Candidates air views on Hill City

By: 
Leslie Silverman
Thirty-five people filled the Hill City Center for a Hill City Council candidate night, which was moderated by Ron Rossknecht.
The four candidates were each given three minutes to introduce themselves.
Carl Doaty is currently the alderman for Ward I in Hill City and says as such he is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year.
Doaty is a firefighter and  describes himself as a “volunteer for  his community for  the last 25 years.” He is “concerned about what happens in town,” calling the community of Hill City “unique.” 
Ethan Walker is opposing Doaty. Walker said he is running for office after talking to people and hearing their perceptions. 
“People feel they’re not being heard, that their voices don’t matter,” Walker said.
He feels it’s “time for a change,” saying “accountability”  and “transparency” are  other reasons he’s running. Walker is in real estate and works from home.
Gary Auch is the incumbent alderman for Ward II. He has lived in Hill City three different times and “loves the area.”
Auch was a quality assurance safety inspector for various aerospace firms and is now retired. 
Lori Miner is opposing Auch and describes herself as a Ranger who began public service in high school.  She left Hill City after graduation but moved back to the community in 2017. 
“This is home for me. It concerns me what’s going on,” Miner said. She noted that between 2018-22 town expenditures went up 80 percent while revenue was down 12 percent.
Miner said the town needs to prepare for years that aren’t good and wants to see fiscal conservatism when it comes to the budget.
After introductions candidates were given two minutes each to respond to various questions from attendees. Questions focused on vacation rentals, infrastructure and the vision for Hill City.
Doaty sat on the task force looking at the issue of nightly vacation rentals. He thinks they have a place in the community, which is now in the commercial  areas.
He was, however, happy with the proposed 8 percent cap on rentals by street grouping that the city had in place for a very brief period prior to the passing of the  citizen-led initiated measure (IM) banning rentals in residential neighborhoods completely. Doaty says it is “not his place to overturn the current initiated measure.”
Walker said he would wished the 8 percent cap would have had a chance to work. He felt the election was improperly rushed through. Walker and his family use vacation rentals when they travel, but he is still in favor of having restrictions on them.
Auch said a “small minority” of people got the ban on the ballot. He had heard no complaints on the 8 percent cap. 
“If it comes up again by IM and is struck down I will also support the 8 percent cap,” Auch said.
Miner said the IM was the voice of the people. 
“We’ll have to see what happens. I don’t think this choice is mine,” she said.
Walker called the reservoir project a “pretty big deal.” He has concerns  about water pressure or lack of water for firefighting.
“We should have been focused on this  a long time ago and prior to big projects like this building,” said Walker, referring to the Hill City Center.
Doaty made it clear that he is “not a fan” of the city  engineer  saying  his “estimates are way off.” He said the city should have looked at phasing in the project over several years.
“The only good thing is we have a valid  project now and  can go for grants,” Doaty said. He said he hated saying no to the vote but didn’t want to burden citizens with potential water rate increases.
Miner said the loan process for the project was long and tedious but that there were engineering issues and design issues that delayed the project. 
“We need somebody to be on top of this,” Miner said, saying often the matter wasn’t mentioned at city council meetings. She called the project a “multi-system failure.”
Auch said he hated voting no to the project but that the city could not afford it.
“It doesn’t help the city to deplete its funds,” Auch said.
Candidates were asked to prioritize the water reservoir, sewer plant, streets or Memorial Park projects.
Only Auch placed wastewater first, saying it runs at maximum capacity all summer and the city needs to back it up.
Both Walker and Miner said that the water and sewer projects were of equal priority, with Miner suggesting there are “things we can do in the interim” like stopping water leaks or sewer infiltration.
Walker said there was a lot of talk at the city level but not a lot of action and wants to see exactly how Hill City is spending taxpayer money.
Doaty said Memorial Park can likely be funded by grants and he was still trying to figure out the prioritization of the other three projects. 
He estimates the city will need $7 to $9 million to update the sewer plant and $50 million for infrastructure expenditures overall. He said he has been “fighting for action for three years and getting hit with a brick wall” when it comes to using city employee time for applying for grants.
All the candidates were in support of the proposed  Ranger Square project, although Miner wanted to educate herself more on the project and Doaty was concerned about the greenspace eventually becoming a city park.
Other questions from the evening focused on communication styles, opinions on government oversight and the skills needed to be a good alderman.
All the candidates running noted the importance of good communication. Doaty has “no problem bouncing ideas off people,” while Walker encouraged people to come to meetings and to get items on meeting agendas as discussion items. He also supports live streaming meetings.
Auch agrees that communication between the council and residents could be better and notes that  people don’t go to meetings until items are at a “critical stage.” 
Miner, too, thinks more people should come to meetings. She says she is downtown all the time and prefers face-to-face interaction. She is also supportive of making council meetings more accessible.
Walker supports less government goversight   while Doaty says it’s a mixed bag. 
Miner said Hill City needs fiscal responsibility, while Auch says that government should be mainly for  the “safety and protection” of its citizens.
Miner says the skills needed to be a good alderman included  being able to listen, hear and “once we get our own information  we need to do research.”
Auch said to listen, gather data and make wise decisions all the time.
Walker said it’s important to  have an attitude of serving others, not self, and owning when you make mistakes.
Doaty said his core values in all situations are duty, respect and integrity.
The election for Hill City alderman takes place June 6 and polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
 

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