By Brendan Ulmer
Hutchinson Tribune Staff
HUTCHINSON—Incumbent Stacy Goss and challenger Devon Reese disagreed on how to attract people to Hutchinson during a City Council candidate forum on Thursday.
The forum at Hutchinson Community College’s Stringer Fine Arts Center included a question about what investments the city should make in order to make Hutchinson a more attractive place to live.
Goss spoke about City Council funding the Make My Move program, which offers financial incentives for people to move to Hutchinson. She also said Hutchinson needs a vibrant arts and entertainment district. Which is why, she said, she’s working to make Memorial Hall a destination for entertainment.
Reese said Hutchinson is not growing due to high sales taxes. She also proposed that to make Hutch more visually beautiful, the city should bring in prisoners to mow public lawns.
“We used to have prisoners mow the lawns. Why do we not do that anymore?” Reese said. “That was not an expense to Hutch, they have all the materials, they have the equipment to do it. I know it’s not 100% free labor, but it is cheaper labor and it’ll get done where it was not done this year.”
Reese also said that the city only has four attractions, and we need more than four in order to bring more people in.
During her rebuttal, Goss said the Kansas Department of Corrections now longer allows inmates to participate in mowing programs. She also disagreed with Reese’s assertion that there are only four attractions in Hutchinson, talking about her own experience taking her children to do things around town.
Businesses and housing
Goss said the most important thing City Council can do to tackle some of the city’s most important problems is to remove regulatory hurdles for local businesses and businesses looking to move to Hutchinson.
Goss emphasized the importance of being able to bring industries after Evergy increases electrical capacity with construction of a new power plant in Reno County, projected to be done in 2030.
Reese agreed in principle that new businesses being brought to Hutchinson should be a top priority, along with more housing. She said taxes are scaring businesses and potential homeowners away.
Reese added that homelessness and drug overdoses are other major problems in the city.
Approach to the budget
Reese’s said the city budget should be first and foremost focused on necessities.
“We need to remember what the city and our tax dollars are to go for,” Reese said. “They are to go for street and road repairs, daily operation of the city, which includes police and fire. We also need to remember that the city’s job is not to fund charities. Charities, they are good, but it’s not the city’s job to fund those organizations.”
Goss explained the process of budgeting, how the City Council receives the budget from the city manager, and how, this year specifically, they’d cut thousands of dollars from it before the public had seen it. Goss described her budget approach as balancing projects, goals, wants, and needs.
She took issue with what Reese said about it not being the city’s job to fund charities, and said that the city is actually legally obligated to fund certain nonprofits through settlements and state funding.
Role in housing development
Goss trumpeted the City Council’s record on housing. She said that this June, the city approved the creation of 150 housing units. Though some of these housing units fell through because they depended on the approval of low-income housing grants that didn’t pan out.
“Yes, the government is not involved in the manner that we’re building houses, but as a council member, we have the ability to remove the regulations that are unnecessary or a cause of strife for builders,” Goss said.
She spoke about the neighborhood revitalization program that offers a tax rebate for new construction and major renovations south of 11th Avenue.
Devon Reese proposed the idea of grants for first-time homeowners, as well as single mothers.
She added that more contractors should be brought in to increase the speed of local development.
“I lived in Colorado for 10 years, and how they developed their neighborhoods was bringing in more than one contractor to build houses little faster,” Reese said.
Goss rebutted the idea of bringing in more contractors.
“The Council has nothing to do with that,” Goss said. “Any developer has the right to build on their own property or allow other builders on their property.”
Balancing priorities
Reese emphasized the importance of revitalizing downtown, and she believes a big way to do that is by combating the problem of vandalism for Hutchinson’s downtown businesses.
“We need to help them, support them in every way possible,” Reese said. “The only way to make Hutchinson grow is to make it safe, and to make it nice and inviting.”
Reese also reiterated the need for lower taxes to bring in more businesses.
To Goss, the number one priority is the wastewater treatment facility, which the city is currently studying to determine the extent of repairs it needs.
“That is the most basic priority,” Goss said. “That will tell us what growth we can possibly accomplish.”
Goss emphasized the importance of water capacity for bringing in businesses, on both a short-term and long-term level.
Homelessness
Reese highlighted what was said in a recent City Council Meeting, that people are being taxed out of their homes due to high property taxes.
“We need to prioritize what we have in our city budget and make it more efficient, more accountable, and more transparent.”
Goss minimized the city’s role in combating homelessness.
“I believe that the city’s role is actually, and this isn’t the answer that you want to hear, but it’s actually not a whole heck of a lot.”
Goss believes that the best way the City Council can fight homelessness is by encouraging the development of housing.
She also encouraged Hutchinson residents to visit the parks, as she believes that if the parks are full, it will push out unwanted vagrants and unfavorable activities.
Parks and trails
Reese praised the local parks, but said they do not need to be developed further.
“I think we have very nice parks,” Reese said. “It is something that, I think, can be put on hold.”
This was in line with many other candidates at the forum, including Carlton “Duke” DeVaul, Darrin Truan, and Kaden Winters.
Goss took issue with talk of cutting the parks.
“I would say all y’all need to go out into our parks a lot more because they are absolutely fabulous,” Goss said. “It’s easy to say that, ‘They are the low-hanging fruit, they’re the first thing we’re going to cut,’ and then where do you stop after that, because those are your quality of life things.”
She also expresses that the City Council would have difficulty finding a neighborhood that’s fine with giving up its parks.
“I think that if you went to individual neighborhoods and you said, ‘Hey, we’re going to take your park away, ’cause it’s just extra space and we don’t see anybody here,’ you’re going to have to pry it out of their cold, dead hands.”