Clemson Council Candidates Talk About Green Space
Upstatetoday.com recently wrote about Clemson Council read the interview below.
CLEMSON - Three candidates are vying for one open seat on the Clemson City Council during balloting to take place March 31. The candidates will engage in a forum sponsored by the Clemson area chapter of the League of Women Voters at 7 p.m. March 24 at the Arts Center on Butler Street.
Following are edited responses provided by the candidates to questions posed by the League:
Background
Jeremy Wright: I’ve lived in Clemson for nine years, five in college and the last four with my family. I have a BS in Financial Management from Clemson University in 1998 and have been a banker for the last 11 years. I am a cancer survivor. My wife, Heather, and I have three children.
Christy Medeiros: My family relocated to Clemson in 2005 after living in New England for seven years. I was a resident of Clemson as a child until graduation from Daniel High School in 1994. I attended Clemson University. My most significant job experience is in the real estate business. Since our return to Clemson my family has grown to five. I have immersed myself in Clemson life and enjoy serving as president of the Moms Club of Clemson as well as chairperson of the Episcopal Days School Advisory Board..
R. Steven Fields: BS Degree in Business Management/Administration from Limestone College. I hold a biological wastewater license, a water license and a water distribution license. I worked for the city of Clemson for 14 years as chief operator at the Cochran Road Treatment Facility. I was employed by the Oconee County Sewer Commission for six years as chief operator of the Coneross Treatment Facility. I am currently employed as the Director of Utilities for Keowee Key. I served on the Clemson Zoning Board of Appeals for four years.
What strengths would you bring to City Council?
Medeiros: I am an open minded, honest, caring individual with few political contacts. I have no obligations to current or former council members. I carry leaderships skills as I have stepped up to serve as director of two organizations in town, but more importantly, I have listening and reasoning skills developed over years of working in the real estate business, supporting and promoting my husband’s small business and as a mother of three small children.
Fields: Education, dedication and the devotion to my hometown community. Strong will and desire to stand up and uphold my convictions; to make decisions that are in the best interest of the community as a whole by preserving our standard of living.
Wright: I have a passion for Clemson and the people of this community. I’m a graduate of Leadership Clemson and have served on multiple boards in this community. My time working in these organizations has given me a more comprehensive understanding of the city and its needs. I have worked to develop relationships with existing council members, department heads, city administration and community leaders. These relationships are a key element in obtaining necessary information to make the proper decisions to guide our city. I have six years of government banking experience. I have worked through six budget cycles with government clients in South Carolina.
What priorities do you have for City Council? What would you hope to accomplish?
Fields: Be the voice for the residents of Clemson. Evaluate the positions that the city is taking on the major issues and see if they are in line with the best interest of the residents and business owners. I will focus on issues of responsible growth, community service development and quality of life in our community. Ensure the tax dollars are not frivolously spent on wish lists that do not directly benefit the community as a whole.
Wright: Without deterioration of services, I will work hard to find places where we can maximize operational efficiency. Understanding the impacts of services on the annual budget and finding opportunities to cut costs is the council’s fiscal responsibility. Identifying potential budget impacts and being proactive in recommending adjustments to deal with those impacts. I will continue to emphasize the Buxton Study results and encourage continued solicitation of those targeted businesses. I will also encourage more regional partnership with the Clemson Area Chamber, Alliance Pickens, the Upstate Alliance and Clemson University to find opportunities to market our community to new business. I will explore broadcasting City Council meetings through TV, radio, or streaming video broadcasts.
Medeiros: Look, listen, then lead! I want the council to spend more time looking around our town. Noticing the changes that have taken place in the last several years and really consider what has been accomplished. Beautification efforts can make us all proud of our town and many have proved beneficial. What, however, is the value of an unused sidewalk? Consider the fate of the Food Lion. Are we ready for yet another grocery store in town? Listen to what the citizens are really looking for and listen to those who plead for the protection of their neighborhoods and their investments in their homes. Zoning is a citizens only hope for protection. Make decisions after looking and listening. Do not come into an issue with a decision already made. Allow yourself to be open to the minds and hearts of your citizens.
How would you balance the desire for commercial growth with the need to protect the quality of life and neighborhoods in Clemson?
Wright: We are a retail and rooftop economy. We are not an industrial economy. Proactive recruitment of business gives us a voice with developers and could result in more control of those opportunities. Working as a resource to regional economic drivers, can capitalize on recruiting employees and senior management to live in Clemson, even if their company isn’t located in the city.
Medeiros: We must recognize the need for commercial maintenance. We need to support and do our best not to compete with what is currently here and attempt to fill commercial properties that lie vacant. We must also question the town’s desire for growth and where, how and when the residents want it. Jobs are not locally dependant. It is possible to work in another town and live in Clemson. I think it is important to focus on keeping jobs we currently have. In the private sector, avoid saturating our city with similar type businesses. If we are looking for the creation of new jobs we need to focus outside the box a bit.
Fields: To be proactive in current zoning codes and restrictions to new and existing ventures. Balance … We need to fill current commercial vacancies and make these locations desirable for new ventures as well as existing business, so we do not have neglected, unimproved and unoccupied buildings. The owners of current unoccupied locations should be made to maintain them so they would be desirable. I am for a win-win situation and balance for businesses and residents.
