MANSFIELD — Two Mansfield City Council races are on the ballot for the Nov. 7 general election.
Republican Cliff Mears is hoping to retain his seat as councilman-at-large. He is challenged by Democrat David P. Scott.
In the race for first ward councilman, Republican David Falquette is running against Democrat John Harsch.
Each candidate was asked the same questions, which are listed below with their responses.
1. Why are you running for city council? Have you ever served on Mansfield council before? If so, for how long?
MEARS: “I love this city. I have lived here for more than 36 years,” he said. “I bought my first home here, raised my children here, and I want to give back to the place which means so much to me. I believe the city needs my skills and experience.”
Mears has served on city council for five years. He was appointed to council in 2012 and elected in 2013.
SCOTT: “I’m running for city council to put another young voice on council,” he said. “Mansfield has been losing population for too long and it’s vital we to turn that around. I’ve seen too many friends go off to college and not return. I believe it is imperative to attract and retain young people to Mansfield. We need to do this in order to grow our tax base back to a sustainable level. We have many things that young people are seeking like a great downtown. We need to continue that, but we also need to provide more economic opportunity to young people.”
Scott, who is the son of current City Council President Phil Scott, strongly believes in public service and feels it is his duty to help the community that he loves and has given him so much, he said.
While he’s never served on council, he did serve on Charter Review Commission in 2012 and 2016. In 2016 he was chair.
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FALQUETTE: “I want to be in a position to proactively make Mansfield a better place to live, play, work and start a business,” he said.
Falquette said he started a neighborhood watch group 10 years ago and that he’s helped spread pertinent information to the southeast corner of Mansfield regarding many public service concerns.
“When people had questions I tracked down answers,” he said. “Also, I took the residents’ concerns to the city. My goal of holding office is a logical extension and my next step of service to my neighbors and community. I have always reached out to my neighbors to help and often that help would involve getting information and assisting in solving problems.”
HARSCH: “Although I have never served as an elected official, I have been in public service my entire adult life,” he said.
2. What qualifications/experience do you have that you believe prepares you for the role of city councilman?
MEARS: “I believe I bring a unique skill set to council,” he said. “Running a city the size of Mansfield is big business, and I believe my 40-plus years in business and industry is essential to solving many of the city’s problems.”
At 24, he ran a division of a Fortune 100 company in the health care industry. Positions he has held include accounting supervisor, operations manager, industrial relations manager and data analyst (engineering), as well as numerous roles in manufacturing.
He has also taught communications courses at three colleges; was chosen by Mansfield City Schools Superintendent Brian Garverick to be an MCS Ambassador, reviewing and promoting the progress being made there; was elected and re-elected as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Mansfield Playhouse for over 30 years, serving as its business manager for most of that time; was co-sponsor of the PRIDE levy renewal, speaking before many civic organizations in support of the levy; and he’s served on the city’s claims committee, streets committee, finance committee, economic development committee and the airport commission.
SCOTT: He graduated from Ohio State in 2009 with a degree in political science. He served twice on Charter Review Commission. He is currently a licensed insurance agent and works at a small business.
“I am also a millennial and understand what it will take to attract young people back to Mansfield,” he said.
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FALQUETTE: “My career has prepared me to solve problems, create solutions and lead the team,” he said. “I have worked and managed in small and multi-national companies. I have experienced what and why companies make decisions to open their doors, to close their doors, to stay in our community or to move away. My experience will assist in making good decisions to create a better Mansfield for everyone.”
HARSCH: He retired from the Mansfield Fire Department after a 27-year career, spending the last four years as fire chief. “I believe that experience give me intimate knowledge about how the city operates,” he said. “I managed a $10-million budget and was chief during some very tough economic times.”
He also knows many of the department heads personally. “So I know who to call to assist a constituent if the need arises,” he said.
He added that he is very familiar with the duties of a councilperson, having interacted with council members during his career.
3. What are some issues you’d like to address, or what are some ideas you have to help enhance the City of Mansfield?
MEARS: He would like to see improvements in Mansfield’s curb appeal, noting the need for continued progress in the demolition of unsightly and dilapidated structures.
“I’d like to devote additional resources so we can see more improvements to the city parks, like improved signage, restroom facilities, and general appearance,” he said. “Showing a better face to prospective business investors to Mansfield is essential to securing economic expansion. Investors are more likely to consider Mansfield when they like its appearance.
“In that same regard, the Job Creation Tax Credits have proven to be highly successful to businesses expanding locally. These credits are given to new payroll only, not affecting payroll taxes on a company’s current employees. That gives a break to companies wanting to hire more people. Initiatives like this go a long way in growing our local workforce.”
SCOTT: He stressed the need for growing the local population and boosting the city’s economy.
“I want to help continue the growth downtown, both the economy, but also residences,” he said.
“We also must become much more aggressive as a city in trying to attract outside business to the city. The only way forward for Mansfield is through economic growth. We must provide high quality service to the citizens of Mansfield, but that will not be possible on our current path and without growing the economy. The city has many, many gems and we must fully utilize them.”
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FALQUETTE: He referenced the dry dam project, saying the dam itself could become a central gathering place for sporting events and concerts.
