-up to the Racine mayoral forum from Monday night: candidate Jody Harding has submitted her answers in writing to all of the questions asked of the candidates. The format allowed only selected candidates to answer each question, presumably due to time constraints.
I have agreed to publish her answers here in their entirety.
Economy – Section 1
1. 18.6 percent of Racine’s mortgages are underwater and foreclosures are rising. What steps will you take to address these issues?
The most important thing we can do keep people in Racine in their homes is to get them working. It is imperative that we create a business-friendly environment that encourages new business to locate here, and allows existing business to expand. We do that by ending the trend toward constantly increasing regulations, and by curbing the power of an over-zealous Development Council that tells business owners what type of business they can open, where it can be located, and even what color they can paint the building.
The second thing we can do to help struggling homeowners is to get our property tax rates under control. Property tax makes up a large part of most mortgage payments, and our tax bills have gone up over 30% in the last 6 years. Incomes, even for those with secure jobs, have not kept pace. We must re-evaluate government spending, and learn to distinguish wants from needs. Government needs to eliminate waste, reduce debt and learn to live within our means, just as we expect our citizens to do.
Finally, organizations like UNIT, must be reigned in. A property owner who is struggling to make a house payment doesn’t have the money to replace peeling paint or repair a damaged gutter. Fining that owner an additional $50 he can’t afford, and eliminating his ability to argue that fine, only makes the problem worse, increases stress and encourages one more families to leave the area.
2. The population is down approximately 10% in Racine, what can be done to reverse this trend?
I speak with people every day who are just waiting for a chance to “get out” of Racine. Their reasons are almost always the same: Their children are in danger. They and their children have no future here. They want to leave before taxes eat up their retirement income. Generally, an air of hopelessness permeates this city.
Solutions for safety come naturally from within our neighborhoods. Neighborhood Watch and other groups are driving out crime one block at a time. While police play an important role, the city must get behind these grassroots organizations who are making the real progress, and give them the support, coordination and resources that they need.
Secondly, in order to give a future to our residents, we must make Racine a business-friendly community. We must stop the over-regulation that dictates what type of business can come here, where it can be located and even what color the building can be painted. People with an entrepreneurial and creative spirit should have the freedom to expand their ideas and their business. The benefit for all of us is growth in jobs and opportunities.
Finally, we must stop taxing our people to the breaking point. Our tax rates have driven business and families out of town. We must re-evaluate government spending, and learn to distinguish wants from needs. We need to eliminate waste, reduce debt and learn to live within our means.
3. Are there opportunities for consolidation in the city budget? If so, what specifically are they?
There are many opportunities for consolidation in the budget. The best-publicized area is the consolidation of city and county police and fire dispatch. Much has been made of the tendencies of department heads to want to retain control of what they consider to be “their” people and resources. These attitudes can be overcome by people who have the best interest of the community at heart. Consolidation in this case will take more than just moving two offices into one building and training people to work together. We need a firm plan and a timeline to make this project work, but the problems are not insurmountable. The benefits in efficiency and resource savings are more than worth the effort.
There are also other kinds of consolidation that can be preformed within our city government. As a business manager, I have reviewed many jobs and departments for potential consolidation and redistribution of work for greater efficiency. The mayor has an on-going responsibility to be aware of what is happening within city offices, and to discuss strategies for improvement with department heads. American business has been forced to get leaner and learn to do more with less. Government should be following those same trends.
4. What is the biggest problem facing the city of Racine? What steps will you take to fix it?
The single biggest problem facing Racine is the sense of despair that hangs over all our people. We have raised a generation of young- and not-so-young people who don’t value education because they don’t believe they will find a job even after they graduate. Too many of our citizens believe what has become a sort of “urban myth,” that there is some kind of conspiracy that keeps people of certain ethnic or economic backgrounds from advancing. Even many of our middle- and upper-class residents believe Racine is a dying town.
If Racine is to survive, we must change this attitude of despair into one of hope. We must prove to our young people that there will be employment ready for them, by encouraging job-providing business to locate and stay here. We must provide hope for home ownership by keeping property taxes low so that mortgage payments remain within reach. We must provide an atmosphere of opportunity to those who take new and innovative approach to business, and not smother them with unnecessary regulation.
