Dothan mayoral forum

Nearly 100 area residents turned out Thursday night for a first-hand look at one of two men who will be Dothan’s next mayor.

About 20 questions were asked of Mike Schmitz and Keith Seagle during the Dothan Eagle/WDFX mayoral forum, held in Sony Hall at Troy Dothan. The forum, moderated by Eagle Managing Editor Ken Tuck, lasted slightly longer than an hour.

More than 170 people viewed the forum online at http://www.dothaneagle.com. WSFA/WDFX anchor Mark Bullock and Eagle editorial page editor Bill Perkins posed the questions. The following comes from the first 10 questions and answers:

Q: How do you stand on public transportation versus more widening of roads as a way to alleviate traffic congestion?
Seagle: There is a need to widen Ross Clark Circle. We have got to be able to get the attention of our Legislators to get our fair share of the money. The good news is, we are making progress with the work on U.S. 231 North and Honeysuckle and Westgate.
Schmitz: Public transportation is an issue, especially with our senior citizens. The biggest problem is the expense. We have over $40 million in state projects, over $12 million in city projects and $1 million in county dollars being spent on road improvements. The biggest thing is the I-10 connector, which is going to relieve some of our transportation problems. We can’t wait for Montgomery.

Q: Considering the state has failed to eliminate sales tax on food and the attorney general has said municipalities can’t without a state precedent, what is your position on the sales tax on groceries? And what are your thoughts on the one-cent sales tax?
Seagle: What’s done is done; I do not intend to do anything about the sales tax. I stand with John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. If we cut taxes in one area, we can increase revenue overall. This will not cost Dothan anything overall. If we lost every cent of grocery tax tomorrow, it amounts to three percent of the city budget. But think about the impact it is going to have. Where is everybody going to shop? It is going to draw them like flies to Dothan. We will flip the vote 4-3; I need four votes to get the ball rolling on it. Then I will go to the Legislature. We do it all the time. It is not a big deal.
Schmitz: In the economic crisis, we are blessed they took those steps (of increasing the tax). Folks in Dothan didn’t believe they had a voice, that we should have had a lot more discussion. If you are going to raise taxes, people need a voice. The grocery tax, that’s his (Seagle’s) issue. We have budgeted $176 million in expenditures. Subtract the utilities and the $11 million that goes to debt service. That leaves two controllable expenses. Payroll is $65 million, which leaves $35 million to pay everything else. So when he (Seagle) says it is only three percent (of the budget), ... $6 million taken away from $35 million is greater than 6 percent. I think we should slow down and be sure it’s what we want to do.

Q: What do you think of speed humps?
Seagle: I hate them. Personally, I hate speed humps. It is a difficult situation. People complain about getting speeders. We can ask the street to be on close watch. It is controversial… if 75 percent of people wanted speed humps, we put them on there. That’s where we are. You can ask they be removed with 75 percent of the people.
Schmitz: I hate them. But it has definitely slowed people down in the neighborhoods.

Q: Do you favor tax abatements for businesses?
Seagle: Is this reverse Robin Hood – taking from the poor and giving to the rich? That money is coming from the working mother driving a 10-year-old Ford … her tax money will go to developers, so they can net more profit. The biggest thing is government interference in a free market. How is it fair to existing businesses? When you bring in mega markets, the Winn Dixies and Piggly Wigglies will go out of business.
Schmitz: You’re not paying them (developers) money. Right now we have nothing. It’s like the guy is hungry, wants an apple. His neighbor gets one and cuts it in half and gives half to him. He gets mad at the neighbor because he kept half. It is 200 jobs. The east side hasn’t been developed. It will create more opportunity around it. Development will move from downtown to the east side. Real estate values will go up. These are good-paying jobs. We are blessed in these economic times that someone wants to spend $16 million in our community.

Q: Do you favor a new library?
Schmitz: It has to be a priority. Like the downtown, we have ignored it for 20 years. A library is a reflection of your city. We need a 21st Century library. The city doesn’t have $16 million (to build one). The library board has a plan to remodel their facility and spend less money, get foundations and the city and county involved. As your mayor, we will get it done.
Seagle: I personally would like to see a new library. There is a gloomy feel (in the current building) already. This is not something checkbook problem solving is going to solve. You can’t write a check and get it done. We can search for grants, seek out foundations … it will not all fall on the backs of Dothan taxpayers. It will not be easy.

Q: What can be done to improve the impoverished areas of Dothan?
Schmitz: There are a lot of folks who felt left out in our city. We need to reach out to them. Like this Brownfield development, there is need in their areas (of Districts 1 and 2). They need infrastructure improvements and we need to listen to what they have to say.
Seagle: We need to expand our downtown redevelopment area. There is no disagreement that something needs to be done about crumbling buildings, but rather how to go about it. People ask why doesn’t downtown redevelopment money expand (north) to them? There are signs marking the historic district, but we have not done anything in the black community.