LAKEPORT – Six candidates vying for three open Lakeport City Council seats answered 10 questions during a Tuesday night “meet the candidates” forum sponsored by the Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce at Lakeport City Hall. Lakeport voters will decide Nov. 4 which of the candidates will fill the open city council seats.
Approximately 35 people attended the forum. The candidates took turns answering questions about redevelopment, the city”s current budget, the chamber”s relationship with the city, and about the city”s relationship with the business community. Differences between the candidates were apparent along the lines of whether the city redevelopment agency should exercise eminent domain and how the city should spend its money.
The candidates include incumbents Robert Rumfelt and Roy Parmentier, along with challengers Ginger Ingersoll, Suzanne Lyons, Marc Spillman and George Spurr.
“I am extremely uncomfortable with the use of eminent domain, particularly with the things going on now with redevelopment,” Ingersoll said.
“The redevelopment area is a huge area – from Lakeport Boulevard to Clearlake Avenue and from the lake to the highway. That”s a big area for one agency to have the right of eminent domain over. I don”t think it”s necessary and it”s a scary proposition,” Lyons said.
She said a flyer the city circulated that advertised the Dutch Harbor property was for sale included five paragraphs about the adjoining Natural High School property, which is currently owned by the Lakeport Unified School District.
Rumfelt said while eminent domain can be a useful tool if it is used properly, he did not think the city redevelopment agency needs it.
“It can help clean this area up. The county has eminent domain – the whole north end of the lake is under eminent domain. It”s just a tool, and if you”re not able to negotiate, go to court with it,” Parmentier said.
“It”s not an evil thing if it could be used properly and only for the right reasons, not to increase the city”s tax base,” Spillman said.
“Taking something from somebody who didn”t wan to give it up is a touchy situation, and it would have to be on an individual basis,” Spurr said.
Regarding the city”s budget, incumbents Rumfelt and Parmentier defended the city”s current budget as sound and fluid while challengers questioned the city”s spending practices and priorities.
“I feel with the state our budget is in, we need to really evaluate every department and agency for efficiency and economy, and we might want to start looking at consolidation,” Ingersoll said.
Lyons said the city balances its budget by using one-time money for purposes for which it was not intended, including Measure I money. Spillman said he supports the idea of re-evaluating employee benefit packages, but “key employees” lost now will be hard to replace in the future. Spurr said the city budget needs a “fudge factor,” and agreed with Spillman that key personnel would be hard to replace.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com or call her direct at 262-5636 ext. 37.