Finally, we must return a sense of individual responsibility to all of our citizens, punishing those who disrupt our peace and prosperity, but without hindering law-abiding individuals in their pursuit of happiness.
5. Explain your anti-poverty agenda, what is the first action on the list, and who you would work with to gain support and achieve success?
The most important part of fighting poverty is education. First, we need to make sure that every child in Racine learns the basic skills of reading, writing, using a computer and managing his own finances.
Secondly, we need to make sure that people who lack that education have the opportunity to acquire it. There are many government and private organizations that provide help with rent, food and transportation, as well as information about how to go about getting a GED, or where to get training in a specific skill.
Unfortunately, many people who want to change their life by getting an education and a job don’t know where to start. I would like to see the city create an office that coordinates information from all of the organizations that provide public services. If a young woman with a baby wants to go back to school, it should be easy for her to find answers to questions like, “Who will take care of my baby while I’m in class? How will I pay my rent?” If we had a one-stop-shop to provide these answers, more people could take advantage of the resources that are available to them.
Finally, we must educate all of our citizens to knowledge of their own potential. The city must support the local organizations that are reaching out and teaching people that the only limit to their success is the limit they place on themselves.
6. What plans do you have to bring new businesses to Racine?
Business will not come to Racine until we get the problems of crime, taxation and over-regulation under control. Our police do a good job of solving crime, but they are not responsible for preventing crime. Prevention must come from within the community. There are already a number of organizations that are making good progress making our neighborhoods safer. The city needs to get behind these groups and give them the support, coordination and resources they need.
Secondly, we need to cut the waste from our budgets and get our taxes under control. We have already seen business leave the city and move just outside our borders where they are not strangled by city taxes. And not taxes only. Business-owners are becoming seriously over-regulated. Downtown merchants have to follow rules about everything from the design of their signage to the colors they can paint their buildings. People with the drive and creativity to generate business and jobs shouldn’t be hampered by unnecessary rules imposed by bureaucrats.
Finally, we need to be able to provide incoming business with an available workforce. While we have more than our share of unemployed persons looking for work, we need to make sure our citizens have both the technical skills, and the “soft skills” employers value.
7. How will you balance between avoiding increases in real estate taxes with an under-funded budget?
In fact, once we distinguish between “wants” and “needs”, we find that our budget is not underfunded. What we have in the budget is a large amount of waste that needs to be cut out. We need to get our capital spending under control so that we do not add new debt every time some old debt is paid off. We need to consider the city budget like any other business or personal budget, and learn to live within our means. This means giving more thought as to whether we can get another year or two out of that city vehicle, and whether now is the right time to start a remodel project.
A decrease (or even a lack of increase) in city taxes leaves more money in the hands of our citizens. That means business has more money to expand, and to pay employees. It means individuals have more money to spend within the community, and support our local shops. It means rents and costs of other goods and services aren’t forced to go up in order to cover an ever-increasing tax burden.
Some people at this table feel we can fund city expenses with money we receive from State and Federal government. We have to remember that state and federal money also comes from the pockets of our citizens. We have to reduce the total burden we are placing on our people if we want our economy to grow and our city to prosper.
8. Much was made by city politicians about the new LGBT Center opening on Junction Avenue in the City’s Uptown Corridor redevelopment district. Would you have supported the LGBT Center’s zoning application request? Why or Why not?
Our city council needs to decide whether or not they want try to legislate morality. They claimed that they could not refuse the zoning request of the LGBT Center because it implied a moral judgment. Later that same evening they refused a liquor license to a retailer because there were already “enough” liquor stores in the area – a moral judgment. You can’t have it both ways.
In my opinion, moral judgments do not belong in bureaucratic decisions. The people running the LGBT Center have every right to use property they own for any lawful purpose, and the city council was right in approving their application. If residents of the neighborhood and other members of Racine society do not want this center here, they have a number of peaceful and legal ways of encouraging the group to locate elsewhere.
