Two more candidates have responded, Alderman Greg Helding and former Alderman Pete Karas, I thank them for their participation. I'll give their responses to the first question then post the second one.
Given the number of people running to be Racine ’s Mayor, why are you best suited for the job?
Pete Karas:
I have a long history of proposing innovative solutions to solve our problems, while many of my opponents seem to advocate the same types of band-aid measures that have failed us in the past. While I was on the City Council, I fought against the short-sighted proposals of Gary Becker, and I often found myself fighting alone. If we are going to overcome the challenges before us, then we need to start doing things differently, and I think I can be that new way forward.
Also, I will be dedicated to citizen involvement throughout my administration. We need more voices and more viewpoints involved in our decision-making process. I will hold more public hearings, put real teeth behind neighborhood plans, and promote greater diversity on our city’s boards and commissions.
Greg Helding:I am the only candidate with the experience and vision to lead Racine during these troubled times. The status quo, simply managing our problems, is not good enough. We must solve our problems. Candidates who don’t believe we can never will. I believe we can.
Now on to some new material.What do you consider to be the top two issues facing our City and what do you propose to do about those issues?
Jody Harding:The number one issue facing Racine is a pervasive sense of hopelessness. Closely linked to that issue is the problem of poverty. Both of these issues can only be resolved through education and creating a business-friendly environment in Racine.
Many of our young- and not-so-young people have come to believe in a sort of “urban myth” than claims there is a conspiracy to keep persons of certain ethnic and/or economic backgrounds from succeeding. The fact that this is a cruel lie is proven by the fact that Clarence Thomas is a Supreme Court Justice and Barak Obama is President of the United States. We must educate our children to the knowledge of their own potential. We must convince them of the value of education and their ability to achieve their dreams. We have a number of community organizations that are reaching out to families, teaching parenting skills, the value of education and promoting the “soft skills” that are essential to getting and keeping a family supporting job. The city needs to support these organizations with coordination and resources.
In order to foster a business-friendly climate in Racine, we must be able to provide a workforce that has the skills described above. We must make Racine financially competitive by cutting waste from the city budget and getting tax rates under control. Finally, instead of writing ever increasing regulations which restrict creativity and growth, we must allow companies the greatest possible flexibility in making decisions which affect their business.
Pete Karas:Without question, jobs and crime are the two main issues, and they are more related to one another than many people think. Certainly, jobs need to be the first priority, as we know that low unemployment means low crime rates as fewer people are forced to resort to desperate measures just to survive.
For jobs, I think we need to start by going through our departments and eliminating unnecessary fees and permits that place undue costs on businesses that might consider opening in Racine . We need to stop driving employers to Sturtevant and Caledonia . We also need to enforce and expand the Racine First program so that we have Racine people working on Racine projects. Further, the next mayor needs to priorities marketing Racine to large-scale employers and convince to relocate to our community.
Greg Helding:Crime
Drug Crime is our biggest problem. Drug crime has two components: supply and demand. We must attack both if we are going to succeed. I plan to use the resources of City Hall to back our police officers in their fight against the suppliers. We will seize drug houses and renovate them or tear them down. We will go after hot beds of drug and gang activity, like Jacato Drive, and take care of the problems instead of wringing our hands. I will form “Neighborhood Action Teams” to identify and correct problems, restoring peace of mind to our neighborhoods. We will deploy portable “Neighborhood Cameras” that can be used by police and Neighborhood Watch groups to monitor trouble spots and drug activity.
In order to fight demand, we need to make sure we are doing everything we can to provide treatment and rehabilitation for drug addicts. The city has limited options in this regard, but we should still do the best we can. Federal grant money can be used to encourage local agencies to include drug screening and treatment as part of their services. Our Health Department can seek out grants to provide education and treatment.
Jobs
I believe that meeting the needs of our existing job providers is just as important as attracting new ones. As Mayor, I will establish the Mayor's Small Business Roundtable. Made up of small business owners from different business types and areas of the city, this group will meet quarterly and advise the Mayor: What should the city be doing to help? What is the city doing that might be hurting? I will listen to all points of view, not just supporters.
It is high time that City Hall does more than hope our development teams can make a connection with companies – I intend to go directly to the headquarters and board rooms of regional companies and explain what Racine has to offer them. As the CEO of the City, it is my job to “sell” the City to prospective employers. I would focus these efforts in three areas: “Green” manufacturing jobs, recruitment of pharmaceutical industry companies, and making sure Racine is ready for high-tech jobs.
More questions and more responses from the candidates to come.You can learn more about Pete Karas at his website.You can access Jody Harding's Website here.Helding also has a webpage here.