Affordable housing is a big problem for nonstudents who work here and want to live here. What ideas do you have for providing more affordable housing for lower to middle income singles and families? What role can city government play?
Medeiros: The problem lies with thoughtless build out. The proactive response to this problem is to require a certain percentage of a new development to be affordable. I have seen this done and have been impressed with its success. I am sorry to say that we have passed up this opportunity too often.
Fields: Our biggest problem facing the city is that developers are building more and more units geared toward student housing. Each time a new complex is brought into service, the students rush to get in the new buildings. The older buildings are then vacated and begin to run down. The City should look into means of rehabilitation for these older dwellings and provide affordable housing for individuals and families. Projects of this nature would certainly be beneficial toward providing jobs and stimulating our economic growth.
Wright: We need to consider zoning to allow more dense residential development thus spreading the land cost over more units to enable affordability. We also need to review our impact fee and tap fee structure to balance affordable development versus stress on city resources. Planned development is currently limited to projects of two or more acres. Reducing the planned development restrictions to projects of half an acre or more would allow for more planned development and could have an impact on density and housing prices. Residential TIFs could also serve as a viable option to reduce housing costs
. How can the city be more proactive in encouraging energy efficiency and environmental responsibility?
Fields: The City should have a system whereby inspections are made either annually or bi-annually and incorporate a rating so that each individual rental property receives this inspection. The rating information would be given to owners of complexes or individual units who meet certain criteria. These criteria should be based on safety condition of unit, energy efficient heating and cooling systems and water closets, which use less water than conventional toilets.
Wright: We need to make sure city projects model the energy efficient designs and practices that we expect from the private sector. We also need to implement a comprehensive energy and environmental policy to incorporate energy efficient practices. We can also encourage other municipalities and water districts that use our watershed to mirror our conservation efforts.
Medeiros: The town does show interest in environmental friendliness, and I don’t think a major change in attitude is needed here. In general, council must be constantly keeping an eye on environmental changes and stresses locally, such as water usage and restrictions and by keeping up to date on currently available tactics - including the rebate suggested by our own local elementary and junior high school students with regard to the purchase of new toilets. Continuing to promote parks and outdoor recreation and keeping green space for our children is a great way to encourage green behaviors.
What is your opinion on the possible acquisition of the “Astro”?
Wright: Unless there is a clear plan to replace the taxes paid to the city by the current owners and provide an adequate return on investment, it is best to leave the development of the Astro to a private party.
Medeiros: To be honest, I don’t have much of an opinion with regard to the Astro. I recognize the Astro’s history in this town and if private citizens wish to attempt to protect it, they have my blessing.
Fields: The condition our economy is in, in these uncertain times, really requires some soul searching. Do we really have the funds to add this to the city’s wish list or do we look at other projects that may be more conducive and beneficial to our economy’s growth?
There has recently been some discussion of how to award contracts. In your opinion, what weight should be given to the low bid, and what, if any, other considerations should be taken into account?
Medeiros: Whenever a decision is being made with taxpayer money, the council must be willing and ready to fully disclose their reasoning and must also be willing to abstain from voting when a possible conflict of interest is being considered. I think equal weight should be given to bid, locality, quality and consistency of a contractor. A score should be given to each of these criteria.
Fields: Awards for contracts should not be based on low bid alone. Other factors must be considered such as references for similar projects. How long has the company been in business? How many change orders were necessary on the last similar project? What percentage of completed projects this company has already done, have come in on or below budget? Over budget? Finally, what type of reputation do the bidding companies hold?
Wright: Contracts can become very complex and many factors, not just cost, must be considered. There are times when the lowest price has unfavorable terms in certain clauses of the contract related to early termination, remedies of default and scope of services.
The town and university have joined to offer mass transit to the area. What are your thoughts about the successes, failures and future of the CAT system?
Fields: In the future, I would like to see continued growth with local routes for our residents, while continuing to work with surrounding communities.
Wright: As long as the Federal support remains, the future of the system is bright because of the impacts CAT has on the environment, road congestion and our regional economy.
Medeiros: I worry that the bus system is a bit out of scope with its purpose however and hope that the town continues to weigh the needs of our community with the abilities of small-scale public transit. It is important to stay within our means. Growing to include communities like Westminister for example, may not be in our best interest.
If stimulus funds become available for Clemson, how would you suggest these funds be spent?
Wright: My ideas for stimulus projects include: Additional CAT buses, adding another right of way across the railroad to connect Clemson and Calhoun, fire substation on Issaqueena, potential free clinic beside Clemson Community Care and continued Nettles Park renovation. Funds also could be used to purchase or up-fit the Clemson Marina to get the marina compliant with the Corps of Engineers standards and reinstitute delivery of all marina services. Stimulus funds could be used to provide seed funding for a convention and visitors bureau, and completion of the proposed pedestrian bridge on Berkley Drive near Clemson Elementary:
Medeiros: I would approve areas of most need such as poor roads and bridges and money for our schools. I would like to see money going to improve safety of pedestrians walking or biking to the elementary school and other areas, I would like continued efforts in parks and recreation.
Fields: I would suggest some of the funds be used for rehabilitation of our aging infrastructure.
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