At the same time, I believe that the person who wanted the liquor license should not have been denied. He also has every right to use his property as he sees fit. If there were in fact, “enough” liquor stores in that area, his business would have gone broke and the problem would have been solved without bureaucratic interference.
In short, I don’t believe the government should have the right – short of safety concerns – to tell law-abiding citizens how to use their own property.
Environment/Transportation – Section 2
1. Racine has taken part in the Mayoral Compact on Climate Change. What are your intentions as Mayor regarding this agreement?
I have read the agreement, and I would have no objection to signing it. Its actions can largely be summed up by saying that we agree to recommend governmental policies that encourage reduced greenhouse emissions, that we carefully consider the environment when making land-use decisions, and that we do our best to educate our citizens to the benefits of environmentally sound actions. In many cases, environmentally wise decisions are also wise from an economic and efficiency viewpoint. “Reduce – Reuse – Recycle” benefits both our environment and our pocketbook.
2. What measures can the city take to help businesses and homeowners who want to be more energy efficient?
I would like to see the city create an office that coordinates information from all of the organizations that provide public services, including those that promote energy efficiency. A homeowner who doesn’t have the cash to add extra insulation to this home might do so if he learned about a program that would help him cover the cost.
The best way to promote energy efficiency is through education. Most people today are aware of the need to keep our air and water clean. They know they need to recycle, and they know they shouldn’t pour the oil from their car down the sewer drain. But beyond that, many people don’t know what they can do, or what resources are available, to help keep Racine clean and green.
There are a number of government and private organizations that work with individuals and businesses to promote energy efficiency. I know of one organization that helps landlords pay for installing energy efficient windows in their apartments. A state agency gives rebates to homeowners who install new, energy efficient furnaces.
Everyone understands the benefits of energy conservation. We need to improve awareness of what we can do, and what help is available, to help us conserve.
3. Would you support a Green Building ordinance that would require green building as part of the city’s building code?
I believe that the fewer regulations we put on business, the better off we all are. Building codes are designed to protect people’s safety. Keeping the public safe from sub-standard materials and shoddy workmanship is the proper business of government. Demanding specific levels of energy efficiency from a builder has nothing to do with safety and is not properly part of a bureaucratic decision.
If you drive out along Highway 31, you will see new housing developments. When you talk to the builders and the new owners, you will find that these homes have been built with outstanding energy efficiency in everything from triple-glazed windows to ultra-efficient furnaces. These efficiencies were not mandated by law, but were demanded by educated home buyers. The builders included these benefits in order to get the best price for their homes.
Education and enlightened self-interest has largely answered the question of “green building” without any government interference. I don’t see any reason why government should try to regulate something that is working fine on its own.
4. Do you think there should be city ordinances to support alternative energy in Racine? If so, which would you propose or support?
I would be very happy to see Racine convert all city vehicles to natural gas until a more efficient fuel is developed. I would also be glad to see the city provide some sort of tax incentive to individuals and businesses that took quantifiable measures to increase energy efficiency.
As of this date, I have not heard of any alternative energy ordinances proposed for Racine. I believe that the fewer regulations we put on business, the better off we all are; therefore, I would have to consider any such proposed ordinances very carefully.
5. What steps would you propose to restore our parks and natural areas?
Racine has a number of beautiful parks and natural areas that, to the best of my knowledge, are not in particular need of restoration. They do, of course, need to be kept beautiful. To that end we have an on-going need for education about littering, vandalism, and the removal or destruction of plants and other natural objects from the area.
As long as crime – particularly petty crime – is prevalent in our city, it might be a good idea to punish offenders by sentencing them to community service, and such service could include helping with the care and maintenance of our parks. This would increase the amount of labor available for maintaining the parks, and would give offenders a chance to experience the work involved in their upkeep. They would not only learn a little something about nature conservancy, but might even develop a greater appreciation for, and pride in, the condition of our natural areas.
6. Please outline your plans for Racine’s bus system.
Racine has a viable bus system but it is terribly underdeveloped and underutilized. Last year, a review of the bus routes was prepared and studied with an eye to increased efficiencies. I believe that study needs to be expanded to include not only what lanes are carrying sufficient riders, but where ridership could be increased by adding or changing destinations.
