Primary election candidates tackled many of the most critical, and controversial, present-day issues facing Austin and Mower County, namely the jail and justice center, flood mitigation, diversity and county and city cooperative, during a candidate forum in the Austin City Council Chambers Wednesday night.

Hosted by the League of Women Voters, individuals running for the mayor position, council member at-large office and county commissioner 1st District seat provided generally tame answers to 45-minute rounds of questions.

Their hope: to persuade voters that they deserve one of the two spaces as community members narrow the race during the primary election Sept. 9 for the general election.

Mayoral candidates

Current mayor Tom Stiehm and business owner Mark Nagle similarly characterized their commitment to Austin — both saying that they were “passionate” and “indebted” to the community, and wanted to give back through public office — though provided somewhat distinct answers on questions related to economic development, the Robbins block and city and county collaboration.

Nagle promoted a “pro-active” approach to city issues, emphasizing, in particular, his ability to offer fresh ideas for economic development.

“It’s something that Austin has always fallen short on — everyone knows that,” he said, adding, “We need some new blood; we need some new faces. We need to make it easier for people to come to this community, set up shop and hire people.”

“Someone is not doing their job,” he added.

Stiehm agreed that an environment amenable to business growth is important, though he said he thought Austin was already pursuing that path.

“We have to create an environment, and I think Austin is doing that,” he said.

He also stated that most important to economic investment was supporting businesses already established in town, as opposed to only seeking outsiders fishing for new locations.

“First of all, you need to support the business you have, then create an environment for new business,” he said.

The two also differed on their approach to Robbins block preservation, with Nagle favoring a more staunch stance.

“The bottom line is there are buildings there, and there are people who will fill those buildings, and it will bring commerce,” he said, further stating that further downtown revitalization will give Austin a unique presence regionwide.

Nagle, as co-owner of South Center Athlete on Fourth Street Northeast, received Main Street grants to move and renovate his clothing and sporting goods store, and both he and Stiehm heavily favored more such efforts for other interested businesses.

On the subject of the Robbins block, however, Stiehm cited the tentative agreement he made with county commissioner Ray Tucker and Craig Oscarson, in which he said he told them that he would not block efforts to demolish the square block if Tucker agreed to vote in favor of a downtown jail and justice center site.

When challenged about whether he implied council support of the deal, Stiehm said, “I don’t speak for the city council, and I made that clear then, and I’ve always made that clear.”

He did say, however, that he didn’t favor its demolition.

Both candidates were also supportive of the growing diversity in the city, saying that the presence of Latino and other immigrant populations in town has proved positive in most aspects for Austin.

“They do spend money in this community,” Nagle said. “They spent it in my store.”

Both were unclear about a solution to illegal immigration, with Stiehm noting that the answers will be federally mandated, not likely locally grown.

“I don’t think it is going to be a local solution,” he said.

League of Women Voters’ president Julie Tufte said that third primary candidate Jimmy Dean Hultgren did not respond to requests to participate in the forum.

Council Member At-large

The five candidates vying for the citywide council seat — George Brophy, Jeff Austin, Janet Anderson, Mary Keenan and Marv Repinski — fielded questions similar to the mayoral candidates, and generally expressed consensus, with several exceptions, to issues relating to flood mitigation, economic development and diversity.

All agreed that Austin was “on the right track” with flood mitigation efforts, though urged faster progress on work, with Keenan and Brophy suggesting to bond for funds in order to ensure protection of residents and businesses, such as the Austin Packaging Company, which was outspoken in its concern about its facility and continued operation during the 2008 flood.

“Well, the plan seems to be in place with the berm system and the local-option sales tax,” Keenan said, adding, however, that she didn’t want residents in south Austin neglected as work is focused more heavily to the north.

“I would vote to bond to get the projects done in a shorter amount of time, and pay that back with the tax,” said the former county commissioner.

Brophy concurred.

“We need to take some action other than, ‘We need to wait for the funding to build the flood walls,’ ” he said.

“It isn’t just the building, it isn’t just the management and ownership, it’s the people who work there,” he said, referring to APC.

Brophy was later asked to defend the accomplishments of the Development Corporation of Austin, the local organization he led for 20 years before his retirement, which seeks to establish and expand industry in Mower County.

“The DCA has done an enormous job,” he said.

Though given the option to defer the question, other candidates generally agreed.

“What would we have if we didn’t invest in the DCA?” asked Austin, who serves as one of two Ward 1 council members. “How many of those projects would be here? How many wouldn’t be here?”

He noted that the $1 million spent on the organization would have likely been applied to economic development locally, though he said the city couldn’t guarantee that its work could have supplied more living-wage jobs than the DCA helped establish in Austin.

“Economic development is an ongoing project,” he said.

All also supported the growing diversity in Austin, saying that it has increased the city’s population, in contrast to other cities its size. Many also said that schools, time and local initiatives will help breed more cross-cultural tolerance.

“People seem to forget that their second- and third-generation family members aren’t native to the U.S.,” said Anderson, co-chair of the Human Rights Commission. “I’m only second generation on my dad’s side. They didn’t walk off the boat speaking English. We have to be a little more patient in that way.”

“It’s a process, but we do need to address it,” she said. “We can’t just wait for the second generation.”

Council member hopefuls also said they would work to facilitate more communication between the county and city, whether through increased meeting attendance or more expressed cooperation and information exchange.

Repinski said he’s already been a regular attendee of both city and county meetings, and added that he will continue to be, though expressed some frustration at the county board resistance to a spending ceiling on the jail and justice center, in particular.

“These are tough people that I think term limits could a very vital to bringing this community to a new level,” he said. “But I will continue to work in various capacities. I will serve more than to be a name on a letterhead.”

County Commissioner

The differences were perhaps most stark between the District 1 county commissioner candidates seeking to represent the region, including Brownsdale, Mapleview, Lansing, Waltham, townships of Lansing, Waltham, Red Rock and Udolpho and the 1st Ward, 1st Precinct of the city of Austin.

Kathy Stutzman, Tim Gabrielson or Dan Vermilyea will replace long-time board member Richard Cummings, who retired from office after 32 years.

Vermilyea was most disapproving of the county board’s decision and governing approach. He disagreed with the board’s decision to place the jail and justice center in downtown Austin, saying they instead should have followed the recommendation from an advisory committee several years ago to move to a green space near the Austin Municipal Airport. He also told audience members that one reason he opted to run was to restore a sense of transparency in county government.

“I’m running to bring transparency back to the decision-making process,” he said.

Stutzman said that a reason she is running is similar: She believed that improvements could be made and added that more collaboration would result in better county government.

“I’m running for county commissioner because I think we can do better, and I say that with all due respect,” she said.

Stutzman emphasized her track record with community projects involving multiple partners, and said part of her goal is help the board be more accessible to citizens to garner more public involvement.

“If I serve on the board, I would like to suggest an evening meeting or televised meeting, using a Webcam or something,” she said.

Like Gabrielson, Stutzman was supportive of the downtown jail and justice center, and all three candidates advocated a nearby space for human services.

“I think we are on the right track for getting that job done, the county is,” Gabrielson said, referring to the board’s decision to keep the justice center downtown. “I think we are going to have a very usable and efficient space.”

Gabrielson said his participation in county government since his decision to run has taught him the vast task commissioners have, and he, like the other candidates, vowed to devote as much time as needed to successfully managing the post.

“I know the commitment that these people have put into the job, and I have the commitment it’s going to take,” Gabrielson said.