Several Butler residents have announced their candidacy for the 2017 city council election.

Councilwoman Kathy Kline and councilman Kenny Bonus have announced their bids for re-election, while nonprofit founder Dane Winkler and private investigator Jim Kemple will be first-time challengers.

Kline, 63, has been on council since 2006 and is the director of public safety. She is running for her fourth term on council in the Democratic primary.

She spoke of her work in the past year with the Parents and Friends of Lesbian and Gays' proposed anti-discrimination ordinance, which has been a hot topic in the community.

Kline has for months worked on wording to make the proposed ordinance more agreeable to the involved parties.

“I know you're not going to be able to satisfy everyone, but you have to do your due diligence and you have to try, and I know that whatever the outcome is on this ordinance that we have given it our due diligence and we have tried.”

Kline said that if re-elected, she will focus on the city's neighborhoods, including enlisting the city's fire department to inspect homes and buildings for safety and make neighborhoods safer and cleaner.

“If we look at what we can do to enhance our neighborhoods, when people come into our neighborhoods and call the city their home that will support the downtown area,” she said.

Bonus, 28, was unanimously appointed to council in August following the resignation of Richard Schontz. He is the director of streets and public improvements.

Bonus said he spent the first few months on council becoming acclimated with his and other council members' positions, and is eager to build on what he has learned.

“There's always room to improve and grow,” he said. “It would be nice to have another term to capitalize on the experience that I have already gained and what I do know.”

Bonus pointed to implementing a nonresident earned income tax as something of which he's proud in his time on council. The nonresident earned income tax requires people who live out of state or out of the community but work in Butler to pay a 1-percent income tax.

“That was a good way to potentially bring in further revenues without taxing our citizens,” he said.

He also mentioned reviving the Neighborhood Pride Award, which honors Butler residents who have fixed up their properties, as an achievement.

Bonus said if elected, he'd continue to focus on economic development by working to attract new businesses and working with local organizations, such as Butler Downtown.

Winkler, 36, was raised in the Lyndora section of Butler Township and has been a Butler resident since 2013. He works at the Butler Eagle as an information technology specialist.

“I've always felt like I've had good leadership qualities and I have a pretty firm grasp and know what's going on in the city now that I've been working there for five years,” he said.

Winkler wants to bring more businesses into the city by lowering the business privilege tax and keeping the city's streets clean. He also wants to require all Butler Police Department officers to live within the city limits.

He has no prior municipal experience. He has done volunteer work with Butler Downtown and is the cofounder of the Penn Theater Performance Company, a nonprofit aimed at raising money to renovate the Penn Theater on Main Street.

Winkler will run in the Democratic primary.

Jim Kemple is the lone Republican candidate. He was raised in Lyndora, then lived in Renfrew, and has resided in Butler since 1992.

Kemple, 50, has no prior municipal experience. He is a retired state corrections officer and has been a licensed private investigator for the past seven years.

He said his experience running his own private investigation business, James Kemple Investigation & Security, has helped him with managing finances.

“I think I can definitely help the city out, and try to maintain a safe environment that we need,” he said.

Kemple is concerned about the city's drug and financial issues, and believes they are intertwined.

He noted that money is being spent to administer Narcan for heroin overdoses, and said the city should be getting money for that service.

“Our city is spending money to respond to save somebody that we get nothing back (in return),” he said.

“Bill the homeowners and bill the rental property, because the rental property people have to know who they're renting to, because they have people who are doing illegal drugs. Yeah they want to save the sickness, but it's still self-induced. They're putting the needle in.”

He said city employees should have to live in the city to help grow the tax base, and he is in favor of more businesses paying taxes, instead of having tax-exempt organizations.

The last day to circulate and file nominating petitions was Tuesday. The deadline to register to vote in the primary elections is April 17, and the primary elections will be held May 16.

Council members are paid $2,500 a year and receive health care that is partially paid for by the city.