I have talked to a number of people who would take the bus if it went farther outside city limits. We know there are people who need reliable transportation to the interstate and back. We know there are specific locations where high concentrations of jobs would indicate a need for public transportation, but there is none available. If we want to make efficient use of our bus system, these needs must be met. In a number of cases, it will require coordination and cooperation with county services.
And of course, education is particularly important. Many cities have developed advertising campaigns that promote bus ridership through increased awareness of bus amenities, schedules, destinations and charges. Many people are surprised when they find that our buses are clean, comfortable, inexpensive and will take them exactly where they want to go.
7. Is Racine isolated from other communities? If so, what is your proposal to link Racine to the quality of life and economic opportunities that surround us?
I do not feel that Racine is particularly isolated. We are surrounded by small but active communities, and have easy access to Kenosha and Milwaukee. Both Highways 20 and 11 provide fast and easy access to Interstate 94, and the freight rail system delivers goods directly downtown. We do need to expand our bus system so that transportation is available from the city all the way to the interstate. This addition to the system should be easy to implement, but will need the cooperation of our surrounding communities and the county.
Racine’s infrastructure has two areas that are in need of significant improvement. First, there is no good way to get downtown without traveling over twisting roads congested with local traffic. Second, the same issue arises when delivery trucks need to move downtown or get to one of our industrial parks. One reason we have had so much trouble filling those parks may be because of the difficulty in getting large delivery vehicles to that area.
We need to design and fund an improved roadway system that allows easy access to downtown and the industrial areas close to the lake. It is possible we may be able to use Federal and State stimulus money for that sort of project.
8. Do you support the proposed KRM commuter rail? Please Explain.
The KRM is a very bad idea for Racine at this time. It’s huge expense can only be realistically funded by an increased sales tax, something Racine taxpayers cannot afford. Although the proponents of the sales tax claim that we would see a corresponding reduction in property tax, I find that argument to be both disingenuous and unrealistic. While property tax might dip slightly and temporarily, we would see no real long-term decreases.
KRM proponents claim that the rail line will bring business and prosperity to Racine. I ask that they remember the old “North Shore Line” which made the same promises forty years ago. That line did not bring the promised prosperity and went out of business due to lack of ridership.
The final argument against building the KRM is the simple fact that its perceived need has already been filled. The main difference between the proposed rail line and the existing bus line is that the bus has rubber wheels. The bus is privately operated, requiring only a small taxpayer subsidy. It currently stops at precisely the same downtown location the rail is expected to stop. It is a clean coach bus with all of the amenities the rail is expected to supply, and has the additional advantage of being able to change its route as needs change.
The bus has one other thing in common with KRM: almost no one rides it. It is doubtful that rail will fare any better.
Safety/Quality of Life – Section 3
1. What do you believe are the root causes of violent crime in Racine and what corrective measures will you take in your first year?
Violent crime in Racine is usually gang or drug related. The most important thing we can do is to keep our young people out of the drug and gang culture. Many grassroots organizations are making progress in that area, and the city should be working with them to make sure they have the support and resources they need to continue and expand their work.
Unfortunately, those groups don’t work overnight, and we need something to immediately reduce violent crime. The first step I see is cracking down on the drug deals that take place openly in our neighborhoods. Police have been more inclined to break up these deals than to arrest the participants, partly to avoid putting more people into our already overcrowded courts and jails. I say that building a new jail is cheaper for the community in the long run than having lives lost and headlines that read like the tabloids
We can also get the help and adopt the methods of crime task forces that are making outstanding progress in Chicago and Milwaukee. Spending money on this type of police activity is infinitely more effective than throwing it away on “feel good” programs like security cameras.
2. According to a Journal Times article published February 16, 2007, infant mortality in Racine is among the highest in the state, and it is responsible for more deaths each year than homicides. This is especially true among African American Women where the rate has risen instead of declined. What steps will you take as Mayor to address this silent killer in Racine?
As with most of Racine’s issues, education is key. Most of the infant deaths take place among poor women who have no insurance, and no real knowledge of how to take care of themselves during pregnancy, or their child after birth.
