Candidates offer up ideas
With their visions for Butler's future in the spotlight, eight candidates — four vying to be the city's next mayor, and four competing for two seats on city council — debated Wednesday night at a packed public forum at the Grand Ballroom on Main Street.
With discussion pinballing between the city's fragile financial condition, the epidemic of opioid overdose deaths and the best way to repair the city's social fabric, the candidates sought to carve out positions that set them apart.
Opioid crisisOn perhaps the most emotional and divisive issue facing Butler, the candidates staked out divergent views on what must be done. With opioids suspected in the overdose deaths of nearly two dozen people already this year, reactions ranged from holistic to a focus on law and order.Mayor Tom Donaldson said he doesn't believe the crisis will abate anytime soon.“The problem's the customers,” he said. “There's no good fix for it. We have to come up with a way to just say no.”Mayoral candidate Jamie Lee Goehring called heroin a scourge that needs to be confronted from every conceivable angle — from punishing traffickers to helping addicts get treatment. “We need to tackle it on every single form it manifests itself,” she saidMayoral candidate Benjamin Smith said he views the crisis as a problem of personal choice, but added that Butler's opioid problem is less acute than other cities of similar size. Smith said bringing more business into town, and attracting more upstanding homeowners, renters and landlords would help fight the problem — though he cautioned people that it would be a protracted struggle.“It's a long haul,” said Smith. “It didn't start recently, and it's not going to end soon.”Michael Walter called the issue complex and said that he's in favor of getting tough on dealers, but isn't sure how to best stamp out the problem for good.“There's no silver bullet,” Walter said. “We can lock up every drug dealer, and we should. But there'll be someone taking their place tomorrow.”Three of the four council candidates — Kathy Kline, Dane Winkler and Kenny Bonus — all staked out similar positions, saying that they supported an initiative by Butler District Attorney Richard Goldinger to get tough on drug traffickers and also supported education for young people and treatment efforts for addicts.But council candidate Jim Kemple said he wants to focus more on enforcement and punishing dealers and those who enable addicts. Kemple said he also favors a mandatory 72-hour observation period for people who have been revived from a near-fatal overdose, and wants to put more police officers on the city's payroll.“We need a lot more police officers on the force,” he said. “That's a definite.”
<b>Financial future</b>With Butler's budget stretched thin and the prevalence of tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations in the city a recurring topic of debate, the way forward financially was a focus of both debates. The mayoral forum included two business owners — Smith and Goehring — who both said they see business growth and community pride as essential to improving the city's finances.Smith said he wants to focus on drawing in more businesses, which he said will bring more responsible homeowners, renters and landlords into the city — something he believes will be a natural deterrent to the city's drug problem.Smith also wants the city to do a better job of building and tracking its budget each year, saying he believes the current process is poorly run and the budget poorly managed.“Some of the issues we've run into are because of excessive and unwise spending,” he said. “The spending issue is a little out of control.”Goehring said the city's “shoestring” budget and eroding tax base were her main concerns going forward. She wants the city's focus on improving property values and programs that can help homeowners reduce insurance costs and improve their properties.“I believe my experience, intelligence and resiliency can help overcome the challenges we face,” she said.Dane Winkler, who is one of four candidates vying for a seat on city council, floated an ambitious plan he said would help the city cut costs and spur new business investment.Winkler said he wants the city to invest in alternative energy, and install solar panels on the roofs of some city buildings in an effort to reduce operating costs. He also said he was working on an economic stimulus package that would focus on businesses and residents.“My vision for the city is a progressive one,” he said. “I want to move the city forward, in the direction the rest of the country is going.”None of the candidates for mayor or council said they supported the city filing for distressed status under the state's Act 47 program. The candidates said the program would require forfeiting too much local control, and wouldn't address many of the problem areas that are troubling Butler's finances.“Its days (have) come and gone,” Donaldson said, adding he favors focusing on business development and monetizing city assets like parking to help improve revenues.
<b>Community and recreation</b>A frequent point of agreement among candidates in both debates was the character of the Butler community.In general the candidates all said they viewed the community as one of Butler's greatest assets, but they also criticized negativity — particularly on social media — as one of the city's largest challenges.Kline said she's frequently dismayed by Facebook comments and other negative interactions she sees throughout the community. She urged people to be kind to each other.“We do have a lot of struggles — there's a lot of frustration — but it doesn't cost us a penny to be kind to one another,” Kline said.At the same time, Kline and others repeatedly pointed to the community's character and Butler's wealth of cultural resources — hubs of art, music and literature — as hidden gems people either don't know about or take for granted.“A lot of people don't know about the great things that exist in Butler,” Bonus said. “There really are treasures in this area, and informing people about it is key.”One of the most visible manifestations of Butler's struggle with recreation infrastructure is the defunct Memorial Park swimming pool, which has been abandoned for nearly a decade. When asked if they would support reopening the pool, the candidates all said they didn't believe such a project was viable. The expense would be too great, and the city's finances too tight, to make it possible, the candidates said.Still, candidates like Winkler said that parks and recreation should be a top issue for city officials going forward.“We need to use our money wisely and allocate it so we have money to support the parks and make sure there are things for people to do,” Winkler said.Bonus said he wanted to see the city get creative with the land housing the defunct pool, and work to attract another recreational opportunity there that would draw visitors into town.And Walter said that while the pool won't be revived he believes the land on which it sits can be an asset to the city.“The pool's a dead issue. But I think we can do a lot down there,” he said.
