Lewiston City Council candidates cover range of issues
Oct. 4—Rising property taxes and unnecessary government spending are concerns for seven Lewiston City Council candidates who participated in a Tuesday forum.
Maureen Anderson, Rick Eldridge, David Funke, Jim Kleeburg, Jessica Klein, Darlene Lambert and Brennon Leafty shared their views at the event sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Lewis Clark Valley and the Lewis Clark Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Another candidate for city council, John Spickelmire, an incumbent, was unable to participate because he had a conflict.
The top three vote-getters in the Nov. 7 election will win four-year terms on the city council. Besides Spickelmire, Kleeburg is an incumbent. Councilor Rick Tousley is not seeking another term.
Property taxes that are high in comparison with the rest of Idaho are a "huge problem," said Eldridge, 57, a retired commercial fisherman and heavy equipment operator.
"We are getting strangled here by our local governments and things are out of control," Eldridge said. "We have senior citizens and families that are just having to choose between paying bills or buying groceries."
Kleeburg, 65, an employee of Early Bird Supply who works in contractor sales, said he agreed property taxes are an issue.
"We've got a pretty good program going on right now," he said. "(Mayor Dan Johnson) has put the clamps on growing our budget."
If elected, Leafty, 20, a self-employed graphic designer, said he would like to cut non-essential spending using feedback from voter referendums.
"The people of Lewiston can choose which taxes they feel are necessary and which (taxes) they don't get any benefit out of," Leafty said.
Similar to Leafty, Funke said making sure citizens are heard is a priority. Citizens succeeded in getting Lewiston changed from a city manager to a strong mayor form of government, but Funke said he has ongoing concerns about how the city is being run.
"Are we getting the people that we truly need to represent us on the council or are we getting those that kind of sided with agendas," said Funke, 43, who has held part-time jobs such as working in information technology and road construction traffic control.
Preventing Lewiston from facing big-city problems is a top priority for Lambert, 45, a journalist with Big Country News.
She moved to the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley in 2012 from the Portland area. "Now I'm watching slowly our city go down the same path of what we left and I can't sit back and watch this beautiful valley get turned into what Portland was a few years ago."
In addition to city spending and citizen involvement, the candidates shared views about operations at the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport. The transportation facility is owned by the city and Nez Perce County.
"Our airport is our key, especially with the war that's going on with our waterways right now and the dams," said Anderson, co-founder of Lewiston SMART, the group that campaigned for Lewiston's switch to a strong mayor form of government.
"Businesses will not locate to an area where there is no means to get their products in and out," she said.
More competitive pricing for flights will be a key to the airport's success in the future, said Klein, 35, a manager of multiple rental properties.
"Bringing prices down so people can actually use it should hopefully bring up their revenue enough for them to start supporting themselves instead of depending on the city to subsidize as much," she said.
Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.