We have organizations in this community that are dedicated to helping low income mothers with counseling about nutrition and other health matters, and can help mothers and children get the professional health care they need. But many people don’t know these organizations exist or how to contact them. I would like to see the city create an office that coordinates information from all of the organizations that provide public services, so that people looking for help can go to a central source and find out what options are available to them.
3. What ideas do you have for reducing gang activity in Racine urban neighborhoods?
The most important thing we can do is to keep our young people out of the drug and gang culture in the first place. Many grassroots organizations are making progress in that area, and the city should be working with them to make sure they have the support and resources they need to continue and expand their work.
We can also get the help and adopt the methods of gang task forces that are making outstanding progress in Chicago and Milwaukee. Spending money on this type of police activity is infinitely more effective than throwing it away on “feel good” programs like security cameras.
Finally, by creating a business-friendly environment in Racine, we provide jobs and a future to young people who would otherwise see little value in education or personal effort. Hope for the future is one thing every living creature needs, and we must provide it for our citizens.
4. If a proven incident of racial profiling took place by police officers, what corrective measures would you take?
Since racial profiling is prohibited, any officer who is convicted of it should be immediately punished. Depending on the severity of the incident, punishment could be anything from a written warning to dismissal from the police department.
Of course, the best way to deal with this issue is to prevent it. Our police officers need to be educated in exactly what constitutes racial profiling, how to avoid it, and what procedures are effective in gaining their objective without using it.
5. How would you address fear in the immigrant community if they are afraid to come forward as witnesses to a crime if they are concerned they will be interrogated by police about their immigration status?
Illegal immigration is a highly emotional issue in America today. The mayor cannot make decisions in this area based on his or her feelings, but has a sworn duty to uphold the law. We therefore cannot offer amnesty to any illegal immigrant in exchange for witness information.
What we can do is educate the entire immigrant community that those who are here legally have nothing to fear from the police or immigration officials, and then we must take steps to make sure that that assurance is truthful. Many legal immigrants are afraid that they will be rounded up with illegals and deported in spite of their legal status. We must take steps, exaggerated steps if necessary, to make sure that doesn’t happen, and that all of our legal residents feel safe.
We must also let our immigrant communities know that, wherever second-hand knowledge is useful or acceptable, a legal immigrant can freely give the police information obtained from an illegal friend without naming or endangering that friend. Our first priority in this situation is to drive violence and crime out of our community.
6. What is your opinion of the AODA (Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse) services offered in Racine and would you support efforts to improve/expand services for those who don’t have insurance? Do you have any ideas about funding such services?
The AODA services are very important and should certainly be expanded to meet the needs of any person who is serious about ending substance dependency. There are many national organizations that help fund these services, and a good use of the city’s grant-writer would be to research and apply for these dollars. In addition, confiscated property belonging to drug dealers, as well as drug and alcohol related fines could be channeled to help fund these services.
7. Education is frequently cited as the most important factor in a child’s life in order to prevent future homelessness. What would you do as mayor to have an impact on public education for homeless students in our city?
The first step in helping homeless students is to get them into a stable environment. The city owns a number of properties that could be turned into half-way houses for the homeless. This would give individuals and families a clean and safe place to regroup, take stock of their situation and formulate a plan of action. It would also give them a base from which to apply for the services they need, and receive information about education and job opportunities they might otherwise miss.
Counselors running these houses would have the opportunity to advise students in particular about the value of education, the process for continuing or getting back into school, and direct them to resources for transportation and other needs.
8. Currently, Federal money has been ear marked for Racine to prevent homelessness. What would you like to see that money spent on?
The city owns a number of properties that could be turned into half-way houses for the homeless. This would give individuals and families a clean and safe place to regroup, take stock of their situation and formulate a plan of action. It would also give them a base from which to apply for the services they need, and receive information about education and job opportunities they might otherwise miss.
Counselors running these houses would have the opportunity to advise residents of available options. It would also allow them to identify those people with mental and emotional issues that might make living alone impossible for them, and to insure that those persons receive the right kind of help for their situation.
