The Austin Daily Herald is running a series of articles that will hopefully help area residents make informed decisions on primary election day, which is Aug. 10. Two city races — mayor and City Council Ward 3 — currently have more than two competitors, meaning they will be part of the primary process, which will whittle the respective lists down to two. The Herald is printing responses to questionnaires sent out to the three Third Ward challengers and the four mayoral candidates. Feedback and discussion are encouraged, as both are vital to a healthy democratic process.

Marian Clennon, mayoral candidate

Q. Facing budget problems, the state has decreased Local Government Aid in recent years. How should the City of Austin deal with reduced LGA funding and should it reduce its reliance on LGA funding? If so, to what degree?

A. Austin should start to have meetings with the general public and city employees to get ideas on how to operate government differently.

The 2011 proposed budget shows a planned increase in LGA as over $700,000 and a proposed tax levy increase of 6 percent. I will be asking where the increased spending of $932,000 is coming from. In a time when the rest of the state is eliminating jobs and services, Austin is continuing to increase spending. Depending on 65 percent of our money from what has become a very unpredictable source is extremely dangerous.

One suggestion that I have is to combine agencies that are in the business of redevelopment in Austin. We have city tax money going to five   commissions or agencies that are supposed to be working on redevelopment of Austin. Each one has administrative costs. It would be more efficient  to have one office with different committees.

Most cities across Minnesota have decreased or eliminated dependence on LGA. If the LGA comes through, it is saved for the extra projects. First, whatever was added to this budget needs to be pulled out. We did without the over $900,000 in 2010 and seemed to do fine. In future years we should take any increase in LGA keep it in a rainy day fund.

Q. If the city needed to make emergency budget cuts while you were mayor/on council, what specific cuts would you make?

A. First I would negotiate away the Opt out Program which pays $225 per month to city employees who chose not to enroll in the city’s health insurance program. This would save $100,000 each year.We should go back to paying $85,000 for our city attorney. We are paying over $323,000 for both the city attorney and city prosecuting attorney.

Q. The city has a new fire chief and, soon, a new police chief. How should the mayor and council collaborate with these new department heads to make sure their departments operate effectively?

A. These departments have jobs that are unpredictable from day to day. I would like the two chiefs to give regular verbal reports at the city council meetings. They should keep the council up-to-date on overtime and equipment needs. This would be a time for the council to learn and understand the changing needs of these departments.

Q. Immigration — both legal and illegal — is an issue in Austin. What policies, if any, would you change? And what, if anything, would you do to address workers being employed with fraudulent identification?

A. I am for enforcing the law no matter what laws are being broken. The city’s responsibility for enforcing the law stops when the person breaking the law is turned over to the courts. It is up to the courts to enforce the law.

I would like to work on developing a rental ordinance. I have found that people, if they are not homeowners, need to prove that they live in Austin with a signed lease with a landlord to get utilities put in their names or to even get a post office box. Landlords would be required to do credit checks on anyone signing a lease. This would help landlords to have better tenants and the city to have more law abiding citizens.

There has also been the question of checking a company’s employment records. According to the I-9 forms that employers are required to have completed by new employees, there are only a few federal agencies that are legally allowed to check them.

Q. A large lot remains vacant downtown following the 2009 fire. What, if anything, should the city do to facilitate redevelopment of the property?

A. This is private property. The city can encourage a developer to try and purchase and rebuild on the property.

Q. What role should the city play in redeveloping the vacant retail spaces such as the former KMart and CashWise sites, as well as others along 18th Ave. NW?

A. The city needs to promote Austin. We need to get creative. People from Austin travel to other small towns to visit family across the country. We could get ideas from other small towns that are having some success. Another project for the people to be involved in.

The city also needs to promote creating businesses in Austin. The problem with attracting existing businesses that are expanding is that they usually transfer their higher paid, experienced managers and supervisors to Austin and the only employees hired from Austin are low paid jobs.

Q. Why do want to be mayor?

A. I want to be Mayor of Austin because I love Austin. I grew up visiting Austin one week every year and then moved here 14 years ago.

I want to be a leader for Austin to pull everyone together and bring the citizens to the government to help with solutions. I want to bring the surrounding communities together. If Owatonna, Albert Lea, and Mason City, and the smaller communities of Mower County such as Grand Meadow, Lyle, Adams and Rose Creek work together to start new businesses, we can keep each others’ people employed. In turn, these people will bring the money back home and spend it in our home towns.

Q. What skills do you have that you think are unique and make you stand out as a candidate?

A. I love meeting with people and listening to what they like and don’t like.

I have proven in the past year and a half that I am not afraid to stand up for anyone who asks for help when there is strong opposition. I don’t tell people what they want to hear; I tell them what they need to hear.