“I have already made suggestions to the city engineer and several council members,” he said. “We can make this a springboard project in the redevelopment and growth of downtown Mansfield.”
HARSCH: “I would like to be involved with solving people’s problems and creating opportunities to encourage business growth,” he said. “Having seen firsthand the damage flooding in Mansfield causes, I am intrigued by the Touby Run Flood Damage Reduction Plan.”
4. A hot topic that has been discussed during council meetings is the issue of animal control. What is your take on the issue and what do you think could be a possible solution?
MEARS: “Mansfield had no choice in eliminating the breed-specific legislation against pit bulls that was on the books. The 5th circuit court disallowed it recently,” he said. “City council is currently hammering out revised legislation to change penalties to dog owners whose dogs are a danger to residents. However, any ordinance the city comes up with is most likely not going to be enforceable by the county dog warden, as the dog warden can only enforce state law. Current state law gives the same penalty for any violation whether the dog harmlessly escapes from the yard or actually injures a person or pet.
“The best solution I see on the horizon is the bill being worked out by Ohio Senator Bill Beagle (no pun intended) which calls for making all dog owners in the state more accountable. This would be a best case situation as I see it.”
SCOTT: “I believe Mansfield should do away with the breed-specific legislation,” he said. “BSL is discriminatory and simply bad policy. BSL language has also been ruled unconstitutional, and not really enforceable. I believe we must adopt the state’s vicious dog language. There are currently changes being proposed in the Statehouse that would update and provide more appropriate legal definitions and punishments.
“We cannot get our own dog warden for the city. It is simply not economically possible, particularly in the current budget crisis Mansfield is facing. The police here in Mansfield should not be tasked with providing animal control. They are stretched to the limit as it is and adding additional duties such as this would not be appropriate. We must use the county dog warden as our animal control officers.”
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FALQUETTE: “Council can change or create the local law and I would put the Avon Lake plan to a vote. It was researched and passed by their council,” he said. “What I like about the law is it makes the owner responsible for the dog. It includes increasing levels of penalties to deter owners from allowing their dog to act poorly. Putting a powerful deterrent on the books and a tool in our police officer’s toolbox.
“Some would challenge that we need a control officer to enforce it. First, the information I have on the budget we cannot afford it. Second, Mr. Mears pointed out at a previous meeting that less than one percent of the police calls are animal control. That low level does not support a full-time officer.”
HARSCH: “Since Mansfield is no longer allowed to have breed-specific language in the dog ordinance, that obviously has to be changed,” he said. “The issue becomes, if Mansfield create an ordinance which is stronger than the state’s, then Mansfield is responsible to enforce it. With budget shortfalls predicted again, the police department surely doesn’t need any additional enforcement responsibilities added.
“I’m sure Mansfield can find a solution which addresses the issue. An ordinance which addresses a dog’s actions with some penalties spelled out in greater detail than the Ohio Revised Code would be best.”
5. According to the finance department’s five-year forecast, Mansfield is headed for a cash deficit of $1,046,806 by the end of 2019. What do you think the city should do to help stay fiscally afloat?
MEARS: “At present, the city is spending $1.08 for every dollar it takes in. Clearly this is not sustainable,” he said. “And as bad as this $1,046,806 deficit sounds, we need to keep in mind that Mansfield’s 2017 budget stands at $123,042,408. This projected deficit is less than 1 percent of the city’s annual budget. This does not mean a million-dollar deficit is not serious, but it is not an insurmountable problem, and we have two years to solve it.
“I am convinced that honest and open discussions with all departments will yield a balanced budget as long as we all work together for this common goal. Two areas of rapidly rising cost that need to be re-examined are the skyrocketing health-care costs of city employees (going up at a rate of over a half-million dollars/year), and the long-term contract we have with Richland County for use of their jail for city prisoners.”
SCOTT: “First that is only a projection, but it is something we need to take very seriously and work to correct now,” he said.
“In the short term we need to find as much savings as we can in these next two years to prevent the need for drastic changes in 2019. That needs to be done in a strategic way that maximizes services for the residence, while saving as much money as possible.
“In the long term it is absolutely vital that we grow our tax base. We cannot raise taxes, but we need to grow the city in terms of residence and business to grow the base.”
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FALQUETTE: He said council should protect the city’s surplus this year of over $6.9 million by setting up dedicated funds for critical items.
“I am open to what the items are, but council should take a long-range look into our future needs and set the money aside for items that are not normal annual expenses,” he said.
He added that the budget needs rolled back to the department heads until the budget is balanced. “Department heads could put in capital request for big ticket items and set their normal annual expenses at 8 percent less,” he said.
“Third, we really need help from all elected officials who run departments. The courts and current clerk of courts need a reality check and not threaten lawsuits if their budgets are rejected, which has happened in the past.”
HARSCH: “It is unfortunate the city is facing financial woes once again,” he said. “There isn’t much left to cut out of the budget and maintain services in the fashion we are all used to. All of the easy choices, and many of the harder ones, to reduce spending were already implemented the last time.
“The long-term fix is to be diligent in attracting and developing business which would increase revenue.”
