Karl Skala increases Third Ward campaign efforts, keeps consistent message after April tie
Columbia Third Ward council member Karl Skala has picked up the pace on the campaign trail.
Tying with Roy Lovelady for the Third Ward seat in April revealed that his door-knocking efforts at the time may not have been enough to put him over the top for a fifth term on the Columbia City Council.
"In the last few months since that tie, I have knocked on 30 to 40 doors per day, sometimes more on the weekends," Skala said about his increased campaign efforts.
The ward has diversified in recent years in terms of political ideology, people and even income levels, Skala added, noting a southwest section of the ward has a housing development with residences that are in the $400,000 to $500,000 range.
Skala continued to emphasize his past experience and accomplishments not only on the council but as member of various city boards and commissions prior to that.
"Single-issue candidates typically don’t have a lot of success. We have had some very talented people that started out as single-issue candidates and found out they didn’t enjoy the process that much," Skala said. "They may have made some progress with their issue, but it takes a broader base to have a successful tenure on the council."
Public safety, infrastructure and equity
Even with the increased campaign efforts, Skala's message to ward constituents has remained consistent, he said.
Skala's three campaign planks are public safety, infrastructure and equity.
He is encouraged about the size of the recent recruit class for the city's police department.
Skala wants to see a resurgence of a pilot program in the ward focused on community policing efforts, particularly around the Indian Hills and Whitegate neighborhoods.
"We assigned some officers to be real community police officers and interact with the neighborhood and also a couple social workers who went door-to-door asking folks what they needed, what they thought they needed," he said. "... I have assurances from the city manager that we are getting back to that."
Infrastructure plans include roads and sidewalks primarily, Skala said, along with street lights.
He also would like to explore shifting the parking model at Columbia Regional Airport. Instituting a parking fee could allow the city to put that money toward the city bus system, since the airport is getting a bulk of the city's transportation sales tax, Skala added.
Skala said he is disturbed there are people saying equity is not for everyone.
"It is for everyone, but those that have the most needs, the most underserved or those that need priority attention should get those needs satisfied," he said.
The city now has a diversity, equity and inclusion officer with the police department, and a separate city department with two staffers is in the works, Skala said.
Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Please consider subscribing to support vital local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How Karl Skala hopes to win runoff for Columbia Third Ward seat