Q. What other issue or issues are important to you as a candidate, and what policies do you favor in these areas?

A. An issue important to me is keeping employees and the people of Austin informed. I would eliminate some committees that only have council members or add people from the general public to them. I would also greatly reduce discussions before meetings with staff and council members. All council members and the general public will hear the same thing.

Judy Enright, Third Ward candidate

Q. Facing budget problems, the state has decreased Local Government Aid in recent years. How should the City of Austin deal with reduced LGA funding and should it reduce its reliance on LGA funding? If so, to what degree?

A. LGA funding reductions demand that we rely less on this state funding source. Any time cuts have to be made, you must develop priorities and establish guidelines about how to achieve those priorities. Community input will be valuable. You will not be able to please everyone, but with input, communication, research, collaboration, and cooperation, cuts can be made to achieve the least amount of disruption. Pooling resources and finding alternative funding sources, such as grants that could supplement the city’s LGA, would be worth researching and implementing, when applicable.

Q. If the city needed to make emergency budget cuts while you were on council, what specific cuts would you make?

A. I would look for areas that would not compromise the safety and integrity of the city’s residents. I would look at all of the departments in the city for redundancies in order to streamline processes. I would ask the questions such as: Can departments share staff? Can less critical items be put on the back burner? Again, community input will help determine which services are viewed as critical and which ones could be reduced or even suspended. Priorities have to be identified, first, and then a road map must be developed to achieve goals. City departments, as well as the citizens, will need to be flexible.

Q. The city has a new fire chief and, soon, a new police chief. How should the mayor and council collaborate with these new department heads to make sure their departments operate effectively?

A. New supervisors of any department need to feel they have the support and the necessary tools to do their jobs. They need the reassurance they are moving forward in the best interest of their departments and the community as a whole. I would like them to provide regular updates to the council, whether it is at a council regular meeting or council work session. Communication between both departments and the council is important so that any problems or concerns can be addressed before they develop into issues that are not easy to resolve.

Q. Immigration, both legal and illegal, is an issue in Austin. What policies, if any, would you change? And what, if anything, would you do to address workers being employed with fraudulent identification?

A. I firmly believe that laws, ordinances, policies, and procedures need to be enforced, no matter what. There needs to be consequences for those who habitually break these rules. This issue is huge AND COMPLICATED. If there were an easy answer, we wouldn’t see the issue debated in nearly every state in the union. We need to communicate and convince city, state, and federal officials that we expect the laws we have in place to be enforced. Fraudulent identification has been around for a long time. Current technology can make identification look even more “official.” Until there is a technique or process developed that can detect fraudulent identification documents more easily, I don’t know what can be done at this point.

Q. A large lot remains vacant downtown following the 2009 fire. What, if anything, should the city do to facilitate redevelopment of the property?

A. In the event of budget cuts and reductions, I don’t believe the city should use any of its resources to develop this area. We have many artistic and talented people in Austin; perhaps they can devise a way to make the area look more attractive until a permanent solution is developed. Possible ideas might include painting the bordering buildings with a mural depicting Austin in the early days and adding some green space. Possibly a civic group could “adopt” the area and volunteers could develop and maintain it. We all need to take pride in the appearance of our community.

Q. What role should the city play in redeveloping the vacant retail spaces such as the former Kmart and CashWise sites, as well as others along 18th Ave. NW?

A. The city and the DCA should market these properties to businesses that can add vitality to our community. People need jobs and we need to find opportunities that will keep our young graduates in town. Coming up with creative ideas that would entice businesses to come to Austin should be a priority. Could tax credits be given to these businesses to entice them to come to Austin?

Q. Why do want to be on council?

A. I want to give something back to the city I grew up in and have lived in all my life. I want to get involved and help sustain the quality of life that we want to preserve.

Q. What skills do you have that you think are unique and make you stand out as a candidate?

A. I have been an effective and successful manager of a large department and budget at Riverland Community College. I feel the skills I have developed over the past 16 years can be an asset to the council. I work with many diverse departments and people to develop creative solutions to combat the challenges all large organizations faces. I am dedicated, determined, organized, and adept at multi-tasking. These skills have proven to be very useful when confronted with obstacles. I have been successful in obtaining capitol funding for building renovation projects and have established schedules and plans for preventative and rehabilitation maintenance for building and equipment repairs. With budget cuts and reductions, maintaining what we have is critical for survival.

Q. What other issue or issues are important to you as a candidate, and what policies do you favor in these areas?

A. I believe the appearance of our community reflects on all of us and we are all responsible for that appearance. I am concerned about vacant

and neglected properties and the effect they have on our neighborhoods. There are ordinances in place, but they need to be reviewed and enforced. Since we do not have the luxury of devoting someone to look for issues, I encourage citizens to monitor their neighborhoods and contact city officials about problems so action can be taken. Then, we must rely on the ordinance and officials to do their jobs. Enforcing this ordinance would be one of my high priorities if I were elected.